Clive sinclair dead
Discussion
Cant see this posted anywhere yet, dead at 81 today apparently. ZX Spectrum was a big part of my childhood (although I actually had a BBC)
Really good film about him and Chris Curry on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXBxV6-zamM
Really good film about him and Chris Curry on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXBxV6-zamM
595Heaven said:
Really sad news.
He piqued my interest in everything tech, beginning with my ZX81 (with 16k RAM pack of course).
Very fond memories of the hours and hours I spent programming it, only to lose it all when the tape wouldn’t record!
RIP
Mine was the zx81 with no ram pack (so no risk of wobble)He piqued my interest in everything tech, beginning with my ZX81 (with 16k RAM pack of course).
Very fond memories of the hours and hours I spent programming it, only to lose it all when the tape wouldn’t record!
RIP
RIP.
This sad news evokes so many memories of my teens. The Spectrum was so exciting, I used to play with a picture of one! There was nothing as exciting at the time as the ZX Spectrum launch, other home computers magazines with programmes and swapping cassettes with your mates. Very happy times indeed. This chap, he made it happen
Thanks Clive.
Syntax error.
Thanks Clive.
Syntax error.
My father had 3 Sinclair C5 over the years, one he found in a skip. They were actually very simply engineered underneath with the Lotus design.They were actually quite rare by the late 90's when my father restored one and put it up for auction the TV cameras from the BBC next door turned up at the auction house to find out who owned it and did a story on the evening news.
The concept was clever but the marketing was all wrong, my father always says that if Sir Clive had marketed them as a recreational mode of transport for holiday and caravan parks, uni campus and business parks they would probably have sold more. In the 80's. there were zero cycle lanes so anyone making a short commute in a C5 was running the gauntlet and risking their lives. They even offered insurance with the C5 through the Pru.
Just looked on eBay and there is one was 8 days left up over £1k.
The concept was clever but the marketing was all wrong, my father always says that if Sir Clive had marketed them as a recreational mode of transport for holiday and caravan parks, uni campus and business parks they would probably have sold more. In the 80's. there were zero cycle lanes so anyone making a short commute in a C5 was running the gauntlet and risking their lives. They even offered insurance with the C5 through the Pru.
Just looked on eBay and there is one was 8 days left up over £1k.
troc said:
I was so jealous of my friends with zx81s and then spectrums - until we got a bbc micro 
Clive Sinclair single handedly put a computer in a vast amount of households. He started the personal computing revolution by making one that was cheap, so accessible to all. He then upped the game with the ZX Spectrum introducing one with colour and sound - this was the one that sold the big numbers.The Spectrum was £125 vs the BBC at £235. Almost half the price.
That was why it succeeded, that and a focus on games rather than education.
I did use a BBC Micro at school and it was a far superior bit of kit, but, it was too expensive for my parents. They also had a ZX80 at the same school. Incomparable really :-) - I still remember to this day scratching my head (at 11 years old) trying to work out why my small program would not work, and then the teacher explained that typing the word "print" was not the same as selecting "print" as a pre-written word from the crowded, plastic membrane keyboard :-)
I got given a ZX and how we got it working was a miracle as my parents only knew how to use a remote control.
I remember getting a snazzy new smooth joystick for Daley Thompson (after the inherited one broke).
Wish I'd learnt more about how it worked at the young age other than playing games on it.
My brother spilt milk on it and I seem to recall it still working.
I remember getting a snazzy new smooth joystick for Daley Thompson (after the inherited one broke).
Wish I'd learnt more about how it worked at the young age other than playing games on it.
My brother spilt milk on it and I seem to recall it still working.
I still have my Spectrum....and some games.....and the ZX thermal printer!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sinclair.zx.the...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sinclair.zx.the...
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