If Sir Clive Sinclair failed to create an enduring British success story from his pioneering computers, his death this week at 81 brought forth a host of engineers, entrepreneurs and even tech billionaires who said their careers had been built on his inventions.
Tributes poured in from alumni users of his cheap home computers from the 1980s, led by Elon Musk and the Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella, who said Sinclair’s innovations had democratised computing and “inspired so many, including myself”.
“I vividly remember my first computer, a ZX80, and the sense of wonder and empowerment I felt. It was your device that sparked my passion for engineering,” he said.