sinclair launches world's smallest folding bike

[Chris Malcolm]

"davek" <[email protected]> writes:

>Julesh:
>> The original leaflet IIRC claimed 15mph was twice as fast as a bicycle.

>Possibly true for 'people on bikes' as opposed to 'cyclists'.

It's very hard to exceed an average speed of 7.5mph in urban
conditions. Unless of course you buy one of those neat computerised
speedo things for your bike, which uses modern technology to omit all
the times you weren't moving from your average speed, supplying the
speed you might have achieved in an ideal world where all traffic
lights turn green as you arrive. Isn't data massage wonderful?
--
Chris Malcolm [email protected] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

 

[Chris Malcolm]

JohnB <[email protected]> writes:

>Alan Braggins wrote:

>> The picture at
>> http://www.straitstimes.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-07-03/h20.jpg
>> looks a bit like a Strida, only with ridiculously small wheels and a less
>> plausible looking pedal position.
>> I don't care what cunning suspension mechanism is packed in there, those
>> wheels aren't going to work anywhere with potholes or kerbs.

>Clearly someone needs to develop the folding wheel.

Lots of people have. Has a fundamental problem.


--
Chris Malcolm [email protected] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

 

[Geraint Jones]

[email protected] (Chris Malcolm) wrote:
( JohnB <[email protected]> writes:
) >Clearly someone needs to develop the folding wheel.
(
) Lots of people have. Has a fundamental problem.

OK, the unfolding wheel, then. Hm. Inflatable, perhaps?

Anyone for an inflatable bike?

 

[Julesh]

Gawnsoft wrote:

<snip>

>
> Oric BASIC was licenced from Microsoft. As was Dragon BASIC, and
> Commodore BASIC (as used in the PET, the VIC and the 64)
>
> Only Acorn and Sinclair commissioned their own, aficr.
>
>
Thanks, I never knew that. Around 1983 there was at least one magazine
for each of the popular micros. Each mag had program listings you could
spend hours typing in, and then more hours looking for the typos. I had
always assumed that was because each computer ran it's own dialect of BASIC.


Cheers


Jules

 

[Jon Senior]

Chris Malcolm [email protected] opined the following...
> "davek" <[email protected]> writes:
>
> >Julesh:
> >> The original leaflet IIRC claimed 15mph was twice as fast as a bicycle.
>
> >Possibly true for 'people on bikes' as opposed to 'cyclists'.
>
> It's very hard to exceed an average speed of 7.5mph in urban
> conditions. Unless of course you buy one of those neat computerised
> speedo things for your bike, which uses modern technology to omit all
> the times you weren't moving from your average speed, supplying the
> speed you might have achieved in an ideal world where all traffic
> lights turn green as you arrive. Isn't data massage wonderful?

Not really data massage. When I'm riding, I want to know what average I
maintain while moving, not what my journey time is (I can get that from
my watch!). If I ride the same route each day, it's nice to know whether
I'm doing better or worse, rather than whether I was lucky with the
traffic lights.

And Sinclair describes his bike (And the original C5) as capable of
15mph, not an average speed of 15mph. Where as it may be difficult to
_genuinely_ average 15mph, it is easy to reach it between lights.

Jon

 

[Gawnsoft]

On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 16:52:49 GMT, Julesh
<[email protected]> wrote (more or less):

>Gawnsoft wrote:
>
><snip>
>
>>
>> Oric BASIC was licenced from Microsoft. As was Dragon BASIC, and
>> Commodore BASIC (as used in the PET, the VIC and the 64)
>>
>> Only Acorn and Sinclair commissioned their own, aficr.
>>
>>
>Thanks, I never knew that. Around 1983 there was at least one magazine
>for each of the popular micros. Each mag had program listings you could
>spend hours typing in, and then more hours looking for the typos. I had
>always assumed that was because each computer ran it's own dialect of BASIC.

They did, but the variances (for the various Microsoft licencees) were
generally specific to hardware features of the particular PC.

Display, sound and cassette data storage facilities, pretty much.

--
Cheers,
Euan
Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122
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[Gawnsoft]

On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 19:43:06 +0100, Jon Senior
<jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk> wrote (more or less):

>Chris Malcolm [email protected] opined the following...
>> "davek" <[email protected]> writes:
>>
>> >Julesh:
>> >> The original leaflet IIRC claimed 15mph was twice as fast as a bicycle.
>>
>> >Possibly true for 'people on bikes' as opposed to 'cyclists'.
>>
>> It's very hard to exceed an average speed of 7.5mph in urban
>> conditions. Unless of course you buy one of those neat computerised
>> speedo things for your bike, which uses modern technology to omit all
>> the times you weren't moving from your average speed, supplying the
>> speed you might have achieved in an ideal world where all traffic
>> lights turn green as you arrive. Isn't data massage wonderful?
>
>Not really data massage. When I'm riding, I want to know what average I
>maintain while moving, not what my journey time is (I can get that from
>my watch!). If I ride the same route each day, it's nice to know whether
>I'm doing better or worse, rather than whether I was lucky with the
>traffic lights.
>
>And Sinclair describes his bike (And the original C5) as capable of
>15mph,

because claiming any more renders the users in need of a licence to
drive or ride the vehicle, if powered.

