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Clive Sinclair
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{{Short description|English entrepreneur and inventor (1940–2021)}} {{For|the Somerset Maugham Award-winning author|Clive Sinclair (author)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}} {{Use British English|date=August 2012}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = Sir | image = Sinclair.600pix.crop.jpg | caption = Sinclair in [[Bristol]], 1992 | birth_name = Clive Marles Sinclair | birth_date = {{Birth date|1940|07|30|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Ealing]], [[Middlesex]], England | death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|09|16|1940|07|30|df=y}} | death_place = London, England | known_for = {{Indented plainlist| * Founder of {{csv|[[Sinclair Radionics]]|[[Sinclair Research]]|[[Sinclair Vehicles]]}} * Inventor of the {{csv|[[Sinclair Executive|slimline pocket calculator]]|[[ZX80]]|[[ZX81]]|[[ZX Spectrum]]|[[Sinclair QL|QL]]}} }} | education = | occupation = {{hlist|Entrepreneur|inventor}} | years active = 1961−2010 | spouse = {{Plainlist| * {{marriage|Ann Trevor-Briscoe|1962|1985|end=div}} * {{marriage|Angie Bowness|2010|2017|end=div}} }} | children = 3 | awards = [[Knight Bachelor]] (1983) }} '''Sir Clive Marles Sinclair''' (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) was an English entrepreneur and inventor, best known for being a pioneer in the [[computing industry]] and also as the founder of several companies that developed [[consumer electronics]] in the 1970s and early 1980s. After spending several years as assistant editor of ''Instrument Practice'', Sinclair founded [[Sinclair Radionics Ltd]] in 1961. He produced the world's first slimline electronic [[pocket calculator]] (the [[Sinclair Executive]]) in 1972. Sinclair then moved into the production of [[home computer]]s in 1980 with [[Sinclair Research Ltd]], producing the Sinclair [[ZX80]] (the UK's first mass-market home computer for less than £100) and in the early 1980s, the [[ZX81]], [[ZX Spectrum]] and the [[Sinclair QL]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://worldofspectrum.net/CliveSinclairInterview1982/index.html|website=worldofspectrum.net|first=Martin |last=Hayman|title=Interview from Practical Compµting magazine, Volume 5 Issue 7|year=1982|quote="I think they are atrociously amateurish. They are marvellous at making programmes and so on, but by God they should not be making computers, any more than they should be making BBC cars or BBC toothpaste"}}</ref> Sinclair Research is widely recognised for its importance in the early days of the British and European home computer industry, as well as helping to give rise to the [[Video games in the United Kingdom|British video game industry]].<ref name="the times obit" /><ref>''[[Micro Men]]'', a one-off TV drama about Sinclair and [[Christopher Curry (businessman)|Chris Curry]].</ref> Sinclair also had several commercial failures, including the Sinclair Radionics [[Black Watch (wristwatch)|Black Watch]] wristwatch, the [[Sinclair Vehicles]] [[Sinclair C5|C5]] [[battery electric vehicle]], and the Sinclair Research [[TV80]] flatscreen [[Cathode-ray tube|CRT]] handheld television set. The failure of the C5, along with a weakened computer market, forced Sinclair to sell most of his companies by 1986. Through 2010, Sinclair concentrated on personal transport, including the [[A-bike]], a [[folding bicycle]] for commuters which was small enough to fit in a handbag.<ref name="the times obit" /> He also developed the [[Sinclair X-1]], a revised version of the C5 electric vehicle, which never made it to the market. Sinclair was appointed [[Knight Bachelor]] in the [[1983 Birthday Honours]] for his contributions to the personal computer industry in the UK.
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