What’s Next For The ZX Spectrum?
Henrique Olifiers on Kickstarters past and present
Henrique Olifiers on the tremendous success of his second Kickstarter project
Despite a few teething issues during production, the ZX Spectrum Next was extremely well-received when it eventually arrived earlier this year. In fact, it’s proven to be such a hit that when Henrique Olifiers started a second Kickstarter to deliver an enhanced version of the Spectrum Next, it absolutely smashed its £250,000 target goal in under five minutes, and it went on to beat the original final Kickstarter amount of £723,390 in its first 24 hours. The second run has now finished and sits at a staggering £1,847,106, enough to ensure a new episode of Head Over Heels, with input from creator Jon Ritman will be made. Needless to say, Henrique couldn’t be happier.
Congratulations on smashing your crowdfunding target! Are you pleased with the reception of this second Kickstarter?
It is humbling and amazing to witness such strong support for the project and the future of the Spectrum.
The Spectrum Next is about its community, it wouldn’t amount to much more than a gadget without its fans. The users are what make it special, and worth getting involved with. Watching the incredible support was the best possible recognition one could expect.
When the very first units started to get delivered, we were hit with a stream of unboxing pictures and testimonials that surpassed our wildest hopes
Henrique Olifiers
What response have you had from owners of the original Kickstarter? When the very first units started to get delivered, we were hit with a stream of unboxing pictures and testimonials that surpassed our wildest hopes […]. There’s one quote amongst many that made us particularly emotional – a gentleman who described how he waited for his kids to go to bed, for the house to be silent, so he could unbox his Next and revive the moment he first opened his original ZX Spectrum. It was a touching moment full of appreciation for what we’ve done, and it paid back all the effort we’ve put into making the computer a reality.
You were very honest during your first campaign, even when it wasn’t good news. Do you feel this helped this second launch?
I truly believe so. Crowdfunding is meant to be about transparency, » the journey from idea to realisation, for better or worse. It will never be flawless, there will be setbacks
– in our case, more than our fair share, resulting in a significant delay to ship the original batch of Spectrum Next systems. But the protracted process was a result of the right reasons: attention to detail, uncompromising quality [and making] a machine worth having. Communicating this was never difficult because it was the truth, we were trying to make it the best computer we could possibly ship, and it resonated with the backers.