| Sinclairvoyance |
THE LAUNCH of the QL business machine has shown not only that Sinclair Research can produce machines for the upper end of the computer market but that it can produce a machine which, it claims, is well in advance of anything available for less than £2,000.
The launch of the Spectrum two years ago left the computer industry stunned at the ability of Sinclair to predict what would work in the market. The journalists at the launch even gave a standing ovation to Sir Clive.
The introduction of the QL, or Quantum Leap, has been slightly different. There was no applause at the launching of the machine and it still remains to be seen whether the silence was in awe or not, but nobody can dispute that Sinclair has affected the rest of the industry in such a way that it will have to think carefully before making its reply.
It must be said that Sinclair marketing strategy, which seems poor or non-existent to some people, has played a role in the company's success. So far, Sinclair has launched and advertised computers and peripherals well in advance of stocks being available. Some sceptics are already saying that it will not be until late this year that the QL will arrive in the stores.
Sinclair has been so consistent with its method of mail order selling that there may be something behind the technique. In the world of marketing, scarcity creates demand, rather like the scarcity of diamonds or gold. The more difficult it is to obtain a computer, the more eager potential users become to possess one. That was true of the Spectrum to some extent and it was certainly true of Interface One and the Microdrive, which appeared more than one year after they were first announced and are still not available generally.
It might also be asked why Sinclair launched the QL in such a hurry and at a time when there is a dip in the market after Christmas. There were no initial stocks of the machine and the manual was half completed. The answer seems to be that the company wanted to attack the BBC Micro and Commodore 64 in the serious sector, as well as pre-empting the new Commodore and IBM business machines which were launched a week later.
When the QL was launched Nigel Searle, managing director of Sinclair Research, stressed that the company did not know in which direction the QL would go. It might attract more of the business market, go towards educational markets, or become a glorified games machine.
Sinclair also said that about the Spectrum but immediately countermanded the idea by producing a range of games programs. The company has done the same thing with the QL. It has a range of software packages on Microdrive which are more applicable to the business sector of the market.
There is no doubt that the QL can be compared favourably to machines which touch the £1,000 mark at least. The 32-bit processor chip helps provide a computer far in advance of most machines on the market. It is a multi-tasking computer, so it can run several programs or routines at the same time.
The QDOS operating system in the QL also marks it apart from other machines costing less than £1,000. It runs the Microdrives and includes many graphics utilities to help the user produce programs which are simple to write but powerful when run.
The machine has certain deficiencies which Sinclair Research says will be remedied later. Compared to the BBC, it is not equipped to take disc. Even when an interface has been added, Sinclair Research says that it will support Winchester discs which are very expensive and, in most cases, bulky.
The printer interface for the standard QL is the serial RS232C. Most other computers, such as the BBC, support the Centronics parallel interface which has a faster data transfer rate. Again, Sinclair says that a parallel interface will be made available in the near future but the question is when? The business user is unlikely to want to wait a year.
Some good news from Sinclair Research is that every user who joins QLUB, a club for QL owners, will receive notification of new products through a newsletter and compensate for the communications problems which occurred between users of the ZX-81 and Spectrum and the company. That may mean that users will have their technical questions answered, which is not happening at the moment. Club members will also be able to take advantage of any offers available.
No matter what happens to Sinclair, the market as a whole will change dramatically in the next year. Many software companies will not be able to approach the quality software which the QL will demand. It will be the bigger companies, already geared with development systems, which will make the all-important and risky first attack on the QL customer.
That is not to say that everybody else should pack up and go home. The lower end of the market, consisting of machines like the Electron and Spectrum for less than £200, will continue to provide value for money. Those machines will be bought by people who do not want to spend £400 to learn about computers or to play games.
Magazines, such as Sinclair User, will also have to make changes to accommodate the QL. Not only will features covering the new machine need to be written but they will have to follow a new style to which the more serious computer user will be accustomed.
Whatever happens in the next year, those who are willing to take advantage of events will create a computer boom the like of which has never been seen previously.
RUMBLES of discontent about profit by investors in Sinclair Research have been penetrating the company's joy bubble. According to Sinclair, such comments as have been made have been distorted out of proportion.
Many investors have complained that they are not getting what they expected - and the operative word is expected. Sinclair Research is a company which is always ploughing into new areas. To do so it needs money and Sir Clive made it clear when shares were sold that some of the profit would be applicable to research. Sinclair is not, after all, just a marketing company. It is from the research that investors will eventually receive their profit.