The people behind the ZX81 cottage industry were very often not computer professionals but were, as the Financial Times noted, "school teachers, civil servants, electrical engineers and technicians have set up small operations in their own time".
As persoas dentro do ambiente industrial do ZX81 era moi a miúdo non profesionais do ramo informático, mais eran, conforme o Financial Times anotou, "profesores escolares, funcionarios, técnicos e enxeñeiros eléctricos montou operacións pequenas no seu tempo libre".