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[News] Clive Sinclair RIP



Dick Swiveller

Dick Swiveller

Well-known member
Sep 9, 2011
9,159
Died today aged 81. Very interesting life whose business skills didn't match his technical skills. But the legacy of the ZX80/81 and Spectrum will resonate with millions of people of a certain age. And don't forget the C5!
 






DavidinSouthampton

DavidinSouthampton

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jan 3, 2012
16,597
I can remember around the launch of the C5 seeing Mr Sinclair and others driving them around Trafalgar Square or somewhere similar and they came about half way up the wheel of a London bus…. And thinking “not for me, Clive”.

But also remember the ZXs and the Spectrum, loading things off little cassette decks which took an age. And we thought it was so sophisticated! But he brought computing in to the home, I guess.
 


Ooh it’s a corner

Ooh it’s a corner

Well-known member
Aug 28, 2016
4,897
Nr. Coventry
Yes I remember the ZX80 - as a young primary teacher the immense patience the kids showed waiting for stuff to load was remarkable! Clive Sinclair was definitely an innovator. Even in the early/mid 80s though Apple was already making its mark and we all moved on.
RIP Sir Clive
 






jakarta

jakarta

Well-known member
May 25, 2007
15,632
Sullington
Three wheels on my Wagon and I'm stll rolling along. Oh actually I'm not...

He really should have done some research , BSA Motorcycles came a huge cropper (wasn't their only fvck up but that is another story) with their Ariel 3 Trike abortion back in 1970.
 


Publius Ovidius

Publius Ovidius

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
46,044
at home
Learned to programme on the ZX80! / Spectrum

Main unite, cassette tape to record the steps…….anyone remember the game where you typed in commands to get into the castle and rescue the princess? Go right…stop…look around…etc
 


Herr Tubthumper

Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
59,623
The Fatherland
I’m sad to read this. I had a Spectrum as a kid and learnt to program on it…..as well as play games like Jet Pack Willy and Manic Miner. Happy days.

RIP
 




Jam The Man

Jam The Man

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
8,126
South East North Lancing
First computer we had was a brand new ZX Spectrum 48k+

It came with a cassette deck and a whoppingly powerful 64k microdrive, all for £314 in 1984
 


Tony Towner's Fridge

Tony Towner's Fridge

Well-known member
Aug 22, 2003
5,384
GLASGOW,SCOTLAND,UK
Met him once in 1981 at a party. He was trying to recruit people to MENSA...most bizarre.


Had a C5 for the day in Lowestoft in 1984 or thereabouts. I was too big for it but it was fun nevertheless.


RIP Sir Clive

TNBA

TTF
 


The Clamp

The Clamp

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jan 11, 2016
24,540
West is BEST
Yet again, little English "man in shed" quietly changes the world of computing (if not personal transport) and doesn't make a whizz-bang about it like the American Super Nerds of the same era.
RIP you quiet legend.

This was as razzmataz as they got..


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EEvrTeWSTk
 




clapham_gull

clapham_gull

Legacy Fan
Aug 20, 2003
25,338
I'd have to disagree about Sinclair changing the world of "home computing". That was his aim, to turn us all into geeks who built our own computers and wrote our own software.

But he "failed" and unwittingly (and really really annoying to himself) people bought millions of Spectrums to play computer games.

If you were really into "home computing" there were much better alternatives, primary the BBC Micro and Electron.

His computers were very badly built with terrible keyboards. However the Spectrum had the edge for games because it was much much smaller, cheaper and "packed" with memory.

Sinclair kicked off the games industry in this country but he never intended to and hated the fact.

His main UK competitors at Acorn who built the BBC Micro and the Electron were completely overshadowed by his "success", but had the last laugh later with the ARM processor.

So in terms of home computing (as opposed to the games industry), Sinclair is just a footprint.

What he should be remembered for is the inventor of the pocket calculator. A precursor to the personal devices that now dominate our lives.
 
Last edited:








W

Wardy's twin

Well-known member
Oct 21, 2014
8,448
had a zx80 and a spectrum , unlike Clapham_gull , i think it did help develop people's programming skills because it was cheap & available.
 


Iford Albion

Iford Albion

Active member
Jul 30, 2017
243
clapham_gull said:
I'd have to disagree about Sinclair changing the world of "home computing". That was his aim, to turn us all into geeks who built our own computers and wrote our own software.

But he "failed" and unwittingly (and really really annoying to himself) people bought millions of Spectrums to play computer games.

If you were really into "home computing" there were much better alternatives, primary the BBC Micro and Electron.

His computers were very badly built with terrible keyboards. However the Spectrum had the edge for games because it was much much smaller, cheaper and "packed" with memory.

Sinclair kicked off the games industry in this country but he never intended to and hated the fact.

