COMPUTER MANIA HITS THE STREETS (Dec 17, 1988)

The computer bug is afflicting thousands  of new users this Christmas,
with the spectrum becoming  a  hotly  sought  after  item. Amstrad has
already run out of supplies of  the  spectrum 128k+2 and it's unlikely
that any more will be appearing until after the seasonal rush is over.
The high street chain store Dixons  sold  out of spectrum 128k+2's and
is reported to have placed  a  massive  50,000 unit order with Amstrad
which simply could not be filled. "If  you  find a plus 2 in a Dixon's
you'll be very lucky" said one branch manager.
         For suppliers Amstrad, marketing manager Anthony Sethill said
"Demand  for  this  machine  has   been   much  better  than  even  we
anticipated, it's been fantastic. We'll be  trying to fulfil demand as
soon  as  possible."  He  declined   to  comment  on  Dixons'  alleged
unfulfilled order and was unable to  give  a date for new shipments of
the machine. Dixons' headquarters refused  also point blank to discuss
the matter.
         The +2  sales  come  despite  criticisms  that  the expansion
socket on the latest machine is incompatible with earlier models.
         With the +2 such a  rarity,  sales  of the disk based machine
are taking off. Previously, the +3  has  never  even come close to its
older  brother  in  popularity,  but  now   sales  are  said  to  have
mushroomed.