The man behind the brand, Hackney-born Alan Michael Sugar, famously started in business selling car aerials from the back of his £50 minivan. He called his company A M S Trading – which he shortened to Amstrad. After car aerials he quickly moved on to selling other goods such as transistor radios, intercoms and cigarette lighters. All of these products were bought from importers or wholesalers and sold under the Amstrad brand name. However, Alan Sugar’s ultimate aim was to create his own, original products.
My late wife (Dr Janet West) and I relied on the Amstrad PCW machines in the 1980s and long afterwards.
Enclosed is a photograph of her, taken in 2008. Even then she was using, as a matter of preference, a PCW8256 and Locoscript for writing her articles, chapters and other contributions to her speciality: maritime history, and maritime matters in general.
In the mid 1980s several academic friends of ours were beginning to acquire word processors. The BBC Micro seemed popular. In early 1984 we noticed the Amstrad PCW machines, bundled with Locoscript (and other software) for sale in the Cambridge branch of Dixons. It seemed such good value that we bought one then, and Janet continued to use it for as long as her health permitted. At times she suffered painful neuritis and at these times she was unable to sit in a chair so she worked while lying on her bed, as in the photograph.
Janet was a Research Associate at the Scott Polar Research Institute, part of the university of Cambridge, from 1984 until 2024. She was helping to teach a small group (usually 4) of post-graduates who were on the SPRI course of Polar Studies. She persuaded the Institute to buy four PCW machines for the students to use in writing their course essays, and final thesis.
At the end of my first year at the University of Durham in 1974 I managed to get a job during the summer holidays and I earned enough to save up for my first HiFi system. My first system was an Amstrad system, as it had good reviews at the time and was reasonably priced for a student's pocket.
I thought that you might like to know that fifty years on, whilst the amplifier 'died' some years ago, my Amstrad Acousta speakers are still going strong and are still in use today. Now that is what I call an achievement, as well as a bargain !
I would just like to thank you for all the many years of pleasure the music they produce has given me.
I've always been a fan of sky ever since we had the srx200 installed in December 1989. This came with (it shouldn't of really but the installer was generous) the decoder. As time went on, the SRD400 was released and I convinced my mother to buy it had 48 channels and not just 16 and had the decoder built in. Fast forward to now and feeling nostalgic, I tried to look for the boxes but look like they were thrown so found this on ebay. Had a slight fault to which I fixed but now placed where I can see it and bring back memories. As an engineer myself, I am thinking of retro fitting and up to date freesat box inside and let the legacy live on.
