Sinclair QL
| Sinclair QL | |
|---|---|
|
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| Manufacturer | Sinclair Research |
| Type | Home computers |
| publication | 1984 |
| End of production | 1986 |
| processor | Motorola 68008 @ 7.5 MHz |
| random access memory | 128 KB |
| graphic | 256 × 256 8 colors 512 × 256 4 colors |
| Sound | - |
| Disk | Microdrive |
| operating system | QDOS |
The Sinclair QL is a home and personal computer designed by the manufacturer Sinclair Research , the original version, first marketed in 1984, with a Motorola 68008 processor, 128 kB RAM and two microdrive tape drives. The QL in the name stands for quantum leap (English: quantum leap).
Despite its sometimes extremely advanced concept, such as a simple graphical user interface with windows, high-resolution graphics, a very powerful BASIC and the then advanced microprocessor, the device was not a commercial success for Sinclair. This was attributed, among other things, to the fact that the QL was less suitable for professional applications because of the slow microdrive tape drives, but on the other hand it was oversized and too expensive for a purely gaming and hobby-oriented home computer . At the same time, the market launch was delayed again and again, and the first devices had technical problems, which caused damage to their image. Due to the long delay in the start of sales, the QL was soon confronted with competing products such as the Atari ST and the Commodore Amiga , which were superior to the device in many aspects.
hardware
The Sinclair QL is designed in the form of a console with two integrated microdrive drives. Microdrives are tape storage devices that use a miniature endless cassette as a storage medium and, thanks to sector-oriented data storage, offer functionality similar to floppy disk drives. The basic RAM configuration of 128 KB could be upgraded to 896 KB using the original expansion modules. The Sinclair QL has connections for both RGB and (F) BAS monitors, which were more common at the time , in order to be able to display its graphic resolution of 512 × 256 pixels in four colors or four gray levels.
An RF modulator is also installed so that the QL can also be connected to a television set. Particularly in the graphics mode of 512 × 256 pixels, which is also available via the HF modulator, restrictions in image size and quality must be expected depending on the quality of the analog electronics of the television set. Since television sets were usually used for picture display on home computers in the 1980s, Sinclair had implemented an alternative display mode of 256 × 256 pixels in eight colors with an enlarged picture edge, which still offers a complete and relatively clear display even on poor television sets.
On its left side, the QL offers a slot for expansion modules. Smaller copies, such as floppy disk controllers, disappear completely in it, while others protrude from the device. The most common expansion modules were memory expansions. In addition, the QL has a slot on its back into which ROM modules can be plugged.
operating system
The operating system called QDOS with an integrated shell and basic interpreter (called "SuperBASIC" to distinguish it from the ZX series) is located in a 48 KB ROM. It supports real pre-emptive multitasking as standard - unique for the time . The BASIC of the QL is very extensive and powerful, it supports comfortable string manipulation and similarly to Pascal nested instructions, functions with several parameters, local variables and recursive procedures.
The user interface offers simple window technology with any number of windows arranged in any way, but all of them are on the same level - outputs in overlapping windows can therefore overwrite each other (which can be absorbed by the applications). As with the Apple Macintosh, which appeared at the same time, all windows are "bitmapped" and therefore fully graphics-capable. H. each pixel can be controlled individually. The operating system distinguishes between output-only windows and windows that can be used for both output and text input. Since individual fonts can be assigned to each window for text output, output in exotic fonts can also be implemented.
The QL is also network-compatible as standard; According to the manufacturer, the network called QLAN runs at 100 kBit / s (but actually 87 kBit / s) and can connect up to 63 Sinclair QLs (and also Sinclair ZX Spectrum, provided they are equipped with Interface 1). It is implemented in the ZX8302 chip and can also be addressed with a few BASIC commands. QLAN is a successor to the ZXNET, which is contained in Interface 1 of the Sinclair Spectrum. The scope of functions in the delivery state is minimal by today's standards, however, in the advertising the shared use of microdrive drives and printers is noted, there is also talk of file transfer, shared games and use in schools. With Toolkit 2, a ROM extension from the third-party manufacturer QJump, a file server can be implemented that allows access to remote storage media and printers of other network participants via the QLAN. Networking was rather unusual in the home computer sector, but developed more in universities, in the data transmission and business sectors. The later QL variant One-Per-Desk, with a different operating system and modified hardware, was then primarily designed for telephone operation.
The two RS-232 C connections can only be operated with up to 9,600 baud, in send-only mode (e.g. to a printer) also with 19,200 baud. There are two joystick connections for games .
software
The software also included the Quill ( word processing ), Abacus ( spreadsheet ), Archive ( database with its own programming language ) and Easel (business graphics ) programs, which were very powerful for the time . These programs came from the English manufacturer Psion , who had previously produced a number of software titles for the predecessors of the QL (ZX80 / 81, ZX Spectrum). This early office package received an extremely positive response from the press and has long been considered one of the most important arguments for buying a QL. A few years later, the program package appeared in a slightly different form under the title XChange for IBM-compatible computers (it cost more than a Sinclair QL including the Psion software).
Apart from the Sinclair “house supplier” Psion, the QL received little support from software manufacturers. In particular, there were significantly fewer games that would have made it attractive to the typical home user than for the main competitor at the time, the C64. For many office users, the included Psion package would have been a sufficient purchase incentive because of its undisputed quality, if they had not been deterred by the negative test reports published in many magazines at the time, which referred to the early QL deliveries and the unfamiliar microdrives.
