Sir Clive Sinclair Passes Away
I think the ZX Spectrum cost £99 or less and taught tens of thousands of children and adults to code, the old fashioned way, without compiler or the usual tools, just pen and paper and hours poking and peeking. The C-5 may not appear to be one of his best ideas but you have to credit him for being one of the first to put battery powered vehicles on the road. It reportedly had a top speed of 15mph and a range of 20 miles, and if the 12v battery ran out of power you could pedal it to the nearest USB charger.
I'm too young to remember the ZX80 or 81, only the ZX Spectrum.
I never really thought about it before but perhaps I owe my IT career to Clive Sinclair. When I left school I was told by career advisors that you need a degree in computer science to get a job as a programmer (some way removed from burning park benches ). I ignored the advice, applied for jobs and was offered the first programming job I applied for, as an IBM/COBOL programmer. Looking back on it, I think the advice I was given was correct at the time but the mid 80s was a rapidly changing time, kickstarted by the likes of Sinclair bringing computers to homes.
- ShaunWhite
- Posts: 9731
- Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2016 3:42 am
Wonder if a wobbly RAM pack on his life support machine did for him. If so then that's fair given the grief his RAM packs used to cause me! Classic British inventor, great ideas but undeniably ify "proof of concept" products.
Built a ZX81 kit with my dad on the kitchen table (it's 69.99 vs 99.99 son, 'how hard can it be' but even that was a week's wages for him) no soldering iron, just a braising iron on the gas stove. It worked , I used it for graphics on 2 TVs for a crappy band... And taught myself enough to get a job and ended up designing systems that transacted billions a day. Pivotal. Thanks Clive, thanks dad.
I've got an unmade ZX81 kit in the loft I bought in the late 90s, I might go look at it
Built a ZX81 kit with my dad on the kitchen table (it's 69.99 vs 99.99 son, 'how hard can it be' but even that was a week's wages for him) no soldering iron, just a braising iron on the gas stove. It worked , I used it for graphics on 2 TVs for a crappy band... And taught myself enough to get a job and ended up designing systems that transacted billions a day. Pivotal. Thanks Clive, thanks dad.
I've got an unmade ZX81 kit in the loft I bought in the late 90s, I might go look at it
Ha, the old 16k RAM pack, held on with an elastic band. I remember spending hours typing in a 1k chess prog in machine code, from a magazine. Only for a RAM pack wobble to wipe the lot.ShaunWhite wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 12:45 amWonder if a wobbly RAM pack on his life support machine did for him. If so then that's fair given the grief his RAM packs used to cause me! Classic British inventor, great ideas but undeniably ify "proof of concept" products.
Built a ZX81 kit with my dad on the kitchen table (it's 69.99 vs 99.99 son, 'how hard can it be' but even that was a week's wages for him) no soldering iron, just a braising iron on the gas stove. It worked , I used it for graphics on 2 TVs for a crappy band... And taught myself enough to get a job and ended up designing systems that transacted billions a day. Pivotal. Thanks Clive, thanks dad.
I've got an unmade ZX81 kit in the loft I bought in the late 90s, I might go look at it
Kids these days .....
Ever played Hobbit, 6 minutes to load off cassette. I think it used up every available byte of RAM, sometimes failed to read the last byte and you start all over again. Fond memories all the same.sniffer66 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 6:12 amHa, the old 16k RAM pack, held on with an elastic band. I remember spending hours typing in a 1k chess prog in machine code, from a magazine. Only for a RAM pack wobble to wipe the lot.ShaunWhite wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 12:45 amWonder if a wobbly RAM pack on his life support machine did for him. If so then that's fair given the grief his RAM packs used to cause me! Classic British inventor, great ideas but undeniably ify "proof of concept" products.
Built a ZX81 kit with my dad on the kitchen table (it's 69.99 vs 99.99 son, 'how hard can it be' but even that was a week's wages for him) no soldering iron, just a braising iron on the gas stove. It worked , I used it for graphics on 2 TVs for a crappy band... And taught myself enough to get a job and ended up designing systems that transacted billions a day. Pivotal. Thanks Clive, thanks dad.
I've got an unmade ZX81 kit in the loft I bought in the late 90s, I might go look at it
Kids these days .....
- wearthefoxhat
- Posts: 3219
- Joined: Sun Feb 18, 2018 9:55 am
in 1985 he was the Elon Musk of his time.
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I remember it well, used to play all the old adventure games. Loved all the logic puzzles. Now it seems to be all RPG basedDerek27 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 6:41 amEver played Hobbit, 6 minutes to load off cassette. I think it used up every available byte of RAM, sometimes failed to read the last byte and you start all over again. Fond memories all the same.sniffer66 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 6:12 amHa, the old 16k RAM pack, held on with an elastic band. I remember spending hours typing in a 1k chess prog in machine code, from a magazine. Only for a RAM pack wobble to wipe the lot.ShaunWhite wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 12:45 amWonder if a wobbly RAM pack on his life support machine did for him. If so then that's fair given the grief his RAM packs used to cause me! Classic British inventor, great ideas but undeniably ify "proof of concept" products.
Built a ZX81 kit with my dad on the kitchen table (it's 69.99 vs 99.99 son, 'how hard can it be' but even that was a week's wages for him) no soldering iron, just a braising iron on the gas stove. It worked , I used it for graphics on 2 TVs for a crappy band... And taught myself enough to get a job and ended up designing systems that transacted billions a day. Pivotal. Thanks Clive, thanks dad.
I've got an unmade ZX81 kit in the loft I bought in the late 90s, I might go look at it
Kids these days .....
- Realrocknrolla
- Posts: 1903
- Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:15 pm
10 Print “RIP SIR CLIVE”
20 GOTO 10
Run
Or something like that…
My childhood coming back to me.
20 GOTO 10
Run
Or something like that…
My childhood coming back to me.
Those early computers were great. You could create many wondrous screens on a Commodore 64 with a decent knowledge of 'Basic'Realrocknrolla wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 8:07 am10 Print “RIP SIR CLIVE”
20 GOTO 10
Run
Or something like that…
My childhood coming back to me.
- Realrocknrolla
- Posts: 1903
- Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:15 pm
Completely agree Tiss.LeTiss wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 9:29 amThose early computers were great. You could create many wondrous screens on a Commodore 64 with a decent knowledge of 'Basic'Realrocknrolla wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 8:07 am10 Print “RIP SIR CLIVE”
20 GOTO 10
Run
Or something like that…
My childhood coming back to me.
Hope your well bud!
I once had an all night coding session with a friend of mine and wiped the lot by dropping my coffee cup on the desk. Fortunately we did save a copy a few times. If only we could load it without an 'R: Tape loading error'