Tributes have been paid to the eccentric entrepreneur who brought home computing to the masses following his sad passing, aged 81

Words by David Crookes

SirClive Sinclair barely needs an introduction. Not in a magazine such as this nor, dare we say, even in the wider world. Many people could talk about at least one of the many products the eccentric entrepreneur oversaw. “He was the classic British inventor,” says Graeme Devine who is best known for developing the interactive CD-ROM bestseller The 7th Guest. “He saw a need and invented it whether it was time to invent it or not.”

Sir Clive sadly passed away on 16 September this year but his legacy lives deep in many a memory. To one of his three children, Belinda Sinclair, he was “a rather amazing person” who was “so clever” and “always interested in everything”. To the chief executive of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, his ZX80 was the device that sparked a passion for engineering. “Your innovations democratised computing and inspired so many, including myself,” he wrote on Twitter.

But it would seem Sir Clive was destined to make an impact. Born on 30 July 1940 to mechanical engineer George Sinclair and Thora Marles, he was an intelligent, gifted and driven child, excelling in pure and applied maths as well as physics. He also made good use of his time at home, looking forward to the holidays so he could pursue his own ideas.

According to Rodney Dale, author of The Sinclair Story (1985), Sir Clive’s bedroom was a mess. There were wires everywhere because he was spending so much time creating amplifiers and radios. He went as far as producing an electrical communication system for his friends to use in their hideouts in the woods.

By the time he was taking holiday jobs at tech companies such as

Solatron and pitching ideas for electronic vehicles, he’d also designed a calculating machine programmed by punch cards and a submarine based on a surplus fuel tank! He would also write for Practical Wireless magazine and, after a holiday job, became its editorial assistant aged just 17.

The following year, he was editing the publication, more than justifying his decision not to go to university. But while he could have forged a career as a talented tech journalist, he had a burning desire to set up his own business and his journey led him to setting up Sinclair Radionics when he was 22 years old.

The company sold miniature electronic kits through the post to hobbyists, starting with the Sinclair Micro-amplifier, billed as “the smallest of its type in the world”.

It laid down a marker for Sir Clive’s approach to electronics: to go as small as possible. It also shows how he valued marketing, placing large ads in leading publications. “His name and logo became a must-have for most of the electronics hobbyists,” says Christopher Curry who worked for Sir Clive for 13 years from 1966.