Editing Sinclair QL (section)

== History ==

=== Development ===
The QL was conceived in 1981 under the code name ''ZX83'', as a [[portable computer]] for business users, with a built-in ultra-thin flat-screen [[CRT display]] similar to the later [[TV80]] pocket TV, printer and [[modem]]. As development progressed it eventually became clear that the portability features were over-ambitious and the specification was reduced to a conventional desktop configuration.<ref name="sunrise">{{cite web|url=http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/computers/ql/ql_sst.htm|title=The Quantum Leap - to where?|work=Sinclair and the 'Sunrise' Technology|first1=Ian|last1=Adamson|first2=Richard |last2=Kennedy |access-date=2006-12-15}}</ref><ref name="dickinson-ql">{{ cite web | url = https://www.flickr.com/photos/9574086@N02/sets/72157600854938578/ | title = QL and Beyond | work = Flickr | first = Rick | last = Dickinson | date = 2007-07-16 | access-date = 2008-04-21 }}</ref> 

The electronics were primarily designed by David Karlin, who joined Sinclair Research in summer 1982. The [[industrial design]] was done by [[Rick Dickinson]], who already designed the [[ZX81]] and ZX Spectrum range of products.

The QL was designed to be more powerful than the [[IBM Personal Computer]], and comparable to Apple's [[Macintosh 128K|Macintosh]];<ref name="nytimes British race">{{cite news |author=Feder, Barnaby J. |date=February 27, 1984 |title=British race is on in microcomputers |work=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/27/business/british-race-is-on-in-microcomputers.html |url-access=limited |access-date=December 12, 2011 |quote=The QL is designed to be more powerful than the current bestseller, the International Business Machines Corporation's Personal Computer - comparable, in fact, to Apple Computer's new Macintosh.}}</ref> observers thought that Sinclair announced it a week before Macintosh to divert attention away from the new Apple product.{{r|pountain198409}} While the CPU [[clock speed]] is comparable to that of the Macintosh, and the later [[Atari ST]] and [[Amiga]], the 8-bit [[Bus (computing)|databus]] and [[cycle stealing]] of the [[ZX8301]] [[gate array]] limit the QL's performance.

Sinclair had commissioned [[GST Computer Systems]] to produce the [[operating system]] for the machine, but switched to [[Domesdos]], developed by [[Tony Tebby]] as an in-house alternative, before launch. GST's OS, designed by Tim Ward, was later made available as [[68K/OS]], in the form of an add-on ROM card.<ref>{{cite journal | url = http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jg27paw4/yr07/yr07_05.htm | title = QL Affairs | first = Leon | last = Heller | journal = [[Your Spectrum]] | issue = 7 | date = September 1984 | access-date = 2008-04-21 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Graham |first=Adrian |title=Sinclair QL |url=http://www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk/Museum/Sinclair/ql/ |access-date=2008-04-21 |work=Binary Dinosaurs}}</ref> The tools developed by GST for the QL would later be used on the Atari ST, where GST object format became standard.

=== Launch ===
[[file:Ql dongle.png|thumb|Sinclair QL ROM "dongle" – needed to expand the internal 32&nbsp;KB ROM to 48&nbsp;KB in early QLs]]

At the time of the rushed launch, on 12 January 1984, the QL was far from being ready for production, with no complete [[Prototype|working prototype]]. Although Sinclair started taking orders immediately, promising delivery within 28 days, first customer deliveries only started, slowly, in April. This provoked criticism of the company and the attention of the [[Advertising Standards Authority (United Kingdom)|Advertising Standards Authority]].<ref name="sunrise" />

Because of its premature launch, the QL was plagued by a number of problems from the start. Early production QLs were shipped with preliminary versions of [[firmware]] containing numerous [[computer bug|bugs]], mainly in [[SuperBASIC]]. Part of the firmware was held on an external 16&nbsp;KiB ROM cartridge also known as the "[[kludge]]" or "[[dongle]]", until the QL was redesigned to accommodate the necessary 48&nbsp;KiB of ROM internally, instead of the 32&nbsp;KiB initially specified.<ref name="sunrise" />

