Editing Sinclair QL (section)

=== 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>