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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : picozx
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Mixtel90 Guru  Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 6787 |
The C5 was brilliant in concept. You can see it's descendants all over the roads and footpaths now - it's actually a recumbent cycle with motor assist, but it led to the mobility scooters and Ebikes. The development was privately funded by Clive himself, from the funds made out of the Speccy. When you consider the age the surviving ones haven't lasted too badly either. The main problem is that the chassis is tubular so it wasn't really possible (at the time) to protect the inside surface so rust has been a big problem. If I could get hold of a decent C5 and had somewhere to keep it I'd get one now. The QL didn't do brilliantly, but that was because of a mistake in predicting the future. Clive expected that multi-tasking was going to be the next big thing so he started work on the QL. Unfortunately, Apple then got in with the graphical interface (but not multi-tasking) and that turned out to be what people wanted. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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stanleyella Guru Joined: 25/06/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2129 |
If Dyson made computers, they would use electricity, invented by dyson :) |
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PeteCotton Guru Joined: 13/08/2020 Location: CanadaPosts: 368 |
I think Sir Clive's projects were quite inspired, however I think he lacked the business sense to focus on projects that the public wanted. The Spectrum was a hit because he built an unbelievably cheap (for the time) computer that had some revolutionary features (the much maligned colour clash was inspired - if only he had gone for four colours per square rather than two though). He absolutely nailed that market - but it seems to have been more by luck than by design - and then he failed to follow up. The QL was an incredibly exciting machine when it was announced, which on paper looked amazing - but in reality had serious issues (8 bit data bus, keyboard, micro drives etc.). As Mick mentioned, the C5 was brilliant in concept - but again - the world wasn't ready for it (driving something that slow, and low to the ground on wet winding British roads seems at best, suicidal). Sir Clive seemed to me to be obsessed with pushing the technology forward, rather than giving consumers what they wanted. When you look at the likes of Amstrad, when they built a cheap home computer, Alan Sugar used his knowledge of low-price suppliers (from his HiFi products) to produce a cost-effective computer that just provided so much more bang for the buck - real keyboard, built in reliable storage, dedicated monitor - but (with the exception of the Amstrads absolutely brilliant BASIC), it was nothing revolutionary - just a very good solid product sold at a great price point. And it was competing directly with the QL - with it's micro drives and squishy keyboard (and no monitor). The Spectrum is probably single handedly responsible for kickstarting the home computer boom in the UK, and Sir Clive deserves respect for that - but once the public got that first hit of computing they wanted to spend more money - and Sir Clive was still caught in that cycle of making super cheap clever products - rather than what people actually wanted. Edited 2024-02-06 09:04 by PeteCotton |
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