The QL also suffered from reliability problems of its [[ZX Microdrive|Microdrives]]. These problems were later rectified, by Sinclair engineers, especially on [[Samsung]] produced models, as well as by [[Aftermarket (merchandise)|aftermarket]] firms such as Adman Services and TF Services, to the point where several QL users report the Samsung Microdrives in particular working perfectly even after almost 17 years of service; but in any case too late to redeem the negative image they had already created.{{citation needed | date=January 2024 | reason=Sounds like a very specific report, presumably appearing in a specific publication.}}

=== Reception ===
''[[BYTE]]'' in September 1984 described QL as a "premature baby", noting the incomplete operating system, "dead and unresponsive" keyboard, fragile microdrive tapes, and lack of sprites. The magazine approved of the bundled applications, and SuperBASIC's improvement over [[Sinclair BASIC]], but criticized the language's "very, very slow" speed. ''BYTE'' concluded that QL was superior to the "wildly overpriced" [[BBC Model B]] for hobbyists, but expected that the computer's "extremely disappointing performance figures achieved so far" from the "emasculated" CPU, unreliable microdrive, and keyboard would make it unsuitable for businesses. "A rival to Macintosh this is not, but then, you get what you pay for", the magazine said, hoping that third-party developers would increase QL's appeal.<ref name="pountain198409">{{Cite magazine |last=Pountain |first=Dick |date=September 1984 |title=The Sinclair QL |url=https://archive.org/details/BYTE_Vol_09-10_1984-09_Computer_Graphics/page/n416/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=2025-04-10 |magazine=BYTE |pages=415-419}}</ref>

Although the computer was hyped as being advanced for its time, and relatively cheap, it failed to sell well, and UK production was suspended in 1985, due to lack of demand. After [[Amstrad]] acquired Sinclair's computer product lines in April 1986, the QL was officially discontinued.

Apart from its reliability issues, the target business market was becoming wedded to the [[IBM PC]] platform, whilst the majority of ZX Spectrum owners were uninterested in upgrading to a machine which had a minimal library of games (with only about 70 titles,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sinclair QL |url=https://www.uvlist.net/platforms/detail/51-QL |access-date=2023-01-03 |website=Universal Videogame List |language=en}}</ref> compared to the Spectrum's more than 4700<ref>{{Cite web |title=ZX Spectrum |url=https://www.uvlist.net/platforms/detail/25-ZX+Spectrum |access-date=2023-01-03 |website=Universal Videogame List |language=en}}</ref>). Sinclair's persistence with the non-standard Microdrive and uncomfortable keyboard did not endear it to the business market. Clive Sinclair later maintained that the Microdrive was "a marvellous approach", also claiming that he had really wanted to base the QL on the Z80, that others in the company had persuaded him to use the 68000, and that "there was nothing you could do on the 68000 that you couldn't do on the Z80".<ref name="sinclairuser198608_sinclair">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/Sinclair_User_053/page/54/mode/2up | title=Sir Clive Life After Death? | magazine=Sinclair User | date=August 1986 | access-date=16 January 2024 | last1=Taylor | first1=Graham | pages=54–56 }}</ref> Software publishers were also reluctant to support the QL because Microdrive cartridges were the only available distribution medium for the QL, and the unfavourable pricing of the medium (production costs being given as over six times that of compact cassette) impacted profitability and made QL-based products uncompetitive.<ref name="qluser198503_resolution">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/ql-user/QL%20User%201985-03/page/n3/mode/1up | title=Resolution Resolved | magazine=QL User | date=March 1985 | access-date=18 January 2024 | pages=6 }}</ref>

Dedicated magazines were published for the system, such as ''QL World'' (published from 1985 to 1994),<ref>{{Cite web |title=QLWorld |url=https://microhobby.speccy.cz/150504/scannerwebs/QLWorld/qlworld.htm |access-date=2023-06-05 |website=microhobby.speccy.cz}}</ref> ''QL User'' (published from 1984 to 1985),<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/ql-user |title=QL User |date=1984}}</ref> or ''QL Today'' (published from 1996 to 2013).<ref>{{Cite web |title=QL Today |url=https://sinclairql.net/qlt/index_english.htm |access-date=2023-06-05 |website=sinclairql.net}}</ref>