Interviews With the Dead, Part 1 by Collette Sinclaire

The Sinclair TV80, a pocket TV, was another device, like the C5, that did not catch on, although people now regularly view programmes on their mobile phones. The following year, Sinclair sold his computer business to Amstrad. Reviews expressed concerns about the safety of driving a vehicle below the sight line of other motorists, as well as exposure to the elements. The C5, a battery-powered electric trike, was launched in January 1985, with Sinclair predicting sales of 100,000 in the first year.īut it flopped, and Sinclair Vehicles found itself in receivership by October of the same year. But he would also become synonymous with one of his less successful inventions – the Sinclair C5 – which would cost him financially. Sinclair became a household name as his products flew off the shelves and was awarded a knighthood in 1983.

Much-loved games – now in colour – that inspired a generation included Jet Set Willy, Horace Goes Skiing, Chuckie Egg, Saboteur, Knight Lore and Lords of Midnight. Its rubber keys, strange clashing visuals and tinny sound did not prevent it being pivotal in the development of the British games industry. In 1982, he released the ZX Spectrum 48K. The business mogul Lord Sugar paid tribute to his “good friend and competitor” on Twitter, writing: “What a guy he kickstarted consumer electronics in the UK with his amplifier kits then calculators, watches mini TV and of course the Sinclair ZX. The ZX80 and ZX81 made him very rich: in 2010 Sinclair told the Guardian: “Within two or three years, we made £14m profit in a year.” Many games industry veterans got their start typing programs into its touch-based keyboard and became hooked on games such as as 3D Monster Maze and Mazogs. It sold 50,000, units while its successor, the ZX81, which replaced it, cost £69.95 and sold 250,000.

At £79.95 in kit form and £99.95 assembled, it was about one-fifth of the price of other home computers at the time. His first home computer, the ZX80, named after the year it appeared, revolutionised the market, although it was a far cry from today’s models.

“He wanted to make things small and cheap so people could access them,” his daughter said.

In the early 1970s he designed a series of calculators designed to be small and light enough to fit in the pocket at a time when most existing models were the size of an old-fashioned shop till.

Interviews With the Dead, Part 1 by Collette Sinclaire