PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

Editor’sletter

A

lthoughIlovethiscountry

ofours,therearetimes

whenyouwonderhowit

everruledthewaves.We’re

likethegrownmanwhocan’ttakea

compliment,flappingitawaywitha

self-deprecatingcomment.When

Britsdoamazingthings,webriefly

acknowledgetheir achievements

beforerushingtotalkabouttheirflaws.

I seethisinthecolumninches

dedicatedtoSirCliveSinclair afterhe

died,eventhephotosusedtoillustrate

thestories:boththeBBCandThe

Guardianshowedhimsittingina C5.

I nevermetSirClive,butI’ve

interviewedpeoplewhoworkedwith

him- andthosewhocompetedagainst

him.Everysinglepersonhasbeenfull

ofadmirationforhisgeniusandhis

impact:alltold, hiscomputerssold

oversixmillionunits,andthat’son

topof a decadespentinnovating with

electronicsandcalculators.

Why,then, doesthemediatryto

defineoneoftheUK’smostsuccessful

entrepreneursbyhisfailures?It’ssuch

a Britishtrait. In theUS,thefailed

projectswould be signsofboldness.

Toparaphrasetheman himself, until

you’vecreatedthatnovelthing,you

don’tknowifthere’s a marketforit.

Sure,withhindsight,theC5was

doomed.Butyoucouldarguethatthe

problemwasn’ttheideabutthatit

wasborntooearly.Asweslowlyshift

towardsa futureofsemi-autonomous

andelectric cars,a single-person

vehiclethatcanefficientlyshuttle

peoplefromA to B makesa lotof

sense.MaybesomesuccessoroftheC

willeventuallyhelpuscutemissions

(atopicwecoveron p126).

EveniftheC5wastheworstideain

theworld,whocares?Togetherwith

hischiefengineerJimWestwood,Sir

Clivedefied therulesbylaunchinga

sub-£100computer,theZX80,in 1980.

A year latercametheevencheaper

ZX81,beforemetamorphosingintothe

Spectrum that helped to inspirea

generationofBritishschoolchildren.

Sinclairthenbackeda young

engineernamed DavidKarlin,fresh

fromFairfieldSemiconductorinPalo

Alto,whotoldmehewantedto create

a “few hundredpounds’worth of

XeroxStar,bearinginmindthata

XeroxStarwouldhavebeentengrand

atthetime”.Announceda month

beforetheAppleMacintosh,Karlin’s

visionultimatelybecametheSinclair

QL.Thisprojecthasbeen consignedto

thefailureslistinthehistorybooks,

butit sailedcloseto brilliance.Heck,it

wasthe firstcomputerLinus Torvalds

owned,soholdsitsplaceinhistory.

InsteadoffocusingontheC5,we

shouldadmirea mandeterminedto

plothisownpath.I findit farmore

interestingthat SirCliverarelyused

hisowninventions.Hewasknownfor

usinga slideruleratherthana pocket

calculator,forsendinglettersrather

thanemails,fornever masteringthe

computershehelped to popularise.

Hewasa generousman,throwing

lavishpartiesforhisemployees

whentimesweregood.Mostofall,

hewasa visionary.Hedreamed of a

four-seaterelectriccar,evenbaptised

ittheSinclairC15,longbefore the

Tesla camealong.

It’sthisvision,thisgenerosity,

alongwithhismanysuccesses,that

shouldberemembered. He wasa

genius.Flawed?Sure,butonly

becausewe’reallflawed.EvenSteve

Jobs’careerwaslitteredwithfailures,

butJobsisrightly rememberedfor

changingthe faceofcomputing- and

thesameshouldbetrueofSirClive

Sinclair.Readourtributeon p 12 3.

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO

Let’scelebrate

SirCliveSinclair’s

lifeforthe

triumphitwas

TimDanton

Editor-in-chief

NikRawlinson

Withastringofself-

publishednovelstohis

name,Nikrevealsthe

toolsheusestoturnideas

intobooksthatpeople

wanttobuyonp

NathanSpendelow

Havingputbothof

Samsung’snewfoldable

phonesthroughthe

wringer,Nathanexplains

whyhe’ssuchabigfanof

theZFlip3.Seep

CONTRIBUTORS

JonHoneyball

TogetherwithBarryCollins,

Jonshareshisthoughtson

Windows 11 fromp46–and

revealsthatrippinguphis

networkisn’tquitegoingto

planonp

DarienGraham-Smith

Darienhasaknackof

turningtechnicaltopics

intosomethingyou

wanttoreadabout;he

turnshisaentionto

NTFSonp