Darren Branagh came across a YouTube video of a Thames TV programme called ‘4 Computer Buffs’ from 1985 which features a 9-carat Gold QL (literally!) from Aspreys Jewellers in the opening headlines, the price back then a cool £3,500! Several people asked what happened to this QL – any of our members know?
The programme interviews Sir Clive Sinclair about the relaunch of the QL in 1985, where Jane Ashton and Sir Clive discuss matters perceived to be hindering the success of the QL at the time, such as microdrives and lack of software. They also discuss the future launch of a Sinclair portable which was to have been Z80/Spectrum based, later becoming the Pandora and Z88. They also discuss the Wafer-Scale Integration.
Sir Clive also describes the micro of the future as one you can talk to to ask questions about your health and so on. This sounds remarkably like the Alexa and other modern systems, proving that he was quite a visionary even back then!
You can also see a system whereby software was transmitted via the video display as a flashing dot in a black circle on screen ready for a photo-receptor to decode as a software download.
See the 15 minute excerpt at