PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

Inspirationalstoriesfromcomputing’slong-distantpast

S

irCliveSinclairwanted

peopletoembrace

technology,yethedidn’t

appearentirelyconvinced

himself.Despitespendingmuchofthe

1970sdevelopingpocketcalculators,

healwaysuseda slide rule,saysAcorn

co-founderChristopherCurry.“And

flyingslide-ruleswerean

occupationalhazard when you

workedforhim,”Curryadded.

Quirky,eccentric,inventiveand

driven,Sinclairwasalsotheeternal

optimistoftheBritishtechnology

industry.Itsaysmuchabouthis

character thathewasworkingonnew

inventionsa week before he diedon

16 Septemberthisyear,aged81.

Althoughhe battledcancerformore

thana decade,hisenthusiasmto

inventneverwaned.

“Isupposehewasa bitlikeElon

Muskbut 50 yearsearlier,”said

Curry,whojoinedtheentrepreneur’s

company,SinclairRadionics,in 1 966

andremainedtherefor 13 years

beforebecominga business rival.

“Buthewasn’teasyto workforif

onewassensitive.

“Therewerescreamingrages;

objectswerethrown.But, after the

stormpassedand,followinganhour

ortwo at thepub,allrantswere

forgottenandforgiven.Mostpeople

inthe small team cametotermswith

thisandtheywereveryhappyto

continuewiththedevelopmentof

innovativeproducts.”

Thoseproductsincludedthe

ZXSpectrumanditsprevious

variants,machinesthatbrought

homecomputerstothemasses.

TheyenabledSinclairtohavea

humongousimpacton theBritish

computerindustry,notonly

introducing peopleto coding,but

nurturinga flourishingvideogame

industrythatkickstartedmany

careersandcompanies.

“It’sveryeasytospeakabout

hisimpact,”saidEbonUpton,

CEOofRaspberry Pi.“Hewasa

visionaryandtheembodimentof

a particularstrandof British

inventiveness. Withoutthefocuson

affordabilitythatSirClivebroughtto

theZX80, ZX81 andSpectrum, far

feweryoungpeopleinthe 1 98 0s

wouldhave hadaccessto

programmable computinghardware.”

Sinclair’sshrinkingworld

BorninRichmond on 30 July1940,to

engineerbusinessmanGeorgeSinclair

andThoraMarles,Sinclairwasthe

eldestofthreechildren.Privately

educatedinWeybridge,wherehe

tookA- andS-levels in physics,pure

mathsandappliedmaths,hedidn’tgo

touniversity,insteadbecoming

editorialassistantforPractical

Wirelessmagazine.

Hewentontoeditthe

publication,but

thetimeto

Thisledhimto

SinclairRadion

1961 ata house

Islingtonatthe

ageof22,and

hedeveloped

a fascination

formaking

astiny as possib

withsmallradi

mailorder.

“Smallwashismotivation,”said

Curry.Andindeeditwas. TheMicro-6

in 1964 wasa matchbox-sizewrist-

wearable radio,pricedat59/6d

(roughly£60today), whilethe

Micromatic in 1 967 waspromotedas

the“world’ssmallestradio”.In

between,in1966,SinclairRadionics

beganworkonMicrovision,the

world’sfirstportableTV.

“Whenthiscameout[10years

later],Wimbledon wasonand

peoplesaiditwastoosmallto see

theball,”Currylaughed.“Clive

explainedearnestlythatit wasall

aboutanglesubtendedandthat

watchinga Microvisionatteninches

awaywasjustthesame as a14in

portableat 12 feet.”

ision

ftenfeelas

h Sinclair’s

illiantmind

constantly

stingwith

“Clivehada

itofdroppinga

ket’design

andtelling

buildit,”

lled.Given

Remembering Sir Clive

Sinclair: ZX in

BELOWIt’stheZX

Spectrumforwhich

SirClivewillbemost

fondlyremembered

ABOVESirClive

Sinclair: 30 July 1940

to 16 September 2021

DavidCrookeslooksbackoverthelifeofone

ofBritain’sgreatestinventors–thelegendary

creatoroftheZXSpectrum