>not an average speed of 15mph. Where as it may be difficult to
>_genuinely_ average 15mph, it is easy to reach it between lights.
>
>Jon

--
Cheers,
Euan
Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122
Smalltalk links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk) http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

 

[Colin Blackburn]

On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 02:58:29 GMT, Gawnsoft
<[email protected]> wrote:

> On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 19:43:06 +0100, Jon Senior
> <jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk> wrote (more or less):

>> Not really data massage. When I'm riding, I want to know what average I
>> maintain while moving, not what my journey time is (I can get that from
>> my watch!). If I ride the same route each day, it's nice to know whether
>> I'm doing better or worse, rather than whether I was lucky with the
>> traffic lights.
>>
>> And Sinclair describes his bike (And the original C5) as capable of
>> 15mph,
>
> because claiming any more renders the users in need of a licence to
> drive or ride the vehicle, if powered.

Yes, but in respect of the new bike (rather than the C5) is there any
indication it will be powered? The picture I saw and the claims for weight
and folded size would make a powered version a bit of a nonsense. I read
the Reuters' piece as him saying that the pedal cycle would be only
capable of 15mph. That's different to saying a non-human-powered vehicle
will be limited to 15mph.

Colin

 

[james]

Jon Senior <jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Chris Malcolm [email protected] opined the following...
> > "davek" <[email protected]> writes:
> > >Julesh:
> > >> The original leaflet IIRC claimed 15mph was twice as fast as a bicycle.

> > >Possibly true for 'people on bikes' as opposed to 'cyclists'.

> > It's very hard to exceed an average speed of 7.5mph in urban
> > conditions. Unless of course you buy one of those neat computerised
> > speedo ...which ...omit the times you weren't moving from your average...

I can only manage to exceed 7.5mph average twice a day . This is
on a five mile trip in London including the Greenwich foot tunnel
(which I walk through). I average 11-12mph (yes, a "proper" average).
I think 13.8 is my pb


> Not really data massage. When I'm riding, I want to know what average I
> maintain while moving, not what my journey time is (I can get that from
> my watch!). If I ride the same route each day, it's nice to know whether
> I'm doing better or worse, rather than whether I was lucky with the
> traffic lights.

but if you are unlucky with traffic lights your average moving speed
will be higher because of the rests. I guess both measures are
slightly arbitrary at the end of the day.

best wishes
james

 

[Chris Malcolm]

"Arthur Clune" <[email protected]> writes:

>Gawnsoft <[email protected]> wrote:
>: On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 15:46:03 GMT, Julesh
>: <[email protected]> wrote (more or less):

>:>The QL promised a 32-bit 68000 processor

>: Surely you mean 16-bit?

>Nah. It *promised* 32 bits. What it actually had was a matter of semantics

>(8 bit bus if I remember correctly)

It had an 8 bit bus, which took two accesses to get data in and out of
its 16 bit arithmetic registers, which were capable of doing
arithmetic in double length (32 bit) mode. So data access was 8 bit,
data manipulation and addressing was 16 bit, and arithmetic and
extended addressing was 32 bit.

Just saying "8 bit machine" or "16 bit machine" is too vague, like
saying someone is a big man without making it clear whether it's
height or width.

--
Chris Malcolm [email protected] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

 

[Martin Wilson]

On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 13:05:02 GMT, Simon Brooke <[email protected]>
wrote:

>in message <os_Hc.28738$I%[email protected]>, Julesh
>('[email protected]') wrote:
>
>> What's odd about a home computer with Forth in ROM?  Well I can't
>> recall anyone else trying to buck the market in such a splendid way! I
>> can only guess the company that released it thought the time of Forth
>> had come. They may had been right but as it looked such a dog, tacky
>> white plastic case and keys worse that those on a ZX-Spectrum, the
>> world doesn't appear to have beaten a path to its door.
>
>They also look pretty tacky inside, too - even compared to a ZX80 and
>certainly to a ZX81. The chip-count is huge, the PCB layout definitely
>didn't benefit from any CAD, and there is a huge heatsink crudely cut
>out of sheet aluminium that covers half the board.

