Sir Clive Sinclair has died • Hacker News Board

Re: Sir Clive Sinclair has died

#21

Post by FearNotDaniel » Thu, Sep 16, 2021, 6:33 PM UTC

mynegation wrote: post #12

@dang - I believe that deserves a black ribbon. In some countries generations grew up learning hacking and programming with his computers (and knock-offs)

Absolutely. His systems did so much to democratize computing in the 8-bit era, and there must be countless greybeards who owe their careers to the access that Sinclair Computers granted. Likewise, many non-technical entrepreneurs who made tons of cash in the first dotcom boom would only be able to find programmers able to work for them because they had self-trained in skills that schools knew nothing about by staying up late staring at the family TV with one of these little machines plugged into it.

More democratising than other machines around at the time, because those less-well-off families in the UK who couldn't afford a BBC Micro or CBM-64 could more easily scrape together the funds to buy a ZX Spectrum instead.

My personal anecdote: I didn't have enough pocket money to feed my Pac-Man addiction in the arcades, and my family certainly wasn't going to splash out on an Atari console, so I wrote myself a Pac-Man clone in ZX Basic. It turned out that programming was so much more fun than playing the game in the long run, and almost 40 years later people are still paying me to do this! Thank you, Sir Clive.

Re: Sir Clive Sinclair has died

#22

Post by zozbot234 » Thu, Sep 16, 2021, 6:34 PM UTC

simonh wrote: post #7

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #3

> "But he did not make personal use of his own inventions. His daughter said he never had a pocket calculator as far as she knew, instead carrying a slide-rule around with him at all times. And he told interviewers he used neither a computer nor email."

That doesn't particularly surprise me. His computers weren't aimed at middle aged adult engineers. The early calculators weren't all that sophisticated. They were convenience devices rather than serious tools. There's nothing wrong with designing products aimed at people other than yourself.

> His computers weren't aimed at middle aged adult engineers.

Maybe not Clive Sinclair's products specifically, but you'd be surprised with what professional engineers could use these 'toys' for. Keep in mind that machines with comparable featuresets could sell for huge prices well into the early and even the mid-1960s, and were used for real, sometimes critically important work.

Re: Sir Clive Sinclair has died

#23

Post by homerowilson » Thu, Sep 16, 2021, 6:34 PM UTC

ojbyrne wrote: post #9

h2odragon wrote: post #2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX81 or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timex_Sinclair_1000 Those were wild little toys; and people stretched them beyond all reason.

The ZX81 was the first computer I ever touched, in terms of “stretching,” for me it stopped working after I used it for an hour or so.

Also my first computer, bought as a kit and I soldered it together. Mine lasted a long time. It was so limited though I learned Z80 assembler, which turned out to be really cool. The ZX-81 was a wonderful machine.

Re: Sir Clive Sinclair has died

#24

Post by browningstreet » Thu, Sep 16, 2021, 6:35 PM UTC

pmontra wrote: post #19

My first computer was a ZX81, then an QL. I still have them at home. Maybe I'll try to power them up. I've found some listings of programs I wrote in BASIC on the ZX81. They are only marginally easier to understand than machine code, maybe not :-) but they were the first step to bring me here. Thanks Sir Sinclair.

I wish I still had my original Osborne 1, and my Sinclair QL...

Re: Sir Clive Sinclair has died

#25

Post by dvirsky » Thu, Sep 16, 2021, 6:36 PM UTC

For its time and price vs. performance, the Spectrum might have been the best personal computer ever made. It was my first machine, and I loved it so much.

Re: Sir Clive Sinclair has died

#26

Post by HarHarVeryFunny » Thu, Sep 16, 2021, 6:37 PM UTC

kwhitefoot wrote: post #13

I sold my Sinclair Scientific calculator, from the mid-seventies, just a month ago. Got a tenner for it even though it wasn't working. I miss those times, there was something so much more immediate, more real about computing in the 70s and 80s. It was somehow lighter and less intimidating. It's only just coming back with Arduino style kit. RIP

I had a Sinclair Scientific too - so small with hard clicky keys! Back then it was a wonder to type numbers that looked like words when you held it upside down.

I expect more people here will remember the ZX80, but what about the minimal SC/MP-based MK-14 that came before... I skipped that but got a NASCOM-1 kit the following year (1978).

I worked at Acorn in the early 80s and Sir Clive attended a couple of our infamous Christmas parties (since he knew Chris Curry).

The good thing about those old computers was the simplicity. The only thing on a NASCOM-1 between your assembly code and the hardware was 1KB of monitor program.

Re: Sir Clive Sinclair has died

#27

Post by rjeli » Thu, Sep 16, 2021, 6:37 PM UTC

ggm wrote: post #18

We had one of his op-amp home hifi kits from before his computing days. I'm not going to gloss things up here, it was shit. Noisy, bad circuit design, bad instructions. Delivery was often fraught: he had no supply chain and always went to market before stocks built up. Sinclair is notorious for overpromising and under delivering. The calculators were highly approximate trig functions, the Sinclair e-car was a joke. I…

genuinely appreciate your anecdote, it is interesting to know, but perhaps a bit distasteful in reply to his death.

Re: Sir Clive Sinclair has died

#28

Post by rwmj » Thu, Sep 16, 2021, 6:41 PM UTC

pmontra wrote: post #19

My first computer was a ZX81, then an QL. I still have them at home. Maybe I'll try to power them up. I've found some listings of programs I wrote in BASIC on the ZX81. They are only marginally easier to understand than machine code, maybe not :-) but they were the first step to bring me here. Thanks Sir Sinclair.

Don't plug them in without doing some basic checks! A common fault with the ZX81 at least is the PSU and/or the internal voltage regulator degrades/fails and will destroy the RAM chips. Have a look through some of Noel Retro Lab videos for some tips first: https://www.youtube.com/c/NoelsRetroLab/videos

Edit: Different channel, but here's a video about ZX81 restoration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyluEM0N6TY

Re: Sir Clive Sinclair has died

#29

Post by diskzero » Thu, Sep 16, 2021, 6:42 PM UTC

Ah, the Timex Sinclair 1000! I would fantasize about having one while looking at magazines ads. You could buy the kit, build it and learn so much about computing, all for $99.95 US! Sure, the 1K of RAM was a bit limiting, but you could save up and buy a 16K RAM pack.

Re: Sir Clive Sinclair has died

#30

Post by rwmj » Thu, Sep 16, 2021, 6:43 PM UTC

ojbyrne wrote: post #9

h2odragon wrote: post #2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX81 or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timex_Sinclair_1000 Those were wild little toys; and people stretched them beyond all reason.

The ZX81 was the first computer I ever touched, in terms of “stretching,” for me it stopped working after I used it for an hour or so.

The ZX81 was also my first computer. Have to say I must have better luck because mine is still going to this day (although I did recently need to service and fix it).