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Sir Clive Sinclair has died

theguardian.com

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Re: Sir Clive Sinclair has died

#91

Post by rwmj »

epx wrote: post #54
zarkov99 wrote: post #11

RIP. Many a programming career, including mine, was started thanks to Sir Clive. There was a sense of wonder and awe around those machines that is no where to be found these days, even though we have so much power computational power. Something was lost.

Started with a ZX-81 clone. The factor I liked most was the attention with the manuals, they really cared to teach the basics of programming, even low-level things, to the layman.

Steve Vickers wrote that manual. A couple of decades later he taught me an impenetrable course on mathematical structures in computer science. (My previous comments about that: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23760382 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26375986)

Re: Sir Clive Sinclair has died

#92

Post by TacticalCoder »

ukd1 wrote: post #51
Doctor_Fegg wrote: post #37

The Spectrum and ZX81 are (rightly) the computers for which Clive Sinclair is remembered. But it was his unsuccessful follow-up, the QL, which inspired a certain Linus Torvalds to write Linux: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_QL#Legacy

The QL was one of my first computers too, I loved that thing!

And it was an incredibly slick looking machine for the time!

Re: Sir Clive Sinclair has died

#93

Post by bane »

One of the legacies from Sinclair's era is the profound understanding of the power of young hobbyists working on cheap computers, and how that leads to a workforce trained in STEM. This idea directly inspired the development of the Raspberry Pi which has been beyond wildly successful and may be the most popular line of British computers in history.

Re: Sir Clive Sinclair has died

#95

Post by jacquesm »

cwilkes wrote: post #35

ZX81 was my first computer, putting the kit (!) together with my dad. Didn’t work so sent it back and got a pre made one, found out later that at least 1/3rd of the kits didn’t work. That, going through 101 Basic Computer Games, and typing in the esoteric Beagle Bros commands in their ads are fond memories.

The reason many of the kits didn't work is that the timing was super critical and parts variation alone could result in a built kit not working, especially if you added the RAM expansion.

Re: Sir Clive Sinclair has died

#96

Post by protomyth »

Sir Clive Sinclair was a hero of mine for realizing that computing could be for children of poorer families. The Apple II is lauded for the classroom, but it was way too expensive for my family. Without people like Sir Sinclair, I and many other would have never been able to enter this profession we so love.

Apple gets the credit, but it was Sir Sinclair, Commodore, Atari, and TI that raised a generation in computing.

Rest well great man.

Re: Sir Clive Sinclair has died

#97

Post by jacquesm »

gojomo wrote: post #20

When I had no computer, I wanted one of those Sears . IIRC the video output often cut out whenever a user program was running? I'm sure I would have enjoyed having one, but was fortunate enough my parents picked up an Apple ][+ instead. Still, warm feelings towards that unit, & its series, as something that made home computing thinkable .

On the ZX80 it was done in such a way that just processing your keyboard input caused the video to blank.

Re: Sir Clive Sinclair has died

#98

Post by hughrr »

bane wrote: post #93

One of the legacies from Sinclair's era is the profound understanding of the power of young hobbyists working on cheap computers, and how that leads to a workforce trained in STEM. This idea directly inspired the development of the Raspberry Pi which has been beyond wildly successful and may be the most popular line of British computers in history.

Sort of. As a former Sinclair user his products taught me patience and tolerance.

I jumped ship the moment I could afford a BBC.

Re: Sir Clive Sinclair has died

#100

Post by dboreham »

hughrr wrote: post #98
bane wrote: post #93

One of the legacies from Sinclair's era is the profound understanding of the power of young hobbyists working on cheap computers, and how that leads to a workforce trained in STEM. This idea directly inspired the development of the Raspberry Pi which has been beyond wildly successful and may be the most popular line of British computers in history.

Sort of. As a former Sinclair user his products taught me patience and tolerance. I jumped ship the moment I could afford a BBC.

There wouldn't have been a BBC without Uncle Clive.
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