Sir Clive Sinclair

[Up the Junction]

10 PRINT "The nation's favourite Stringfellows loving, C5 driving, ZX Spectrum creating, ginger-haired boffin died today aged 81."

20 PRINT "His influence on the youth of Generation X is perhaps unparalleled and he almost single-handedly put the UK on the computing map."

30 PRINT "Between him and former employee Chris Curry, who started Acorn computing, they must have generated untold fortunes for the UK economy."

40 PRINT "RIP Sir Clive."

50 GOTO 10

[DasNutNock2]

Well said, Junksh. No way I’d have had my career in IT without getting hold of an old ZX-81 and then my 48k + as a kid. Despite the fact I’ve never been much of a developer, I learned more about the language of computers with a spectrum than I ever learned being caught pascal & c++ at university. A Titan of the home computing revolution, his influence is impossible to overstate.

[Up the Junction]

I've read so many stories like this today, Das.

He was a spiky old sort - Micro Men was a brilliant little fillum about his rivalry with Acorn - but without him there would never be so many UK developers and designers out here.

And as I said on twitter last night, were Sinclair not a thing we'd probably not be having this conversation either. How ironic though that he was to die at "81"...

[DasNutNock2]

I rewatched Micro Men only a couple months back. Excellent drama, and an absorbing story. Wonder if they actually realised how much of an impact they’d have, back then.

[Vienna]

I owned a Speccy (best gaming system I've ever owned) and a C5. RIP Sir Clive.

[binary]

Yeah, but his vision of electric vehicles will never take off.

An absolute genius and way ahead of the game. Just a pity he was so dismissive of the incredible games that appeared on his home computers. A brilliant, brilliant man who introduced programming to so many kids.

[DasNutNock2]

Yeah, but his vision of electric vehicles will never take off.

An absolute genius and way ahead of the game. Just a pity he was so dismissive of the incredible games that appeared on his home computers. A brilliant, brilliant man who introduced programming to so many kids.

He must have eventually come to realise that games were what sparked kids’ interest in computers. No 8 year old is interested in spreadsheets or word processors, without games, computers are only interesting to adults.

[Whitters]

He must have eventually come to realise that games were what sparked kids’ interest in computers. No 8 year old is interested in spreadsheets or word processors, without games, computers are only interesting to adults.

Indeed. I used to spend hours typing in code that was printed in magazines for games on my Vic20 after doing the same on a mate's ZX81, it sparked a lifelong interest in computers

[binary]

Indeed. I used to spend hours typing in code that was printed in magazines for games on my Vic20 after doing the same on a mate's ZX81, it sparked a lifelong interest in computers

I read an interview with an editor of a magazine that did type in listings. He discovered the art department would regularly remove whole or lines of parts of code just to fit their illustrations or decorative borders. When he said they couldn't do it again, they couldn't understand what the problem was.

[DasNutNock2]

I read an interview with an editor of a magazine that did type in listings. He discovered the art department would regularly remove whole or lines of parts of code just to fit their illustrations or decorative borders. When he said they couldn't do it again, they couldn't understand what the problem was.

That rather explains a lot...