RETROHISTORY
Sinclair QL: mistakes, misfortune and so many regrets by Alberto Apostolo This article completes the tetralogy on the machines produced by Clive Sinclair, started with MK14 (RM 6), continued with the calculators (RM 9) and the series of ZX computers (RM 11) (At the moment I'm writing they are available in Italian language only, sorry). In 1982 Clive Sinclair started designing the QL: a computer for management use more advanced than the newly launched ZX Spectrum. The hardware consisted of a Motorola 68008 processor with 128 KB RAM and two 100 KB microdrive readers (not compatible with the ZX Spectrum). The SuperBasic and QDOS operating system working in multitasking were available on the machine. In addition, a wealth of application programs made by PSION were offered: Abacus (spreadsheet), Archive (database), Quill (word processor), Easel (business graphic). To counter the launch of the Apple MacIntosh, the QL was presented early on January 12, 1984 in London, proving Sir Clive Sinclair to be a resounding failure that highlighted the difficulties of a company that grew too fast. This operation decreed the end of the production of Sinclair QL (estimated at about 150,000 copies in total). Amstrad continued the evolution of the ZX Spectrum until 1990, producing the +2 and +3 series, despite the presence of systems with superior performance such as MSX, Commodore Amiga and Atari 520 ST. Clive Sinclair returned to computer science in 1988 with the new Cambridge Computer brand and ZX-88 battery laptop equipped with LCD display and Z80 CPU. While it made good impressions, it quickly disappeared because the market had definitely changed due to compatible PCIBM and the demand for higher quality hardware and software.
The Sinclair QL computer The laborious development of the computer, the incomplete release with serious delay, the price of £399 were fatal for QL and Sinclair Research itself (also exposed in the production with very few sales of a flat-panel TV and the C5 electric tricycle). In 1985 he closed Timex (the American manufacturer of Sinclair licenses) and went into crisis Prism (the mai distributor in the United Kingdom). Now on the verge of bankruptcy, Clive Sinclair was forced to sell his products. In 1986 Amstrad (Alan Michael Sugar Trading, n.o.s) purchased the computer branch from Sinclair Research for GBP 5 million. Page 20 of 40
The Cambridge Z88 portable computer
RETROMAGAZINE ENGLISH YEAR 1 - ISSUE 0
