Sir Clive Sinclair 1940-2021

KIPAX said:
The spectrum was an important step in home computing....
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True, but the credit goes to Richard Altwasser for the circuit design and Rick Dickinson who designed the casing (he'd previously designed the ZX80 and ZX81). The BASIC in firmware was written by Steve Vickers.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
True, but the credit goes to Richard Altwasser for the circuit design and Rick Dickinson who designed the casing (he'd previously designed the ZX80 and ZX81). The BASIC in firmware was written by Steve Vickers.
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You didn't think he did it himself, did you? Seriously?
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
True, but the credit goes to Richard Altwasser for the circuit design and Rick Dickinson who designed the casing (he'd previously designed the ZX80 and ZX81). The BASIC in firmware was written by Steve Vickers.
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That's all very well but would Richard, Rick or Steve have made a product out of their work and made a success of it? As with all things, someone has to get it all together otherwise it's just a bunch of good ideas with nowhere to go.
 
Building a ZX-81 kit certainly affected the course of my life and I thank him for that.

RIP Sir Clive.
 
I never played with the ZX80/81 (I had something more exotic at the time), but my dad got a Spectrum which I did some programming on to produce election result predictions in local elections way back when, and later I worked for a company that used ICL-"One Per Desk" machines which were rebadged Sinclair QL's, another interesting, ahead of it's time idea.
 
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ShinySideUp said:
someone has to get it all together otherwise it's just a bunch of good ideas with nowhere to go.
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That's generally true but it's each member of the team that matters, not just the self promoter who claims the credit.
 
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Pound Coin said:
You didn't think he did it himself, did you? Seriously?
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Of course I didn't, as anyone reading what I wrote would have realised. Too many people think he did, including Radio Devon who claimed that he "invented the pocket calculator", which must come as a surprise to a number of American and Japanese engineers. :thinking:
 
I remember my first Sinclair 'Scientific' calculator in the 70's, it came as a kit and took hours to build and who could forget 'Reverse Polish Notation'. :)
RIP Sir Clive - one my childhood heroes !
 
Ah yes, what a man; a hero to some, a fool to others. I for one admired him and I built from kit form; the ZX80, ZX81 and Spectrum ZX.

I wrote my first 'useful' program on the Spectrum to turn key presses into Morse Code and this was used by several of my fellow radio ham wannabees to learn the code for their exam.

Shame about the C5 though . . . :facepalm:
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
That's generally true but it's each member of the team that matters, not just the self promoter who claims the credit.
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Not denying that but where do you stop? What about the team members that Rick etc. may have worked with? How much did the Beagle's ship's cook contribute to the health of Charles Darwin, a lot, a little, who knows? I very much doubt his name appears in the credits of On the Origin of Species.
 
ShinySideUp said:
I very much doubt his name appears in the credits of On the Origin of Species.
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...perhaps it should.

History is packed solid with "great people" who actually relied entirely on the efforts of others to achieve their results and it really doesn't help when hero worshippers object to their particular idol's clay feet being mentioned.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
...perhaps it should.

History is packed solid with "great people" who actually relied entirely on the efforts of others to achieve their results and it really doesn't help when hero worshippers object to their particular idol's clay feet being mentioned.
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I wouldn't watch any film awards ceremonies then if I were you :)

Interestingly, Isaac Newton is purported to have said:
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants". Ironically, even the statement is attributed to someone else: Bernard of Chartres in the 12th century.
 
ShinySideUp said:
I wouldn't watch any film awards ceremonies then if I were you :)
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I never do. However, I've heard it's good form for the nominees to mention "all the wunnerfool folks that made this possible" in their acceptance speech. :naughty:
 
Sky said:
Shame about the C5 though . . . :facepalm:
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There’s an argument that the C5 was decades before it’s time. The fact is with the move to electric cars (higher cost and tech) we will also need a modal shift towards personal transport too, mainly as we won’t be able to afford mutliple cars per household like we have now. Single person clean transport will need to replace single person short car journeys. Perhaps we will start seeing new vehicles based upon the C5 idea.

We are having traffic issues where I live due to several road works taking place at the same time. The amount of people that are moaning because their short commute (some of only 3 miles and just the self in the car) is be extended by 5-6 times the normal time because traffic can’t move has surprised me. It’s seems crazy getting in a car everyday to commute just 3 miles there and 3 miles back but Id guess there are many in certain areas of the UK who do exactly that. We need other forms of transport rather than relying on our cars for short journeys. Maybe Clive Sinclair was actually onto something but he was just decades too early.
 
