Editing ZX81 (section)

=== Background ===
[[File:SinclairExecutive-01.jpg|right|thumb|The Sinclair Executive "slimline" pocket calculator (1972)|alt=A black rectangular calculator being held in a person's right hand.]]
Clive Sinclair, a former radio kit salesman, established his first company, [[Sinclair Radionics]], in 1962.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Machkovech |first=Sam |date=2021-09-17 |title=RIP Sir Clive Sinclair, creator of UK's famed ZX Spectrum gaming computer |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/09/rip-sir-clive-sinclair-creator-of-uks-famed-zx-spectrum-gaming-computer/ |access-date=2022-12-07 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us}}</ref> The company made its name producing a wide range of cheap electronics aimed at the hobbyist market.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Manners |first=David |date=2021-09-20 |title=Uncle Clive |url=https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/uncle-clive-2021-09/ |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=Electronics Weekly |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Price |first=Chris |date=2021-09-17 |title=Sir Clive Sinclair RIP – 10 things about the great man you may not know |url=https://www.techdigest.tv/2021/09/sir-clive-sinclair-rip-10-things-about-the-great-man-you-may-not-know.html |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=Tech Digest |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Sinclair ZX81 - Computer - Computing History |url=https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/184/Sinclair-ZX81-Issue-One/ |access-date=2023-08-09 |website=www.computinghistory.org.uk}}</ref> Its products include [[amplifier]]s, radios, [[multimeter]]s and other items which were generally sold in kit form to hi-fi enthusiasts and other electronics hobbyists.{{sfn|Dale|1985|p=39}} The company entered a new market in 1972 when it launched the first "slimline" pocket calculator, the [[Sinclair Executive]].{{sfn|Adamson|Kennedy|1986|p=31}} Radionics followed up by launching a wide range of pocket calculators. The company's subsequent expansion made it Europe's biggest calculator manufacturer by 1975.{{sfn|Adamson|Kennedy|1986|p=35}}<ref name=":0" />

By the late 1970s, however, Sinclair Radionics was experiencing serious difficulties{{Opinion|date=March 2023}}.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}} It lost its ability to compete effectively in the calculator market following the launch of a new generation of Japanese-produced calculators with [[liquid-crystal display]]s, which were much more capable and power-efficient than Sinclair's [[light-emitting diode|LED]] calculators.{{sfn|Adamson|Kennedy|1986|p=36}} Projects to develop a pocket television and digital watch turned out to be expensive failures. The company made losses of more than £350,000 in 1975–76, bringing it to the edge of bankruptcy.{{sfn|Adamson|Kennedy|1986|p=39}} In July 1977 Radionics was rescued by a state agency, the [[National Enterprise Board]] (NEB), which recapitalised it, provided a loan facility and took effective control of the company by acquiring a 73% stake.{{sfn|Adamson|Kennedy|1986|p=35}}

Clive Sinclair's relationship with the NEB was fraught due to conflicting notions about which direction the company should go. Radionics had begun a project to develop a home computer but the NEB wanted to concentrate on the instrument side of the business, which was virtually the only area where Radionics was profitable. Sinclair disagreed vehemently with what he characterised as the view "that there was no future in consumer electronics".{{sfn|Adamson|Kennedy|1986|p=65}} This and other disputes led to Sinclair resigning from Radionics in July 1979.{{sfn|Adamson|Kennedy|1986|p=66}}

While he was struggling with the NEB, Clive Sinclair turned to a "corporate lifeboat" in the shape of an existing corporate shell under his exclusive control – a company called Ablesdeal Ltd, which he had established in 1973 and later renamed Science of Cambridge. It became a vehicle through which he could pursue his own projects, free of the interference of the NEB.{{sfn|Adamson|Kennedy|1986|p=68}} Despite his later success in the field, Sinclair saw computers as merely a means to an end. As he told the ''[[Sunday Times]]'' in April 1985, "We only got involved in computers in order to fund the rest of the business", specifically the development of the ultimately unsuccessful [[TV80]] pocket television and [[Sinclair C5|C5]] electric vehicle.{{sfn|Adamson|Kennedy|1986|p=86}} In an interview with ''[[Practical Computing]]'', Sinclair explained:

{{blockquote|I make computers because they are a good market, and they are interesting to design. I don't feel bad about making them or selling them for money or anything, there is a demand for them and they do no harm; but I don't think they are going to save the world.<ref name="Hayman" />}}