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Re: R.I.P Sir Clive.
Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2021 4:15 pm
by CsabaiGD
R.I.P. Mr. Clive.
Re: R.I.P Sir Clive.
Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2021 4:59 pm
by BarryN
mrtinb wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 9:42 am
BarryN wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 9:02 am
Lardo Boffin wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 8:01 am
The most amazing (and occasionally throw it out of the window frustrating) things!
If you are frustrated at a computer you are either asking it to do something it can't do, or you (or someone else) is not explaining the task correctly to the computer.
Remember computers do what they are told to do, not what you want them to do. Blaming a computer is like blaming a hammer for hitting your thumb, you just weren't using it correctly.
If it's RAMpack wobble that makes you frustrated, it bad computer design, at not something wrong I am doing. Hence it's the computer's fault.
Well, it's Sir Clive Sinclair's fault, but I'll forgive him.
Re: R.I.P Sir Clive.
Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2021 9:16 pm
by TMD2003
Thanks to Mr Lardo Boffin earlier last year, the ZX81 in my possession isn't like the one I had when I was a barely-sentient skin-blob, in that it doesn't need a RAM pack. Trying to get it to load from tape, though, is still tricky...
...but some of you have ZXpands, so at least such tricky problems get solved eventually.
Re: R.I.P Sir Clive.
Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2021 10:28 pm
by Ravenger
Lardo Boffin wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 8:01 am
I wonder how many IT careers he launched? Mine for sure.
He definitely launched mine, I owe a tremendous amount to Sir Clive for setting me on the path to my computing career with the ZX81, and later to Jack Tramiel for boosting my career with the C64.
I never properly met Sir Clive, but I did nearly bump into him on the way into the toilets at an electronics company I worked at, around 1992, when he visited it. A brief 'sorry' was exchanged. Such is the totality of my interactions with him, but I still remember 'meeting' him to this day
So many commentators miss the point about the ZX machines, calling them 'toy' computers and saying they were shoddy, and limited compared to the US machines around at the time.
The point is that for the majority of people those US machines were unaffordable. Sinclair put computing in the reach of the average working class family. I bought my first ZX81 in 1982 for £49.95 (when it was discounted to get some sales as the Spectrum had manufacturing issues). I was a 16 year old school-kid and I had to scrimp and save to afford it. That £50 is now equivalent to £180 today! The £399 BBC Micro is equivalent to £1500 today, and I dread to think how much an Apple 2 or Atari 800 cost by comparison.
The UK computing industry would not have taken off as much as it did without the ZX machines and the user base they spawned because they were so affordable, and encouraged other manufacturers to produce affordable machines (Commodore were driven to create the Vic 20 because of the example set by Sinclair).
Re: R.I.P Sir Clive.
Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2021 11:14 pm
by Dukes909
Well said, a great post.
And while I know the Raspberry Pi was supposed to inspire like some of these early computers did, I haven't found it to be the case for me unfortunately (maybe a bit too much sysadmin that I did for so long). I do enjoy the Arduino a bit more. Still the old ones are fun to this day. I am always on the lookout for some of the systems I wanted when I was just learning but could not afford; lately I think they are getting a bit too pricey for me even now!
Cheers
Ravenger wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 10:28 pm
Lardo Boffin wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 8:01 am
I wonder how many IT careers he launched? Mine for sure.
He definitely launched mine, I owe a tremendous amount to Sir Clive for setting me on the path to my computing career with the ZX81, and later to Jack Tramiel for boosting my career with the C64.
I never properly met Sir Clive, but I did nearly bump into him on the way into the toilets at an electronics company I worked at, around 1992, when he visited it. A brief 'sorry' was exchanged. Such is the totality of my interactions with him, but I still remember 'meeting' him to this day
So many commentators miss the point about the ZX machines, calling them 'toy' computers and saying they were shoddy, and limited compared to the US machines around at the time.
The point is that for the majority of people those US machines were unaffordable. Sinclair put computing in the reach of the average working class family. I bought my first ZX81 in 1982 for £49.95 (when it was discounted to get some sales as the Spectrum had manufacturing issues). I was a 16 year old schoool-kid and I had to scrimp and save to afford it. That £50 is now equivalent to £180 today! The £399 BBC Micro is equivalent to £1500 today, and I dread to think how much an Apple 2 or Atari 800 cost by comparison.
