Computing (FOLDOC) dictionary
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company A British microelectronics developer and
manufacturer. Evolving from Sinclair Radionics in 1979,
Radionics produced electronic components and devices (such as
calculators and pocket radios and televisions), but Sinclair
Research began by producing some of the first
8-bit home
Sinclair produced five microcomputers from 1980 to 1987, all
68000). The 1K kit-build
ZX80, introduced in 1980, was
followed by the 1K
ZX81 (expandable to 16K) in 1981, the 16K
(expandable to 48K)
ZX Spectrum in 1982 (then superseded by
two distinct 48K models and a 128K model in 1986) and the
QLbanner.
Of them all, the ZX Spectrum was the best known, and it went
on to become the most popular microcomputer of its time in the
United Kingdom and in many other territories. This was partly
due to its ease of use, and also due to its enormous
"mine's-better-than-yours" battles were fought (and still are
who had the best machine.
Sir Clive's financial problems in the mid-80s led him to sell
the rights to the Sinclair brand to
Amstrad in April 1986.
This led to further models of the Spectrum being released from
1986 to 1988 and also an
IBM PC-compatible based
internally on Amstrad's own PC range. Sir Clive was not
involved with the production of these computers, and no
computer with the Sinclair name has been produced since.
(1998-12-09)