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Clive Miles Sinclair

Clive Marles Sinclair is a British businessman whose company was responsible for developing the legendary ZX Spectrum.

Biography

Clive Sinclair was born on July 30, 1940 in Surrey (UK).

Sinclair's father and grandfather were engineers, and Clive himself from childhood showed increased attention to electronics and design art. Sinclair received his primary education at Box Grove School, but with higher education he became unhappy due to financial problems of Bill Sinclair, Clive's father. Nevertheless, it is known that Clive Sinclair demonstrated excellent abilities in the field of physics and mathematics, studying at St. George's College in Weybridge and Highgate School in London.

At a young age, Sinclair earned money by washing dishes in eateries, cutting lawns. And even received 6 pence more than permanent staff in the cafe. Having decided to work in the field of electrical engineering, he goes in search of a new job. His goal is a position at Mullrad. But he was not accepted. Sinclair did not want to get a higher education and chose to sell sets for amateur microelectronics by mail instead of university.

1961: Founding of Sinclair Radionics

The history of Clive Sinclair as an inventor began in 1961, when he was 21 years old. This year, he founded his first company, Sinclair Radionics, for which he saved money for four years while working as a journalist. The company lasted 18 years and ceased to exist in 1979. Over the years, its range included portable televisions, mobile radios, wristwatches and calculators.

1980: Release of ZX series computers

The inventor worked on ZX Spectrum as part of Sinclair Research Ltd. At first, the company was called Westminster Mail Order Ltd, then it was renamed Sinclair Instrument Ltd, and after a while it became known as Science of Cambridge Ltd. Sinclair later changed its name to Sinclair Computers Ltd., and to Sinclair Research Ltd. it turned into 1981, incorporating part of the assets of Sinclair Radionics, by then closed.

Clive Sinclair introduced his first computer in 1980, calling it the ZX80. At that time, it was one of the few computers in the UK, costing less than £100. At the time of release, it cost about five times cheaper than its counterparts, which made it popular.

Sinclair's next creation was the ZX81 computer (numbers in the titles indicate the year of release). If the original ZX80 sold about 50 thousand copies, then the ZX81 with entry-level color graphics was sold in the amount of about 250 thousand copies.

In 1982, Sinclair released the ZX Spectrum 48K computer, which forever inscribed his name in the history of the development of information technologies. Conventional cassettes were used as a storage medium in this PC. He did not have a monitor, but he was able to display an image on the screen of a home TV.

The ZX Spectrum 48K has repeatedly surpassed the popularity of both of its predecessors. Its sales reached 5 million copies. The developers also praised the capabilities of the computer, writing for it over 24 thousand programs (for the entire existence of the platform).

1983: Founding of Sinclair Vehicles to work on electric transport

Clive Sinclair wasn't just interested in computers. In 1983, he founded Sinclair Vehicles Inc., in which he began work on a production electric car that not only the rich, but also middle-class representatives could afford.

In 1979, he began to create the first prototype of such a transport, which later turned into a single-seat electric car Sinclair C5. It was announced in January 1985, but turned out to be, unlike the ZX Spectrum, a complete failure.

1986: Sale of most of Sinclair Research to Amstrad

The failure with Sinclair C5 affected Sinclair's financial stability. In 1986, he was forced to sell most of Sinclair Research to Amstrad. The deal amounted to 5 million pounds.

Sinclair Research was transformed into a research business and holding company with a stake in several subsidiaries created to use the technologies developed by the company.

By 1990, the entire staff of Sinclair Research was reduced to three people - Sinclair himself and two other employees. Activities later focused on personal transport, including the Zike electric bicycle.

By 1997, only Sinclair himself remained at Sinclair Research.

2010: Attempt to return to production of electric vehicles

Sinclair later made another attempt to return to the production of electric vehicles. He began working on Sinclair X-1, the announcement of which took place in 2010. At the time of the announcement of Sinclair X-1, Clive Sinclair was 70 years old. After the failure with the second electric car, he did not create other significant inventions.

2014: Attempt to revive ZX Spectrum

At the end of 2014, Sinclair decided to revive the ZX Spectrum computer and began raising funds to create the second generation of this PC, which was called Sinclair Spectrum Vega. This model was to be fully compatible with the ZX Spectrum. Users could play any of the approximately 14 thousand games released for the ZX Spectrum. Downloading games was offered via the Internet or using an SD card. As a means of outputting the image, Sinclair proposed using the television, paying tribute to the traditions laid down by the original ZX Spectrum.

2021: Death

On September 17, 2021 it became known that the British inventor Clive Sinclair, the creator world famous kompyuteraZX Spectrum, died at the age of 81 year. According to The Guardian, this was reported by his daughter Belinda Sinclair.

Died the creator of the legendary PC ZX Spectrum Clive Sinclair. Photo: CNews

According to Belinda, her father died at his home in London (Great Britain). She did not report the cause of death, saying only that he had been fighting a certain disease for a long time.[1]

Interesting facts

  • Clive Sinclair was into poker. He played the first three seasons in the television series Light Night Poker and won the first season in the finale of Celebrity Poker Club, defeating Kate Allen. According to some reports, his total winnings were £25,000.
  • In June 1983, at the request of Margaret Thatcher, the Queen of Great Britain awarded Clive Sinclair the title of Knight of the Royal Order. This is the lowest noble rank, not inherited. At different times, he was awarded to football players, actors, musicians and even Bill Gates, who is not a British citizen.
  • Sinclair invented something himself. For example, one of his last brains was the A-Bike bike. Miniature and folding, it weighed only 5.5 kg and is able to quickly fold for transportation in a small bag.

Notes