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rob-nikon said:
There’s an argument that the C5 was decades before it’s time. The fact is with the move to electric cars (higher cost and tech) we will also need a modal shift towards personal transport too, mainly as we won’t be able to afford mutliple cars per household like we have now. Single person clean transport will need to replace single person short car journeys. Perhaps we will start seeing new vehicles based upon the C5 idea.

We are having traffic issues where I live due to several road works taking place at the same time. The amount of people that are moaning because their short commute (some of only 3 miles and just the self in the car) is be extended by 5-6 times the normal time because traffic can’t move has surprised me. It’s seems crazy getting in a car everyday to commute just 3 miles there and 3 miles back but Id guess there are many in certain areas of the UK who do exactly that. We need other forms of transport rather than relying on our cars for short journeys. Maybe Clive Sinclair was actually onto something but he was just decades too early.
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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTNMHBT2qSU
 
rob-nikon said:
There’s an argument that the C5 was decades before it’s time. The fact is with the move to electric cars (higher cost and tech) we will also need a modal shift towards personal transport too, mainly as we won’t be able to afford mutliple cars per household like we have now. Single person clean transport will need to replace single person short car journeys. Perhaps we will start seeing new vehicles based upon the C5 idea.

We are having traffic issues where I live due to several road works taking place at the same time. The amount of people that are moaning because their short commute (some of only 3 miles and just the self in the car) is be extended by 5-6 times the normal time because traffic can’t move has surprised me. It’s seems crazy getting in a car everyday to commute just 3 miles there and 3 miles back but Id guess there are many in certain areas of the UK who do exactly that. We need other forms of transport rather than relying on our cars for short journeys. Maybe Clive Sinclair was actually onto something but he was just decades too early.
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I think one of the reasons that the C5 didn't become popular (aside from the obvious safety concerns about using one on busy roads, even in those days) was that it looked like it had been designed by someone who was into computers in the 1970s. Those who went to school in the 70s will probably know what I mean.
 
Mr Badger said:
was that it looked like it had been designed by someone who was into computers in the 1970s.
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Comment from a colleague at the time: "It's the sort of thing Worzel Gummidge would refuse to be seen in".
 
rob-nikon said:
We are having traffic issues where I live due to several road works taking place at the same time. The amount of people that are moaning because their short commute (some of only 3 miles and just the self in the car) is be extended by 5-6 times the normal time because traffic can’t move has surprised me. It’s seems crazy getting in a car everyday to commute just 3 miles there and 3 miles back but Id guess there are many in certain areas of the UK who do exactly that. We need other forms of transport rather than relying on our cars for short journeys. Maybe Clive Sinclair was actually onto something but he was just decades too early.
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And in an urban environment you are probably right but it just can't apply generally. My wife works in the local small town, a mere 4 miles away, and has to use her car for such a short journey. The bus service from my village goes all through the countryside and a six-minute trip in the car takes three quarters of an hour on the bus and since she leaves at seven in the morning the bus service has not even started. What she needs is an electric car, however we have no driveway and have to park on the road, therefore unable to be assured of a space outside our house so how could we be sure of charging it.

I'd love to go electric but they way things are it's just not going to happen. As for the motor industry having to cease production of petrol and diesel cars by 2030, also not going to happen, it's less than nine years time. On top of that, a fire in the electricity cable between England and France meant that production is down and the cost of power will rise in the short-term. If we can't manage without French electricity now, how on Earth does anyone expect the rise of electric vehicles to be supported in so few years time. Yes, I know older cars will run for several years afterward but the rise in electric cars will outstrip power supply very quickly IMHO.
 
The great men of history are always those who got numbers of skilled people to work together in fulfilling their vision, rather than the people who actually did the things to make it happen.

The C5 seemed to kill off Sinclair as a force in British technological innovation. While the concept of clean, comfortable and practical personal transport is excellent, the execution in this case was risible even by the standards of the day. It was a real 'what was he thinking' product.
 
I think the C5 has been overtaken (in both senses) by electric bikes, although it is one too really, masquerading as a car. The puddle in that video above is a ‘game-changer’, you can’t easily pick it up and carry round obstacles either :(.
 
Very sad news, regardless of some his silly idea he was a genius.
If it wasn't for him I probably wouldn't have become the geek I am.
He also introduced my to software piracy by copying the cassette tapes. ;)
Does anyone remember using tipex to mark the volume level for loading the games?
 
