DISCiPLE

The DISCiPLE is a floppy disk interface for the ZX Spectrum home computer. Designed by Miles Gordon Technology, it was marketed by Rockfort Products and launched in 1986. Like Sinclair's own ZX Interface 1, the DISCiPLE was a wedge-shaped unit fitting underneath the Spectrum. It was designed as a super-interface, providing all the facilities a Spectrum owner could need. In addition to floppy-disk, parallel port printer interface and a "magic button" (see Non-maskable interrupt), it also offered twin joystick ports, Sinclair ZX Net-compatible network ports and an inhibit button for disabling the device. At the rear of the unit was a pass-through port for connecting further devices, although the complexity of the DISCiPLE meant that many would not work, or only if the DISCiPLE was "turned off" using the inhibit button. The DISCiPLE was a considerable success but its sophistication (the device included 8kB of ROM) meant that it was expensive and the plastic casing, located beneath the computer itself, was sometimes prone to overheating. These factors led to the development of MGT's later +D interface.