On Sun, 19 Sep 2021, Murray McCullough via cctalk wrote:
Clive SInclair was a British entrepreneur who designed and built very small computers back in the early days of 8-bit computing. Whether he created a 'first' as Fred argues doesn't lessen his role in microcomputing history. Let's celebrate pioneers who gave us what we have today. Happy computing. Murray 🙂
He did some amazing stuff, particularly in bringing the prices down to where the general public could buy them.
We'll never forget the ZX81, a wedge doorstop with a picture of a keyboard on it, that was a minimal computer that anybody could afford.
He did not invent the pocket calculator. He used parts that had been designed by TI explicitly for calculators. But, he was an early and clever developer of cheap ones for the public.
His role was not INVENTING, as everything that he made already existed, but engineering ways to make the inventions smaller and cheaper. And he was great at that.
He will be missed. -- Grumpy Ol' Fred [email protected]