After the end of production of the QL, Insiders continued the development of the QL and above all the QDOS operating system without authorization. Among other things, QDOS was transferred to the more powerful hardware of the Atari ST and adapted.
technology
The QL brought some major innovations: It was the first home computer whose operating system was capable of multitasking. The QL was also based on a Motorola - CPU of the 68k series, so a very advanced microprocessor as the core for its time . However, the smallest variant was selected with the Motorola 68008 ; With this processor, the data bus is reduced to 8 bits and the address bus to 20 bits, which greatly simplified the hardware complexity. Compared to a 68000 with the same clock, the 68008 runs about 15% slower due to the increased memory access cycles; the QL with its 68008 CPU clocked at 7.5 MHz ran about as fast as a computer with a 68000 CPU clocked at 6.5 MHz. As a second processor, the QL had an Intel 8049 for controlling the keyboard, sound output, interfaces and the microdrives; this allowed data transfers to take place in the background.
In other respects the QL brought little progress: If you did not buy an expensive floppy drive, the data was stored on the self-developed continuous cassette "Microdrives" ( borrowed from the development of the Spectrum ), which only offered slow data access and used a fatigue-prone continuous tape. Although much slower tape drives were used on other home computers at that time, the faster but more expensive 8 "and 5¼" floppy disk drives were standard on professional CP / M and MSDOS computers. The Apple Macintosh, which appeared around the same time as the QL, even contained one of the brand new 3½ "drives from Sony (with 400 KB). Only 5¼" drives were initially available for the QL, and in autumn 1984 3½ "drives were also available with 720 kB of storage capacity. At the beginning of 1985 the prices for floppy disk drives began to fall sharply, thus increasingly appearing as standard on home computers and making the microdrives of the QL appear all the more exotic.
For some countries, such as Germany and France, localized QL were produced. The German version differed from the English version in some details. In addition to a QWERTY keyboard, the operating system was also Germanized, for example for error messages. In addition, the "German" QL had other joystick and serial connection sockets. In addition, the housing was better interference-suppressed by metal vapor deposition and the installation of a choke.
Market success
A number of factors contributed to the QL becoming a commercial failure when compared to its predecessors, the Sinclair ZX81 and ZX Spectrum . Initially, a relatively long time passed between the announcement and delivery; the British computer press therefore interpreted the abbreviation “QL” as quite late (“fairly late”). In the spring of 1984 unfinished QL were delivered. Since the operating system (on ROM ) had not been completed in time, it had in these early copies in the form of out of the housing protruding dongle (also called "kludge", dt .: "Workaround") are added (which the planned 32 KB ROM expanded to 48). Even later, QLs were noticeably often reported as defective. This damaged the image of the computer at an early stage.
When it was finally able to be delivered in larger numbers and functioning copies at the end of 1984 (now with 48 KB built-in ROM), the QL was exposed to significantly stronger competitive pressure in view of the rapid development in the mid- 1980s . The QL supported multitasking , colored raster graphics and an early version of the window technology, but was only operated by keyboard commands. There was no graphical user interface with desk metaphors, icons and mouse controls , as developed by Xerox in the early 1970s and became state-of-the-art in 1984 with the appearance of the Apple Macintosh .
Sinclair's American competitors Atari and Commodore also presented models in 1985 with the Atari ST and Amiga , which, like the Apple computers, had a graphical user interface with mouse operation and were also more powerful because they had the Motorola 68000 processor with 16-bit Data bus used. Thus, the QL was not competitive as an office computer.
Another aspect with which the QL fell behind was the use of the proprietary Microdrive as an integrated mass storage device. Microdrive cartridges were at a disadvantage in several respects compared to floppy disks, which replaced the cartridges that were still widespread in the home user sector as storage media: Shortly after the appearance of the QL, they were undercut by the initially more expensive floppy disk drives, were slower to access than those, were considered to be prone to failure and contained only about 110 kB (in hardware and software not compatible with the 85 kB for the Spectrum). Quality problems with drives and media, as well as Sinclair's quasi-monopoly on data carriers and production, made the system rather unattractive for software producers. Software for the Sinclair Spectrum and Sinclair ZX81 had previously often been shipped on the more widely used cassette.
Although external floppy drives could be connected to the QL, a floppy disk controller had to be purchased from one of several third-party suppliers, while the later competing models from Atari ( Atari ST ) and later also from Commodore ( Amiga ) with built-in 3½ "drives waited.
All user groups of the QL each had to buy expensive hardware. For the first time since the development of the ZX80, the concept of offering something for everyone at a reasonable price did not work.
The Sinclair-typical delays and the sometimes missing quality control no longer fit into the time that was determined by high-quality products such as the Commodore C-64 and the Amstrad CPC . The missing mouse and the error-prone Sinclair Microdrive tape drives made the computer inferior to the Atari ST , the Amiga , the Archimedes and also the Apple Macintosh . The new computer architecture and the changed data carrier formatting of the drives made it incompatible with the Spectrum and ZX81 . There were no intersections with the CP / M and IBM world. The cheap and modernized hardware and the sometimes powerful operating system, like the planned and built-in networking, were no longer used.
The QL could not really address any of the core target groups. The one-per-desk variant affected a different market.
These factors resulted in sluggish sales of the QL that put Sinclair in financial trouble. To make matters worse, the Sinclair C5 electric vehicle had proven to be a complete flop in 1985. In this situation, the rapidly outdated but popular ZX Spectrum was used again , of which an expanded version with 128 KB RAM appeared in 1986. However, this was already too late: in April 1986 Sir Clive Sinclair was finally forced to sell the troubled company to the British competitor Amstrad , who ceased QL production and had to sell the remaining computers below book value.
Trivia
- The English computer manufacturer ICL had an office computer called OPD (one per desk) based on the QL, but with a different operating system.
- The Linux inventor Linus Torvalds made his first serious programming experience with a QL, so he analyzed the QDOS and wrote software for a floppy controller.
