8 Bit Computers

Sinclair Computers

Sir Clive Sinclair started his business as Sinclair Radionics with two very unusual approaches, firstly, many of his projects were tiny and secondly, he purchased components that had failed testing for a fraction of the price. As a very talented engineer he worked out that circuitry could be modified to use components outside of normal tolerances; the stuff that was otherwise thrown away. His early work was on small transistor radios then moving to kit-form hi-fi amplifiers. In 1972 he produced his first electronic calculator. In modern day terms this was very basic, able to do simple maths functions but it did so off batteries and fitted into a (large) pocket. Most kids were still doing maths on Slide Rules (link) at this time.