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RIP Clive Sinclair

I was just going to post a thread. Very sad news. A hugely influential and radical figure in the world of computing who arguably more than anyone led the way in reducing costs and increasing accessibility. He got computers into the bedrooms of a generation who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford to get a foot in the door. A whole generation of programmers, arguably the whole UK computer games industry, owe him a huge, huge debt. RIP.

PS Here’s my fully restored and working ZX Spectrum+

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That is sad. I've still got a couple of Spectrums (the 48K rubber keyboard ones) as well as a ZX81. I even had a drive in a C5 back in the day.
 
RIP Sir Clive. Some of my formative books on electronics at about 8 years old were Babani books by Clive Sinclair and which I remember very well:(
 
Had some shit ideas though....

Not to my mind. He was just a long way ahead of the curve in many ways. The C5 being the most controversial idea I guess, but it doesn’t look too crazy now everyone is wizzing around on ebikes, electric scooters etc. Its problem is the idea predated the required battery technology, and as ever with Sinclair products it was built right down to a price. When I think of Sinclair I think of the groundbreaking calculators and computers, again built right down to a price (truly awful keyboards etc), but always with amazing styling.

Sinclair was the radical of the initial UK home computer industry. It is impossible to overstate just how important the low price of Sinclair kit compared to Apple, Acorn, Commodore etc was. Yes, it was a bit clunky, not especially reliable, but it made so much possible for kids without crazy rich parents etc. I have huge respect for what he did. To my mind the real irritation is Alan Sugar, a man with a tiny fraction of the talent, knowledge or innovation, who totally cashed-in on the world Sinclair had opened up actually destroying Sinclair in the process.
 
My first er, hifi amp.

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I couldn’t afford all of it (I think the pre-amp section alone was nearly a tenner) so I had to make do with the PSU and a single amp module, plus a pot. Into my Wharfedale Unit 3 kit in special natural chipboard finish. It did me for a few schoolboy years.

Edit: I tell a lie... I did have the pre-amp bit! I remember the tone controls now I think about it after what must be 53 or so years. It was the input bit at the top that I didn’t have. But I didn’t need that - my BSR MP60 (no SP25 nonsense here) went straight into the phono section of the pre. ‘Fewer connections in the signal path - obviously vastly better sound’ was the thought that never crossed my mind for a second.
 
I had a Sinclair Science calculator in my 6th form back in 1974 that used Polish notation...so 1 million...1,000,000 would become 1 E 6...most students doing chemistry or physics had one...we pretended they were Star Trek communicators.

Clive Sinclair was a visionary....Chapeau...RIP :(
 
Very sad to hear this. ☹️
Owning and programming ZX81s and Spectrums helped me in my career.
I still have an '81 and Speccy. Oh, and an Enterprise programmable calculator still boxed and bought from Shoppers World.
 
I had a Sinclair Science calculator in my 6th form back in 1974 that used Polish notation...so 1 million...1,000,000 would become 1 E 6...most students doing chemistry or physics had one...we pretended they were Star Trek communicators.

Clive Sinclair was a visionary....Chapeau...RIP :(

I had one of those. Amazing to compare it to the office at home with a ReadyReckoner [remember those] and the one arm-bandit AddoX [made in pre-war Germany and came from my grandfather in Norway] that printed in red and black on a big till roll!

Sir Clive Sinclair, we could do with a few as good as you today!

All the best from George
 


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