KIPAX said:
The spectrum was an important step in home computing...... RIP and thank you Sir Clive
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Yes it was but don't forget the ZX80 and ZX81 as well.
 
ancient_mariner said:
The great men of history are always those who got numbers of skilled people to work together in fulfilling their vision, rather than the people who actually did the things to make it happen.
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I can't help but feel we should refer to such people by their proper job title: "Confidence Trickster in Chief" :tumbleweed:
 
i remember a couple of projects i put together which were done by sinclair back in the 70's when i was 14/15 or so before the home computer revolution ( ZX80/81, Spectrums etc ) the first was an integrated amplifier module i think it was 10 watts RMS which needed a power supply, pre amp and tone / volume controls adding to it
the other was the Sinclair Black Watch which could be bought ready built or in kit form, i got the kit for because it was cheaper but the black metal strap cost an extra couple of quid if i remember

i loved both of these items although the watch was very unreliable but the warranty was honoured which was great cos i needed it :)

you here a lot about the ZX80 / 81, spectrum and of course the C5 but not much about his earlier projects
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
I can't help but feel we should refer to such people by their proper job title: "Confidence Trickster in Chief" :tumbleweed:
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Enabler, coordinator and guide could also be true. Perhaps it takes some of both sides to give someone the ability to make something significant happen.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
I can't help but feel we should refer to such people by their proper job title: "Confidence Trickster in Chief" :tumbleweed:
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There’s something in that though I think fault lies with people who ‘worship’ them. I suppose an extreme recently historical example would be Churchill who did inspire people and they had confidence in him but, though he got some things right also got a lot wrong and couldn’t have succeeded in WW2 (to the extent that he did) without exceptional people who didn’t come from a long line of Dukes, like say, Tommy Flowers (and the nowadays much despised GPO) whose father I think was a bricklayer — as Churchill also aspired to be ;).
 
ancient_mariner said:
Enabler, coordinator and guide could also be true. Perhaps it takes some of both sides to give someone the ability to make something significant happen.
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sphexx said:
There’s something in that though I think fault lies with people who ‘worship’ them.
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Richard has the truth of it, in my opinion. Organising people is a skill. Some people have an innate ability and others can learn it. Too many misuse that skill to their own advantage, which is possible because there are far too many who are suggestible and have accepted the idea that there are "leaders" who know better than they do.

We've seen the worst examples of where that leads in the 20th century but we just won't learn that lesson. That's why we don't teach our children that this is an often fatal disease. If all children grew up understanding that all are equal and anyone who thinks differently is a danger to all, millions of lives would be both longer and happier.

We put health warnings on cigarettes and other poisons. It's now time to put health warnings on the output of politicians and others who seek to manipulate us.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
Richard has the truth of it, in my opinion. Organising people is a skill. Some people have an innate ability and others can learn it. Too many misuse that skill to their own advantage, which is possible because there are far too many who are suggestible and have accepted the idea that there are "leaders" who know better than they do.

We've seen the worst examples of where that leads in the 20th century but we just won't learn that lesson. That's why we don't teach our children that this is an often fatal disease. If all children grew up understanding that all are equal and anyone who thinks differently is a danger to all, millions of lives would be both longer and happier.

We put health warnings on cigarettes and other poisons. It's now time to put health warnings on the output of politicians and others who seek to manipulate us.
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Cheers for that!
I‘ve always had problems with those ’reclaim password’ which ask “who was your childhood hero” and so on. I used to rack my brains to think of one but couldn’t come up with anyone … Winnie the Pooh* maybe :). Of course I eventually realised you could put anything down as long as you recorded it your password manager :).

Hero worship has spread widely now thanks to TV, Internet and these ‘influencers’ :(.


* Maybe not so unrealistic:
en.wikipedia.org

The Tao of Pooh - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
Richard has the truth of it, in my opinion. Organising people is a skill. Some people have an innate ability and others can learn it. Too many misuse that skill to their own advantage, which is possible because there are far too many who are suggestible and have accepted the idea that there are "leaders" who know better than they do.

We've seen the worst examples of where that leads in the 20th century but we just won't learn that lesson. That's why we don't teach our children that this is an often fatal disease. If all children grew up understanding that all are equal and anyone who thinks differently is a danger to all, millions of lives would be both longer and happier.

We put health warnings on cigarettes and other poisons. It's now time to put health warnings on the output of politicians and others who seek to manipulate us.
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Of course it’s not an entirely original thought, maybe influenced by:
Cassius:
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

”That’s the way to do it!” as I’m sure Brutus really said as he stabbed Caesar before it was immortalised by Punch ;).
 
sphexx said:
”That’s the way to do it!” as I’m sure Brutus really said as he stabbed Caesar before it was immortalised by Punch ;).
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Whereupon Caesar cried: "Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in fa me."
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
Whereupon Caesar cried: "Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in fa me."
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Well have to a movie called … Caesar & Brutus — What A Carry On :).

Oops, gone a teeny bit OT there :(. Think I’d better stop since this is an RIP thread.
 
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