The inventor of the legendary ZX Spectrum computer, Sir Clive Sinclair, a pioneer in computers and pocket calculators, died yesterday at the age of 81.
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The tech industry has just lost one of its most celebrated inventors. Sir Clive Sinclair died on September 16, 2021 , at the age of 81, after a long illness. He was best known to today's 50s and 60s for his namesake ZX computers, which were a hit in the UK in the early 1980s.
It succeeded in making home computers accessible to ordinary households, at a time when most models were still prohibitively expensive. A ZX Spectrum 16K , for example, cost £125, while Apple had released the Apple II for $1.298 a few years earlier.
Sinclair is also widely credited with inventing the first pocket calculator , the Sinclair Executive, in 1972. Texas Instruments' first programmable calculator (the HP-65) did not arrive until 1974. He was also a pioneer in electric transportation, having developed the C5 electric tricycle in 1985.
Like many inventors, his works did not always succeed. The Sinclair computer company ran into trouble with the fatal QL in 1984 and was sold to Amstrad in 1985. And while the C5 may have been decades ahead of its time, it did not translate into sales. The Sinclairs vehicle business ran aground less than a year after the C5 debuted.
Sinclair's legacy is clear, however. For many gamers and game developers, Sinclair's computers represented a defining moment. McGill University noted that many famous creators and studios, including Peter Molyneux, David Perry, and Rare, thrived on ZX Spectrums.
Pocket PCs are still useful even in the age of smartphones. And it is safe to say that EVs are here to stay, including small electric skates and bicycles. There is a real possibility that Sinclar's work has influenced technology in your life, even if you have never touched one of its products.
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