R.I.P. Clive Sinclair

[Jecel Assumpcao Jr]

Fred Cisin wrote on Sat, 18 Sep 2021 13:45:04 -0700 (PDT)
> On Sat, 18 Sep 2021, dwight via cctalk wrote:
> > Of course, Busicom was the first programed microprocessor driven 
> > calculator, it wasn't the first calculator using calculator ICs. That is 
> > what Busicom was trying to compete with, when going to Intel in the 
> > first place.
> 
> I think that the Sinclair used TI calculator ICs.
> Unless he had a special "in" with TI, AND was fastest to market, then it 
> is doubtful that he could legitimately claim to be "FIRST".

The TI people were selling their chip as a simple four operation
calculator. Here is what the Sinclair people did with it:

http://files.righto.com/calculator/sinclair_scientific_simulator.html

An interesting project that Sir Clive was involved in was the wafer
scale integration effort by Ivor Catt.

http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/8199/Anamartic-Limited/

The goal was to eventually do what the Cerebras people are now doing
(with lots of positive press), but their first products attempted to
replace hard disks with battery-backed wafer scale SRAMs. The many-core
processors would come later, but as HD densities took off (after only
having grown slowly from the mid 1970s to mid 1980s) the investors
pulled out.

-- Jecel