I've still got the original Jupiter Ace brochure. Never owned or even
seen one in the flesh mind you. Actually tell a lie I might have seen
one at the Alternative Micro show many years ago but only from a
distance.

 

[Arthur Clune]

Chris Malcolm <[email protected]> wrote:

: Just saying "8 bit machine" or "16 bit machine" is too vague, like
: saying someone is a big man without making it clear whether it's
: height or width.

But it ment that Sinclair could advertise a "32 bit" machine - which was
my point.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org
"Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

 

[Nick Drew]

> Jon Senior <jon@restlesslemon_DOT_co_DOT_uk.remove> wrote:
> > Despite this I've got a soft spot for Mr Sinclair. He's a true British
> > institution.
>
> He's what's wrong with Britain: we hate it when our friends become
> successful, but we love the plucky underdog.
>

Hence why everyone loves Henman, instead of perhaps finding a better
sporting hero to support.... It's pathetic.

IMHO, of course!
Nick

 

[Ambrose Nankivell]

"Nick Drew" <[email protected]> writes:

> > Jon Senior <jon@restlesslemon_DOT_co_DOT_uk.remove> wrote:
> > > Despite this I've got a soft spot for Mr Sinclair. He's a true British
> > > institution.
> >
> > He's what's wrong with Britain: we hate it when our friends become
> > successful, but we love the plucky underdog.
> >
>
> Hence why everyone loves Henman, instead of perhaps finding a better
> sporting hero to support.... It's pathetic.

It's amazing how often you hear about how the English never win
everything and are happier that way when it's only 8 months since the
rugby team won the World Cup.

A

 

[Chris Malcolm]

"Arthur Clune" <[email protected]> writes:

>Chris Malcolm <[email protected]> wrote:

>: Just saying "8 bit machine" or "16 bit machine" is too vague, like
>: saying someone is a big man without making it clear whether it's
>: height or width.

>But it ment that Sinclair could advertise a "32 bit" machine - which was
>my point.

Well yes, but then we all knew that it was a Sinclair product, didn't
we ?-)

It was always an entertaining intellectual puzzle, working out what a
Sinclair advert meant.

--
Chris Malcolm [email protected] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

 

[Gawnsoft]

On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 09:32:43 +0100, "Colin Blackburn"
<[email protected]> wrote (more or less):

>On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 02:58:29 GMT, Gawnsoft
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 19:43:06 +0100, Jon Senior
>> <jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk> wrote (more or less):
>
>>> Not really data massage. When I'm riding, I want to know what average I
>>> maintain while moving, not what my journey time is (I can get that from
>>> my watch!). If I ride the same route each day, it's nice to know whether
>>> I'm doing better or worse, rather than whether I was lucky with the
>>> traffic lights.
>>>
>>> And Sinclair describes his bike (And the original C5) as capable of
>>> 15mph,
>>
>> because claiming any more renders the users in need of a licence to
>> drive or ride the vehicle, if powered.
>
>Yes, but in respect of the new bike (rather than the C5) is there any
>indication it will be powered?

Yes - in the article, Clive says the next stage is to give it electric
assistance.

>The picture I saw and the claims for weight
>and folded size would make a powered version a bit of a nonsense. I read
>the Reuters' piece as him saying that the pedal cycle would be only
>capable of 15mph. That's different to saying a non-human-powered vehicle
>will be limited to 15mph.
>
>Colin

--
Cheers,
Euan
Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122
Smalltalk links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk) http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

 

[jtaylor]

Julesh <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'll not believe the 20 years excuse Did no-one bring out a Forth
> for the Spectrum?

I had Forth for the zx-81, also key-repeat, video reverse, hi-res graphics
in software, high-speed cassettte stuff, printer, modem with serial port,
the works.

Soldered the 64K memory pack on 'cause it wiggled.

It had the best basic string sub-string system - no left$, right$, mid$,
etcetera, just <start> TO <end>., plus it allowed computed GOTO's (had to
make the math point to a valid line number, though, or you'd get an error).

 

[Colin Blackburn]

On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 18:37:51 GMT, Gawnsoft
<[email protected]> wrote:
> On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 09:32:43 +0100, "Colin Blackburn"
> <[email protected]> wrote (more or less):
>> Yes, but in respect of the new bike (rather than the C5) is there any
>> indication it will be powered?
>
> Yes - in the article, Clive says the next stage is to give it electric
> assistance.

Fairy snuff. I now see the light.
>
>> The picture I saw and the claims for weight
>> and folded size would make a powered version a bit of a nonsense.

Though I still think the above holds unless he develops some new battery
and motor technology!

Colin