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Sir Clive Sinclair Dies age 81

The Prince-e-Paul
The Prince-e-Paul Posts: 6,688
edited September 2021 in Not Sports Related
The man that game us the pocket calculator, ZX81 and Spectrum has died. 

I remember the dullness that followed the intrigue of programming on the ZX81. The spectrum was truly a game changer. 

RIP

Comments

  • Fumbluff
    Fumbluff Posts: 10,127
    I loved programming little games on my Spectrum back in the day. 
    RIP Sir Clive, long live Horace goes Skiing
  • Lincsaddick
    Lincsaddick Posts: 32,355
    Shame about the C5, but we all make mistakes. A clever man, just perhaps a 'bit before his time' .. R I P
  • southamptonaddick
    southamptonaddick Posts: 4,054
    Fumbluff said:
    I loved programming little games on my Spectrum back in the day. 
    RIP Sir Clive, long live Horace goes Skiing
    I was only talking to a bloke at work this morning about Horace goes skiing.

    RIP Sir Clive
  • Friend Or Defoe
    Friend Or Defoe Posts: 18,091
    R.I.P.

    My uncle had a C5 which i used to ride as a child, what a piece of shit it was! Hopefully it won't overshadow the pocket calculator which was life altering and the Spectrum which was a game changer.
  • Gribbo
    Gribbo Posts: 8,485
    Thought he died years ago in an accident in his garden.

    Me and my brother had the 48k with rubber keys. We had a book and you inputted the codes, it loaded up and you could play the game. 

    RIP
  • soapy_jones
    soapy_jones Posts: 21,355
    RIP to a man of genius.
  • MuttleyCAFC
    MuttleyCAFC Posts: 47,729
    I loved my Speccy. R.I.P.
  • CharltonKerry
    CharltonKerry Posts: 2,960
    Thanks sir Clive, His sad demise has made me marvel at how times had changed and are still changing, at school I had log tables and a slide rule. Calculators only came about when I been working for around 5 to 10 years, first one I saw was hand built from a kit, and my brain could calculate quicker than that calculator. It the ongoing progress that staggers me, as an example my nan when born, no one undertaken powered flight, when she died men had walked on the moon. When I was born the only phone was at the end of the road and if your luck was in you pressed button B and some money came out. Now we walk around with them and the computer inside are millions times more powerful than that went on that first flight to the moon. It’s absolutely staggering, and you got to wonder we’re it will all end. 
  • Wheresmeticket
    Wheresmeticket Posts: 17,304
    The Prince-e-Paul said:
    The man that game us the pocket calculator, ZX81 and Spectrum has died. 

    I remember the dullness that followed the intrigue of programming on the ZX81. The spectrum was truly a game changer. 

    RIP
    The ZX81 was a genuinely creative tool.
  • Bod
    Bod Posts: 178
    Loved and still love my dear old Spectrum- this is where gaming began for me.
    RIP Sir Clive.
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  • CafcWest
    CafcWest Posts: 6,170
    edited September 2021
    Got me into computing and a reasonable career…couldn’t get on with the ZX81 keyboard so switched to Commodore VIC20…but Sinclair changed the face of computing.  RIP.
  • killerandflash
    killerandflash Posts: 69,851
    RIP, a massive innovator in the late 70s and early 80s, who introduced a whole generation of children to home computing, and programming. And wobbly 16k Ram packs...
  • NornIrishAddick
    NornIrishAddick Posts: 9,623
    Proper visionary, and what I grew up expecting a tech genius to look like, instead of those who (seemingly rather sinister) dominate the economy today.

    RIP.
  • Rob7Lee
    Rob7Lee Posts: 9,595
    zx81 was my first computer, in fact having a clear out the other week I actually sold my old programming book!

    RIP
  • golfaddick
    golfaddick Posts: 33,628
    I remember marvelling at the neatness of a "personal computer" when one of my school mates got the ZX81. Rubber keys by jove !!!  

    Bloke was a genius. RIP
  • MuttleyCAFC
    MuttleyCAFC Posts: 47,729
    I have my speccy in the loft somewhere with tapes and a microdrive. 
  • MrOneLung
    MrOneLung Posts: 26,856
    I too had the rubber keyed Spectrum. 

    Nothing beat your mate discovering a cracking game you tape to taping it for yourself. Waiting to see if your bootleg copy would load up - especially if machine code rather than basic. Failing then adjusting the volume on your tape recorder then going again. 

    Mine blew up after many years use by plugging in my Kenpston Joystick into the port whilst the computer was turned on. 

    RIP Clive - thanks for the memories 


  • Wheresmeticket
    Wheresmeticket Posts: 17,304
    I used to write programmes that looped with minor changes projecting patterns onto an old colour TV. The processor was so small when I combined it with a tone generating line it could only do one at a time...
  • Lordflashheart
    Lordflashheart Posts: 5,623
    RIP - I met him once - interesting bloke - he loved poker, which took me by surprise

    Fond memories of playing Jetpac on my mates Sinclair
  • AndyG
    AndyG Posts: 5,906
    I used to play poker with him regularly at tournaments in the Victoria casino absolute gentleman at all times
    RIP we have lost a genius of our time
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  • MuttleyCAFC
    MuttleyCAFC Posts: 47,729
    edited September 2021
    I used to type in listings from mags like Computer and Video games. Most of the games were crap but there were a few great ones like a caterpillar one similar to the Nokia Phone game. I enjoyed changing the graphics to personalise them a bit. 

    Manic Miner and Daley Thompson's Decathlon were games I spent a lot of time playing and Knightlore was fantastic technically. The latter was a real joystick killer. It was a great little thing the 48k Speccy. 

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