The UK computing industry would not have taken off as much as it did without the ZX machines and the user base they spawned because they were so affordable, and encouraged other manufacturers to produce affordable machines (Commodore were driven to create the Vic 20 because of the example set by Sinclair).
Re: R.I.P Sir Clive.
Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2021 11:44 pm
by Ravenger
Dukes909 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 11:14 pm
I am always on the lookout for some of the systems I wanted when I was just learning but could not afford; lately I think they are getting a bit too pricey for me even now!
Due to not having to commute to work during lockdown I saved a fair bit of money so I bought a refurbed ZX81 and a rubber key ZX Spectrum 48k, plus various add-ons for tape emulation, etc.
It's been great fun re-living my youth, and getting to play all those games I played when I was a teenager. I never had a Spectrum back then but it's still a nostalgic machine for me because I used to go around friends houses to play on their machines, so the feel of using the 'dead flesh' keyboard with the machine on a CRT with its pixel crawl and the smell of gently toasting electronics just takes me back to those days instantly. I had to buy the manuals separately but reading those again (for both ZX81 and Spectrum), is immensely nostalgic too.
Emulators just don't give the whole experience, though I also have a 'TheC64' Commodore 64 replica, and that is very close to using the real thing and means I don't have to faff about getting my original 64 up and running again.
I always think it was an amazing time to live through when every day brought something new and exciting - a new game, new computer, or new peripheral. The only thing that makes me feel the same way today is VR, as that's at a very similar stage to the early days of home computing where everything is new and people are discovering what works and what doesn't, and new game types and interactions are being developed that have never been seen before.
Re: R.I.P Sir Clive.
Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2021 11:54 pm
by Dukes909
Ravenger wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 11:44 pm
I always think it was an amazing time to live through when every day brought something new and exciting - a new game, new computer, or new peripheral.
The only thing that makes me feel the same way today is VR, as that's at a very similar stage to the early days of home computing where everything is new and people are discovering what works and what doesn't, and new game types and interactions are being developed that have never been seen before.
Agreed! And since you mentioned VR, if you haven't seen what tiltfive is doing, it's worth checking out:
https://www.tiltfive.com/
Re: R.I.P Sir Clive.
Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2021 4:06 am
by 8008guy
The zx81 was my second computer, my first was an 8008 designed and built by me. The 8008 was and act of love. The zx81 I loved to use. After flipping front panel switches to load programs on the 8008. The zx81 got more real use. Though I quickly added a real keyboard to make it easier to use. I also added an AERCO floppy disk controller, wish I had kept.
In any case Clive had a big impact across the pond, at least in my life. I too had a long carrer in electronics, computers, and the Internet.
For those who want to relive a bit of history, Micro Men.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XXBxV6-zamM
Cheers and thank you Clive!
Len
Re: R.I.P Sir Clive.
Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2021 7:29 pm
by sboisvert
Lardo Boffin wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 8:01 am
I wonder how many IT careers he launched? Mine for sure.
My earliest memory of home computers is when I was about 6-7 years old, and my father (also a member of these forums - Allô Papa!) had brought home a ZX81 - I remember my excitement as that "K" cursor appeared on screen after turning it on.
The next few years after that are a bit of a blur, as it wasn't until I was about 10 that I started programming on one of the ZX81's we had accumulated by the time (with my mentors being my two older siblings, whom had become experts and had moved on to TS2068s).
I'm sure my career path would have involved software development regardless of which brand of computers we would've stared off with, but the affordability of Sinclair's computers made that happen earlier than I think it would've with other brands, and especially in terms of programming on them, as many later computers, such as Amigas and Macs (which I've also had) were more geared toward "doing things" by dropping you into a GUI first, as opposed to earlier computers that would drop you directly into BASIC.
Many thanks, Sir Clive! Au Revoir!
Re: R.I.P Sir Clive.
Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2021 7:59 pm
by dr beep
To honour Sir Clive game 81 in 1K hires will be a CLIVE-tribute.