His main UK competitors at Acorn who built the BBC Micro and the Electron were completely overshadowed by his "success", but had the last laugh later with the ARM processor.

So in terms of home computing (as opposed to the games industry), Sinclair is just a footprint.

What he should be remembered for is the inventor of the pocket calculator. A precursor to the personal devices that now dominate our lives.
Click to expand...
No disrespect to the marvellous ginger geek but wasn't it Jack Kilby who invented the pocket calculator?
 


G

Gwylan

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
31,341
Uffern
clapham_gull said:
I'd have to disagree about Sinclair changing the world of "home computing". That was his aim, to turn us all into geeks who built our own computers and wrote our own software.

But he "failed" and unwittingly (and really really annoying to himself) people bought millions of Spectrums to play computer games.

If you were really into "home computing" there were much better alternatives, primary the BBC Micro and Electron.

His computers were very badly built with terrible keyboards. However the Spectrum had the edge for games because it was much much smaller, cheaper and "packed" with memory.

Sinclair kicked off the games industry in this country but he never intended to and hated the fact.

His main UK competitors at Acorn who built the BBC Micro and the Electron were completely overshadowed by his "success", but had the last laugh later with the ARM processor.

So in terms of home computing (as opposed to the games industry), Sinclair is just a footprint.

What he should be remembered for is the inventor of the pocket calculator. A precursor to the personal devices that now dominate our lives.
Click to expand...

He didn't invent the pocket calculator - that was Jack Kilby. What he did do, was make a cheaper version and created a mass market for them.

I do agree that the Sinclair machines were more used for games than programming but people did use them for programming. I wrote a program for calculating cricket averages on a ZX81. It was very clunky though
 


clapham_gull

clapham_gull

Legacy Fan
Aug 20, 2003
25,338
Wardy's twin said:
had a zx80 and a spectrum , unlike Clapham_gull , i think it did help develop people's programming skills because it was cheap & available.
Click to expand...

We aren't in disagreement.

It did of course get people into programming, but they were few and far between. Those who did were mostly writing games and flogged them in their millions to other people, who had bought a spectrum because it was cheap and available.

It exploded in a way that Sinclair never intended and really annoyed him.

That's make him historically quite interesting.

1) A single complete genius idea of the the pocket calculator, that everyone forgets because it's "gone". Revolutionised business for decades like the fax machine.

2) A mass market "games console" ( the ZX Spectrum) that was intended to be a home computer, but it was terribly built with cheap components and was never "fit for purpose". However it was cheap and packed with memory and became a mass market games machine.

3) The rest of his career is littered with failed projects. The C5, his own folding bike, mini radios etc..

I'm not dismissing him, I find him fascinating, but he wasn't a "home computing" revolutionary.
 




clapham_gull

clapham_gull

Legacy Fan
Aug 20, 2003
25,338
Gwylan said:
He didn't invent the pocket calculator - that was Jack Kilby. What he did do, was make a cheaper version and created a mass market for them.

I do agree that the Sinclair machines were more used for games than programming but people did use them for programming. I wrote a program for calculating cricket averages on a ZX81. It was very clunky though
Click to expand...

Yes, but Sinclair invented what is known as the "pocket calculator" as opposed to the "handheld" one. I was one of those people "programming" too in the very early 80s on these machines, but people were buying them for games.

I find him fascinating, but the reality is that the serious pioneers are unknown to 99% of the population.

Sinclair became better known because the company was named after him and other failed projects (like the C5) were widely covered by the media.

He is being described on the news as the "Father of the Home PC", he seriously wasn't. That didn't happen until Microsoft released an operating system that could be run on a machine built by anybody.
 


Technohead

Technohead

Active member
Aug 10, 2013
192
Burgess Hill
clapham_gull said:
I'd have to disagree about Sinclair changing the world of "home computing". That was his aim, to turn us all into geeks who built our own computers and wrote our own software.

But he "failed" and unwittingly (and really really annoying to himself) people bought millions of Spectrums to play computer games.

If you were really into "home computing" there were much better alternatives, primary the BBC Micro and Electron.

His computers were very badly built with terrible keyboards. However the Spectrum had the edge for games because it was much much smaller, cheaper and "packed" with memory.

Sinclair kicked off the games industry in this country but he never intended to and hated the fact.

His main UK competitors at Acorn who built the BBC Micro and the Electron were completely overshadowed by his "success", but had the last laugh later with the ARM processor.

So in terms of home computing (as opposed to the games industry), Sinclair is just a footprint.

What he should be remembered for is the inventor of the pocket calculator. A precursor to the personal devices that now dominate our lives.
Click to expand...

Ah yes, but many, like me, bought a spectrum for gaming and then from that got into writing simple programs. A whole generation of computer experts got the bug from Spectrum and C64 gaming.
 


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