Pocket Calculators and Home Computing
Sir Clive Sinclair (1940=2021), from Middlesex, may not have been a good businessman, but he opened the door to the world of miniaturisation of electronics and computing. Thousands of Britons learned how to code and to create video games as a byproduct of Sinclair’s very basic, cheap, introductory computers. He had costly failures but is remembered with gratitude by many who went on to have IT careers.
His first business venture involved selling PCB kits to beginners and he authored 13 books explaining various transistor circuits (1959-1963). After forming Sinclair Radionics, he introduced the world’s first slimline (0.4″ thick) pocket calculator, called the ‘Sinclair Executive’ and powered by cell batteries in 1972, with the ‘Sinclair Executive Memory’ following in 1973.
His other big commercial success was the ZX Spectrum (1982), preceded by the less powerful, monochrome-display ZX80 (1980) and ZX81 (1981). The colour display of the Spectrum brought home computing to life at a price of less than £100. The programming language was Sinclair BASIC and the software was varied though dominated by games. Over five million Spectrum units were sold.
With an IQ of 159, Sinclair served as Chairman of MENSA in 1980-97. His battery-powered electric tricycle, the Sinclair C5, was unsuitable for its intended market but has retained cult status.
(Images LtoR: calculator at arithmomuseum.com, Spectrum by NaSH at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 & Sinclair by Christian Payne at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)