Designing for Sinclair

[aboniskin]

Hello,

My dad worked for Sinclair from 1971 to 1981 as an electronics designer. At the time I was too young to be interested in the ins and outs of his work, but, as time has gone on, I've wanted to know more about it. It's amazing to see how products such as the ZX80, which seemed outdated in 1982, have now become classics of design. I thought I'd sign on and chip in my two-tuppen'orth.

Tom

[RWAP]

Hi Tom,

Welcome to the forums - it would be interesting to know your dad's name.

The ZX80 and ZX81 both became design icons really because they were such a simplistic looking design and futuristic for the time.

Now people want to recapture their youth!

[BrunoFlorindo]

Based on the interview at http://www.polymathperspective.com/?p=408 he could be Brian Flint's son. Judging from the picture on that website his son would be around 39 today.

Tom said:

My dad worked for Sinclair from 1971 to 1981 as an electronics designer.

The gentleman who interviewed Brian Flint said:

Brian Flint is an electronics design engineer, who began working at Sinclair Radionics Ltd in St Ives, at the start of 1971, eventually moving to Sinclair Research in Kings Parade, Cambridge, where he stayed until 1981.

[aboniskin]

Based on the interview at http://www.polymathperspective.com/?p=408 he could be Brian Flint's son. Judging from the picture on that website his son would be around 39 today.

Tom said:

My dad worked for Sinclair from 1971 to 1981 as an electronics designer.

The gentleman who interviewed Brian Flint said:

Brian Flint is an electronics design engineer, who began working at Sinclair Radionics Ltd in St Ives, at the start of 1971, eventually moving to Sinclair Research in Kings Parade, Cambridge, where he stayed until 1981.

Bruno, that is impressive research! Yes, Brian is my dad, that is me in the picture and I'll be 39 on Friday.

[Paul]

Yes Bruno, that is VERY impressive
That was my first thought and now we you are right.
Did you google it or did you remember the interview and searched for it then?

[yerzmyey]

Hello,
My dad worked for Sinclair from 1971 to 1981 as an electronics designer. At the time I was too young to be interested in the ins and outs of his work, but, as time has gone on, I've wanted to know more about it. It's amazing to see how products such as the ZX80, which seemed outdated in 1982, have now become classics of design. I thought I'd sign on and chip in my two-tuppen'orth.
Tom

Hi there and welcome.
And yes - ZX80 and ZX81 rule big time and still have new (better and better) software.
Even _new_ users (like myself).
Best wishes,
Y

[aboniskin]

We had a ZX80 in the cupboard for many years, but it never really got used. I'm not quite sure why, but possibly because the market was moving fast and it was seen as out of date. Dad actually bought a Commador Vic 20 some time around then, which we hooked up to a litte portable TV. Ironically, everyone else in the village had better computers than us. But if you work in an industry, that is often the case. I worked for a music technology magazine for years, and most of the readers had better home studios than the editors!

Tom

[BrunoFlorindo]

Yes Bruno, that is VERY impressive
That was my first thought and now we you are right.
Did you google it or did you remember the interview and searched for it then?

Google. Tom, did you or your dad ever use any of the other Sinclair computers? The folks at the Worldofspectrum forums would love if you stopped by to say hi.

[aboniskin]

Google. Tom, did you or your dad ever use any of the other Sinclair computers? The folks at the Worldofspectrum forums would love if you stopped by to say hi.

Hi Bruno. After he left (just before the ZX81 hit the shops) he started work for a company who made video duplication systems, so his involvement with Sincalir stopped there, really. In some ways, it was a bad time to leave, but he'd seen the company grow and fold several times already so there was no way to predict the success the Spectrum would have. Still, even that was very short lived and it all crashed again a few years later.

If you have any questions I can try to find out the answers. I also know a few people who worked there in the Spectum era.

All the bets, Tom

[aboniskin]

Based on the interview at http://www.polymathperspective.com/?p=408 he could be Brian Flint's son. Judging from the picture on that website his son would be around 39 today.

There is now a three-part interview with industrial deisgner, Rick Dickinson at the above web site. Rick had a work placement at Sinclair Radionics in the 70s, then took over as industrial designer at the end of 1979, finishing off the ZX80, then designing the ZX81, Specturm, QL and Z88.