RIP Sir Clive

[uglifruit]

Oh dear. Receiving my zx81 was the start of a journey that I'm still on. Thank you Clive.

[Lee Bee]

Gosh, sad news indeed!

I actually knew very little about the man, but I was happy not to know—I liked that the inventor of my favourite computer was something of a mysterious figure.

I guess everyone has their own take on the Spectrum, but to me, at its core, it represents the spirit of empowering humble, unassuming bedroom programmers to achieve international success, creating a level playing field in the industry. It also represents a very special time in history: the 80s, and a unique generation of unashamedly nerdy and sincere British programmers (before everything had to be 'cool').

So with Mr Sinclair as a prominent figurehead, his passing feels, in many ways, like an official death for our entire culture! Sad on many levels.

Nevertheless, we're still here, and we persevere, with communities like this and various other endeavours (including a very ambitious project I am working on myself). And make no mistake, this is not just nostalgia. Our generation, and the Spectrum, has something to say forevermore, and may it never be forgotten.

Mr Sinclair may be gone, but I predict his legacy will live on a very long time, through men such as us.

So let's keep 'the spirit of Clive' alive!

[arda]

rip good man sir clive.
You'll be remembered fondly.

Thank you for all the good memories and colorful life.

[TMD2003]

I am not a literary man by any means, doubly so when someone's nearest-and-dearest has died, because I'm always treading on eggshells in my heaviest boots and inevitably an egg or six will get smashed. I've had so many family deaths that I'm somewhat desensitised, so I generally don't say anything.

But now, I'm going to have to. With a fair few others writing words to the effect of "this is the effect Sir Clive had on my life", the easiest way to do the same is to point you all towards the better of the two "About Me" profiles on my two Sinclair websites, and hopefully this won't be seen as a tasteless move. It says everything you'd need to know.

If I had to summarise succinctly, "Sinclair computers saved me from an existence that would otherwise have been a lot less bearable, and are still doing so". Will that do?

I'll have to copy and paste this everywhere I post (i.e. here, WOS, the QL Forum and Sinclair ZX World) so if you get a sense of déjà vu from being on multiple forums, it should be understandable under the circumstances.

[Ivanzx]

He was capital in the turn of computing and videogames in Europe, and gave us so many hours of fun, learning and other things that were really valuable in our lifes.

Without him, nobody would be here writing these lines.

Thanks for all and rest in peace.

[Sparky]

A computer legend and enabler of so many dreams... R.I.P.

[MatGubbins]

Ahhh.... Thank you Sir Clive for everything, no matter how successful, strange or ahead of its time that you and your team brought into this world.

[Bubu]

One more year and he would have celebrate the 40 years of his Speccy...




Sinclair was one of the people more influent to me, only after perhaps my father, a math teacher of mine when I was a child, and few more. Thanx to him and to his creation, I learnt, when I was 12 years old, Trigonometry, English, Boolean logic, Programming, Electronics... I don't know where I was if Spectrum did'nt exist, no idea.

Thank you for all, Sinclair, I promise I'll keep on developing games to run into your creation.

[AndyC]

Probably the single biggest influence on my life in so many ways. As others have said news that you knew would come one day, but wished it never would. A sad loss of a genuine icon.

[Juan F. Ramirez]

https://twitter.com/Lord_Sugar/status/1 ... 44066?s=19

[flatduckrecords]

I guess everyone has their own take on the Spectrum, but to me, at its core, it represents the spirit of empowering humble, unassuming bedroom programmers to achieve international success, creating a level playing field in the industry.

I may not yet have made it to international success* but I can certainly trace the path of my career thus-far back to a certain Christmas morning and the delight of using a 48K Spectrum** for the first time. The cost-saving genius of the machine itself that made it so affordable certainly helped one make its way to me. And I'm thankful too for the wonderful manual that propelled me beyond LOAD "" and Hungry Horace and into programming (in the true Spirit of Clive!).

And ultimately I'm grateful to have discoverd this community (and what a haven it's been these last couple of years) - from the incredible preservation efforts to the modern developments, and the developers that never stopped: what an amazing legacy. Long live the Spectrum.

Cheers, Sir Clive, and thank you.

* I did win a bicycle in the final, quick-fire round of an episode of Scottish Television's Red, Amber, Green! for answering correctly (that I might not have otherwise known) what VDU is short for.
** I no longer have that Spectrum unfortunately, but I still have the bike!

