PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

RetroSirCliveSinclair, 1940 – 2021

saying,“wethoughtofcalling it ‘Not

theBBCMicro’”,showinghisongoing

anger.Itwasanimpressivecomputer

witheightcolours,a much-improved

keyboard, a built-insoundgenerator

andloudspeaker andeither16Kor

48Kofmemory.Pricedat£125forthe

16Kmodel,itwassignificantlyless

thanthecheapestBBCMicroModelA,

whichcost£299.

Anditsold.Inbucketloads,

increasingthevalueofSinclair

Researchto£136millionby1983,the

yearSinclairwasknighted. More

revisionsweremadewiththeZX

Spectrum+andtheZXSpectrum128,

andSinclairvigorouslytalkedthem

upinthepress.Hewasalsoproud

whenPrimeMinisterMargaret

Thatcherdemonstrateda ZX

Spectrum to herJapanesecounterpart

ZenkōSuzukiduringa visittotheFar

EastinSeptember1982;itwasone

overonAcorn,afterall.

Theseweregoodtimes.In 1983 ,

SinclairResearchestablisheda

researchcentreina 2 00 -year-old

manor,MiltonHallnearCambridge,

whereworkonwater-scale

integration,AIandformalverification

wascarriedout.Anengineer,Huw

(whodidn’twanttosharehissurname

withus),remembersthosedayswell.

“MiltonHallhada freecanteenand

bar,”hesaid.“Clivelikeda beerand

therewasalwaysa barrelofGreene

KingIPAonthepump,changed

frequentlytokeepitfresh.After

lunch,thegeneralideawasnotto

workbutjustgoroundchattingto

theotherengineers.”

Itwouldappearhebecameless

difficulttoworkfortoo.“Onceyou

gotpastthe‘posh’accentandtalked

aboutelectronics,hewaslovely,

dangerouslyintelligent

knowledgeable,”Huw

said.Not thatSinclair’s

passioncouldn’tspill

over.InDecember

1984,hefamouslyhit

Curryoverthehead

witharolled-up

newspaperinthe

BaronofBeefpubin

Cambridge,enragedby

anadvert he’dseen.

Thisad statedthat

theBBCMicrowas m

morereliablethanthe

Spectrum,andthata

largepercentageof

buyerstookthembackt

theshopsforan

exchange. “Clive

remonstratednoisily,

wavingacopyofthe

newspaperwithour

advertinit,”Curry

recalled.Butthatwas

thestart. “I decidedto

movetoournextdrin

place,ShadesWineBar,butClive

followed me andgrabbedmefrom

behind.I instinctivelyturnedand

punchedhim.He felldownmore

fromalcohol thanhurt.”

Thebeefhittheheadlines,asyou’d

expectoftwo heavyweightsof the

techindustrygoingheadtoheadin

sucha way.“But it wasa stormin a

teacupandweneverreferred to it

again,”Currysaidoftheincidentjust

beforeChristmas 1984. Again,Sinclair

couldbeforgiving.

Continuingthejourney

Butthenotherthingswereon

Sinclair’smindatthispoint:his

pockettelevision, theTV80,and

theSinclairQLcomputerflopped.

Hisinfamous C5 electricvehicle,

poweredbya modified washing

machineengine,wasalsoaboutto

launchinJanuary 1985 – and

wassneeredatbycritics

labellingita danger.“There

[were]threeorfourC5sinthe

barnforanyonetousetogo

intoCambridge,”saidHuw.

“Ineversawonebeingused.”

In 1985 , Sinclairdivorcedhis

firstwife,Ann,after 20 yearsof

marriage,withwhomhehad

threechildren:Crispin,

Bartholomew andBelinda.

In1986,themarketingand

merchandising rightsto

SinclairResearch’sinventions

weresoldtoAmstradfor £ 5

millionata timewhen

Sinclair’scomputersstill

enjoyeda 40%market

Ina recenttweet,

bossLordAlanSugar sa

Sinclair:“Hekick-start

consumerelectronics

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO

UKwithhisamplifierkits, then

calculators,watches,miniTV andof

coursetheSinclairZX.”Inhisbook,

WhatYouSeeIsWhatYouGet, Sugar

callshima “nationaltreasure”but

saysSinclairacceptedhewasmoreof

a boffinthana businessman.

Fromthatpointonwards,Sinclair

largelyconcentratedon tryingto

revolutionisetransport,launching

theZikeelectronicbicyclein 1992 as

wellasa motoriseddevicecalledZeta

in 1994 thatwouldfitontoan

ordinarypedalcycle.Hemarried

formerStringfellowsnightclub

dancer AngieBownessin2010,

divorcingsevenyearslater.Healso

hadfivegrandchildrenandtwo

great-grandchildren.

Heleavesthem,histhreechildren

andhordesoffanswhowillnever

forgethislegacyandtheimpacthe

hadon Britishtechnology

andcomputing.Butwhile

heknewhowlaudedhe

was,such newswould

likely havereachedhimvia

traditionalmeans: he told

TheGuardianin 201 0 that

hedidn’tusea computer

andfoundemailsannoying.

“Henever programmed

anything,”Currysaid. “He

wrotelonghandtomost

people unlesshissecretary

wasabout,hisfilingsystem

wastwo piles on hisdesk

(themostusedthingalways

nearthetop)andhenever

hada mobilephone– copper

.”For someone

f histime,it

msodd.But

atwasSinclair

• a manwho
  ncepursueda
  obilephone
  t yetonly
  ndedsuchtech
  usedbyothers.
  was,quite
  ofhis
  nlydidhe
  thirstfor
  uting,he
  ngminiature
  believed
  biggerwasbetter. He reckonedsmall
  screenswereconvenient and,indeed,
  therearenoqualmstodayabout
  watchingTVonsmallscreens.“It’s
  onlytaken 40 years,”saidCurry.
  There’sno sneeringatmodern
  attemptstocreateelectricvehicles,
  either.“SirClive’slaterworkon
  personalelectronictransport,which
  atthetimewasseenaseccentric,has
  cometolookprescient,”saidUpton.
  Indeed,asUptonpointsout,it’s nowa
  challengeto avoidgetting hitbya Voi
  scooterinhishometown.There’sno
  doubtSinclairwillbe sorelymissed.

ylishthatitwona

esignCouncil

ward

LEFTA reporter,

quotedinSinclair

User, said the

punch-upwith

CurrygaveSir

Clive“sexappeal”

o

st

g

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D

a

.

strad

idof

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the

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o be

He

imply,

ime.Not

dentifya

ffordable

AOV e asproduci

BELOWTheSpectrum

helpedtokick-start

Britain’svideogame

industry

Games

image:

Bramfab,

CC

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