Sir Clive Sinclair released the ZX80 thirty years ago this week. A small plastic home computer that cost a mere £79.95 in kit form (and £99.95 assembled) that was to fundamentally change the ways in which we interacted with our TVs for ever.
In a recent interview to celebrate the thirty year anniversary, Sir Clive made the remarkable admission that he doesn't use a computer these days and that he despises the distractions of email.
ZX profits and email nightmares
Sir Clive also recalls how the ZX80 and its successor the slim black ZX81 made Sinclair and amazing £14m profit in a year, which he admits would still "be a lot today."
"The sad thing is that today's computers totally abuse their memory – totally wasteful, you have to wait for the damn things to boot up, just appalling designs," Sir Clive told The Guardian. "Absolute mess! So dreadful it's heartbreaking."
Rather shockingly, Sir Clive adds that he doesn't use a computer or email at all, but that "the company does."
He continues: "Well I find them annoying. I'd much prefer someone would telephone me if they want to communicate. No, it's not sheer laziness – I just don't want to be distracted by the whole process. Nightmare."
Via The Guardian
Your comments (5) Click to add a new comment
philbean
March 1st 2010
5. Sad really. Ever since technology got ahead of him he's been quite bitter. He had a view of how and where computing should be heading. It headed off at a different angle. He's had a chip on his shoulder ever since.
Stangely I was reading about this little Honda electric car thing the other day. Reminded me of a C5.
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m185874
March 1st 2010
4. Every successful top-500 company relies totally upon email for its success. Which kind of explains Uncle Clive's position in the top-500 doesn't it?
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watcherzero
March 1st 2010
3. Clive was a ruthless business man who even when preparing the Spectrum for launch was already out of touch and uncomprehending of technology.
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streuth
March 1st 2010
2. ...i'm with him on email, in my practice,i refuse to give it out to patients. Too many people (9 to 5'ers) have nothing better to do on their boss's time than fire off ******** pointless emails several times a day. The phone does it nicely. I save 2 to 3 hours a week by holding email only for key contacts. Just because tech moves on does not mean you can't choose what suits you best.
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dodfaefife
February 28th 2010
1. ****! "you have to wait for the damn things to boot up..." Yes mate and once they do they're capable of things you probably couldn't comprehend. His blistering insight into the tech world hasn't helped him produce a product even vaguely relevant since the early eighties. You're a nice footnote in the history of personal computing but that's all. Retire already.
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