[Quantum Sheep]

Bugger

[TMD2003]

And ultimately I'm grateful to have discoverd this community (and what a haven it's been these last couple of years) - from the incredible preservation efforts to the modern developments, and the developers that never stopped: what an amazing legacy. Long live the Spectrum.

And the ZX81, and the ZX80, and the QL.

[Bubu]

[Turtle_Quality]

I saw him at Earl's Court announcing the Spectrum when I was wandering around a computer show wandering if I should buy a Vic20 or Acorn Atom. The Sinclair stand was crowded with press and I got close as I could and called out "What's the keyboard like ?" and he actually reached out with the Spectrum in his hand to let this spotty teenager prod the keyboard. I ordered one that night and (after a month or two for delivery) it's changed my life.

Thanks to him I had 25 years in the software industry, and though my current job is something else I'm still the office geek who does mystical things with Excel

Always more of a dreamer / innovator than a businessman. But he was a hero to my generation. RIP Clive Sinclair

[druellan]

As a child, I had attention deficit disorder, and it was becoming a problem: bad notes on the school and unable to fully concentrate on anything. My father introduced a ZX81 in the house, and it absolutely got my attention. I started to read the manual (so I started to learn a bit of English) and learn how to program that thing. It quickly become a good training to truly focus on something and solve problems, so it is suffice to say it played a big role in my life. Pretty sure this wasn't something Sir Clive Sinclair could ever foresee, but it is a consequence of his vision of one computer on every home, so, thank you, Sir Clive for everything.

[DouglasReynholm]

As with everyone else here, we wouldn't be on this forum if not for Sir Clive. He set many of us on our paths in tech careers and I think was a bit of a visionary, even though his commercial success was a bit lacking sometimes. I remember as a 10 year old in '84 with my Speccy, my Grandad banging on about the 'Black Watch'..

Time to watch Micro Men again.. Jet set ****ing Willy!

Thanks Clive.

[Matt_B]

My first encounter with Sinclair products was the Enterprise Programmable Calculator in 1977. It was a lot cheaper than Casio's programmable machines at the time, so worth a punt.

The downside soon became obvious though; it was a prodigious eater of batteries and you had to remember to turn it off, otherwise there was a trip to the shop for another PP3 beckoning. Thankfully, they shipped it with a mains adapter but it really wasn't that good for pocket/portable use.

[Morkin]

RIP Uncle Clive.

...But it's one hell of a legacy you've left us all.

I was thinking after the last year or so, if anyone wanted to do a Speccy 40 celebration it'd be more than welcome for me.

(Even if it just meant a few people going to the Baron of Beef in Cambridge, raising a glass or two and then beating each other over the head with a rolled up newspaper )

[DouglasReynholm]

RIP Uncle Clive.

...But it's one hell of a legacy you've left us all.

I was thinking after the last year or so, if anyone wanted to do a Speccy 40 celebration it'd be more than welcome for me.

(Even if it just meant a few people going to the Baron of Beef in Cambridge, raising a glass or two and then beating each other over the head with a rolled up newspaper )

I'm seriously up for that, as long as we can drunkenly retire to a local park to jump over an IBM PC and a 'MACKINTOSH'..

..To scale though, my spine isn't as flexible nowadays..

[Hank Scorpio]

RIP Sir Clive, creator of the greatest 8bit computer ever.

[patters]

I used to work in Piccadilly in London and once saw him in the street walking towards me about 10+ years ago crossing Pall Mall. I wanted to say something but hesitated, to make sure it was him, and to think of the right words, then he was gone and the moment had passed. A regret, for sure.


On the shoulders of giants...
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/143 ... 72420?s=19

[PeterJ]

This obituary was published by the BBC overnight:

BBC News - Sir Clive Sinclair: Tireless inventor ahead of his time
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29985976

[cmal]

RIP Sir Clive. You're a legend that will always have a special place in our lives.

[bluespikey]

This is sad news to wake up to. The spectrum gave me access to technology at an early age which my impoverished family just wouldn't have been able to afford. It's given me a life where my job is my hobby and my hobby is my job. Without the Spectrum, I'd probably be a bored accountant hanging around on Fighting Fantasy forums instead.