I read with surprise reports of Sinclair's despatch office being inundated with orders for the QL Computer. Does this mean that many people actually ordered machines on the strength of information in the promotional brochure?

Two points - first, despite the liberal scattering of the phrase '32-bit' throughout the literature, a glance at the specification reveals the CPU to be a 68008. This isn't anything like a true 32-bit CPU as it has an 8-bit data bus. Second, presuming that many of those who ordered the QL are home and not business users, have they considered the problem of software? Any program to run on the QL must be on Microdrive media - the unit cost of this, assuming reasonable quantities are available, is £4.75 compared to about 60p for compact cassettes! This does not bode well for reasonably-priced commercial software either.

It seems like a clever strategy to offer an irresistable machine with built-in Microdrives and no option of floppy or cassette storage. This guarantees a captive audience for Microdrive cartridges and complete incompatibility with any other machine.

This leads me to think that software is supplied with the QL out of sheer necessity. £399 is a lot of money to pay for a paperweight, even if it does have built-in Microdrives.

R. Rancans
London, SW1

But Sinclair has promised a hard disk interface for the QL - and it's a reasonable bet that floppies will be available, in some cases before the QL itself! - Ed