Sir Clive Sinclair: Computing pioneer dies aged 81

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

Sir Clive Sinclair: Computing pioneer dies aged 81

16 September 2021

Inventor Sir Clive Sinclair, who popularised the home computer and invented the pocket calculator, has died at his London home aged 81.

His daughter Belinda Sinclair said he passed away on Thursday morning after having cancer for more than a decade.

Sir Clive's products included the ZX series of computers and his ill-fated C5 electric vehicle.

He was still working on his inventions last week "because that was what he loved doing", said Ms Sinclair.

"He was inventive and imaginative and for him it was exciting and an adventure, it was his passion," she added.

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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-58587521


Sir Clive Sinclair demonstrates his ill-fated electric C5 vehicle in 1985 (David Levenson)

[PoliticAverse]

1. Still have my Sinclair PDM 35...

[MoonlitKnight]

2. My first computer

Was a Sinclair ZX80.

[hunter]

3. He created some interesting hardware.

I've still got my little Sinclair scientific calculator, which was sold as a kit, and a few Sinclair Z80 based computers. I've also got this weird Chinese clone of a Sinclair computer.

Most unauthorized clones were produced in Russia and other Eastern Bloc nations.

These machines were simple enough that a single person could fully understand the hardware and software. The inner workings of modern computers, cell phones, etc., are buried under multiple layers of abstraction and complexity.

[BlueIdaho]

4. The things I learned about computing

By writing simple programs on my Times Sinclair computer are still valid today. I had a ball with that thing!

[lpbk2713]

5. He was a trailblazer.

It seems so long ago that I first heard of his Z80. I knew it was the start of a revolution.

[area51]

6. RIP

[MustLoveBeagles]

7. RIP

[Shellback Squid]

8. He acquired a old mill in St Ives, England, my sister worked at that factory in the 70's