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Tech Talent: How the UK lost six potential titans (incl. Sinclair)

GwynGwyn
in Chit chat
First in the list is SInclair Research:
bbc.com/news/technology-37373937

and it includes a link to an interesting article about Amstrad:
Amstrad should have been bigger than Apple

Comments

  • SteveSmithSteveSmith
    IMHO, all computer business would/have eventually failed in competition with the PC. The only route to survival would maybe have been some kind of Speccy gaming console?
    Speccy games remade in 3D or multiplayer
  • Scottie_ukScottie_uk
    If Sinclair had stuck to designing computers he would have gone on for longer. Certainly if he had released a proper Atari ST / Amiga cometitor in the mid 80s that would have seen him in to the 90s at least. Then Sinclair would have had to diversify. It's what apple did. The i ea is what saved them.
    Calling all ASCII Art Architects Visit the WOS Wall of Text and contribute: https://www.yourworldoftext.com/wos
  • AndyCAndyC
    edited September 2016
    I don't think Sinclair ever really had the mindset for long term success in the computer market. The QL was a classic example of thinking too cheaply and cutting too many corners, which lead to a design which was woefully underpowered compared to rival machines and also far too limited in its potential. The "design a machine for now and completely re-design it next time" had been OK during the early 8-bit phase but by the time of the 16-bit era you needed a design that could be iteratively improved upon. Everyone else seemed to see that, but Sinclair seemingly did not.
    Post edited by AndyC on
  • RetroTechieRetroTechie
    SteveSmith wrote: »
    IMHO, all computer business would/have eventually failed in competition with the PC. The only route to survival would maybe have been some kind of Speccy gaming console?
    Nonsense. These days it's all about mobile, "the cloud", or the ability to run existing software. Desktop computers don't have a future unless they support some flavor of W**s, OSX, Android or whatever else is popular.

    But in early PC days, there was a time when 9 out of 10 businesses didn't have a PC... yet. Never mind home users. No matter how strong PC's dominated whatever market there was then, if you'd build the 'perfect' machine (non PC-compatible!) for those other 9 businesses, and for the right price, you could definitely beat early PC's over time.

    The Commodore Amiga might have done it, had there been a decent office suite for it right at launch. But afaik there wasn't, and it wasn't marketed at businesses, and marketing for the Amiga was botched up anyway. Never mind company-internal struggles, messing around with trademarks, etc. It had "multimedia system" written all over it years before that became a buzzword in the PC world. And far cheaper than a decked-out 'multimedia PC' at the time. So the potential definitely existed.

    The Macintosh might have done it. But it was too focussed on desktop publishing, and ignored other possible uses for the machine. Same goes for a few other systems - they had the potential, but were focussed on some other goal(s). Or not focussed on any goal, really... (beside the manufacturer shipping boxes) :)) Or failed to come up with improved models to keep pace with current tech.

    Technology moves forward. At any time, there's new ground breaking open, and a 'sweet spot' for new products. Sometimes a company sees a sweet spot, makes a product perfect for the job, and they have a hit on their hands. Sometimes a company is simply lucky and finds itself at the right time at the right place.

    But it's really, really hard to keep seeing the next big things that are coming. Or being there with the right product when the time arrives. Never mind f*ck-ups: one big mistake, and your chances at world domination are gone. Needn't even be your own mistake: could be a supplier for example. Or a fire at your main manufacturing plant, just when a new product launches. Anything really, that sets you back enough for competitor(s) to take over.

    Perhaps that's why people have so much respect for 'visionaries' like Steve Jobs that at least seem to be ahead of the curve for such a long time.
  • GrunakiGrunaki
    Sinclair was also obsessed with making 'serious' business machines and not being "the man who brought you Jet-Set F#ck!ng Willy". If he had embraced the idea that the games were a huge money-spinner and he had pandered to his largest and most popular market, he could have pumped the revenue from that into the business side of the company.
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