Sir Cliff Sinclair, creator of ZX Spectrum, dies • Eurogamer.net

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Sir Cliff Sinclair, probably best known as the inventor of the ZX Spectrum home computer, has died at the age of 81 after a long illness.

Although Sinclair found success creating a range of small calculators in the early 1970s, it was the appearance of his very affordable mass-market computer in 1980, the ZX80 – which sold for less than £100 – that helped Make it a household name.

In 1982, the ZX80 and its successor, the ZX81, was followed by one of Sinclair’s most influential products, the ZX Spectrum – a color-capable home computer which, thanks to its popularity, played a key role in launching the British software industry, creating some of the era’s most iconic games. , from Manic Miner, Chuckie Egg and Jet Pac to Lords of Midnight, Knight Lore and Horace Goes Skiing.

Sinclair’s much-loved ZX Spectrum, released in 1982.

Sinclair was knighted in 1983 and – along with more advanced models of the ZX Spectrum – would go on to create other memorable, albeit significantly less successful inventions, including the Sinclair TV80 pocket television and the Sinclair C5 battery-powered electric bike.

Speaking to The Guardian after Sinclair’s death, his daughter Belinda explained, “The ideas and the challenge he found were exciting. He came up with an idea and said, ‘There’s no point in asking if someone wants it, because they can’t imagine it.'”

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