ZX81
I bought a ZX81 computer on 7th November 1982 and played the breakout game I bought with it, I then read the manual that came with the computer and was hooked, I taught myself programming from the ZX81 manual. I did not know of anyone in the area who even owned a computer or knew what they could do so I had nobody to discuss computers with, they were a bit of a specialist subject back then. I started working flat out learning how to write software I then graduated to the Sinclair Spectrum and then to the Sinclair QL.
Typing Tutor
In 1985 I went in to WH Smiths in Preston and saw a typing tutor for sale for £29.95. I told the shop assistant who I regularly chatted to, that the software was over priced
and that I could write better myself. He challenged me and I set about writing Touch Typist to prove my claim.
Two weeks later after working flat out I took a program in to show him and he was amazed that it was better than the one he was selling, he said that I should market it. I then set about writing new features and expanding the software until it was ready for sale.
Sector Software
I managed to get an Enterprise Allowance grant of £40 per week for one year to start up self employed writing software, later on that year I attended a computer show in London as an exhibitor selling my one product. I sold about 19 copies in one day.
Within two years Sector Software had achieved a turnover of £90,000+ with programs such as Touch Typist, Taskmaster, Spellbound, Flashback, Ferret, Page Designer 2, Writeturn and QZ (QL to Z88 link).
Taskmaster
Back in the 80′s, before Microsoft wrote Windows we had our own multitasking/task switching front end for the Sinclair QL called Taskmaster, this gave you multiple programs running in their own windows, all the programs multitasked, this meant that they all ran at the same time, you could set your database printing out labels and still use your wordprocessor or any other programs at the same time. Also included in the package was a file handling program similar to Windows File Manager, a pop up notepad and pop up calculator which once closed with a two key combination transferred the text out of the notepad or the result from the calculator to the underlying program. This allowed, for example, the ability to be working in your accounts package and, with a simple keypress up popped up the calculator, you could perform your calculations and then by pressing two keys the calculator closed down and as it disappeared it typed the result to the input box on your accounts package, the notepad worked the same way. This software also gave you a macro recorder and player language which could operate ANY program running in your machine thus automating common tasks. A software based printer buffer which was configurable to use spare ram saved our customers the cost of buying the only other alternative at the time which was hardware printer buffers which were expensive. When you switched on your QL, Taskmaster remembered what programs you were using when you closed it down and they were loaded up ready to go.
Spellbound
In 1987 we released a spelling checker for the Sinclair QL by the name of Spellbound, this checked your spelling in real time as you typed, this is a feature that many thought that Microsoft invented in their recent Microsoft Office software, we were doing this ten years earlier than Microsoft. Our spelling checker did not only work within a wordprocessor though, by linking itself in to the keyboard input queue it worked exactly the same in ANY program running in the computer, for example you could be in your accounts package, spreadsheet or even a game and still turn on the spell checking by simply pressing a two key combination, all your spelling from that point onwards being checked as you type, pressing two keys switched it off.
Tuition
I noticed an increase in the demand for tuition from people wanting to learn to write their own programs this became an integral part of the services provided by Sector Sofware.
Flashback
After realising that many people were experiencing difficulty programming databases we released Flashback, this was a pop up database which could be called up at any time with two key presses, it was very simple to use and configure. When it was closed down Flashback would either simply disappear, or it would transfer the current record in to the underlying program at the programs cursor position.
Bulletin Board
In 1987 we started our own Bulletin Board. For those who do not know the term, this is a system where our computers answered the phone after 6pm through to 9am the following morning. This allowed people to use their computers to log on to our computers, leave messages, talk to others and download software. It was an online meeting place for computer users with modems to dial up in a similar way to the way the Internet is used nowadays.
Computer Shows
In the mid 1980′s I attended ZX Microfairs at the Horticultural Halls, Westminster, London as an exhibitor. I then decided to hold my own shows in the North West. Seven very successful computer shows were held at Stokes Hall, Leyland, Lancashire at the rate of two or three per year. These were the first computer shows in the area. I did not continue organising computer shows due to many others getting on the bandwagon and starting competing shows in the area, these were box-shifter shows as they still are today, my shows were attended mainly by the people who wrote the software, you could chat to the authors direct as they sold you the programs. Nowadays you have to travel to London or Birmingham to see a proper computer show where those exhibiting are the writers of the software rather than people selling games etc. Computer shows nowadays consist of mainly box shifters, PD suppliers and pirate MP3 sellers. Maybe I should have continued organising them myself.
The first computer show in the North West was big news, it was featured in the Lancashire Evening Post as well as other local newspapers, Radio Lancashire brought their outside broadcast van to the show because it was something so new. They interviewed me live on the radio amongst the stalls before they went around the show with a radio microphone, talking to people asking them questions like “what it was like to attend a computer show” and “what have you bought”. Little did I know how from these first beginnings that computer shows would swamp the area. The first one was attended by about 2000 visitors which at the time was an amazing response, many shows today would like to have that kind of attendance.
In 1988 I bought a Commodore Amiga and started converting my typing tutor ‘Touch Typist’ to this machine, Touch Typist was a best seller on the Sinclair QL and soon became even more so on the Amiga. Touch Typist was later converted to the Atari ST and the Acorn Archimedes. I became a regular exhibitor at computer shows from Scotland to Germany and Belgium. I was exhibiting at Schloss Bedburg (Castle Bedburg) in the town of Bedburg in Germany one year and saw a Sinclair C5 parked outside the castle, I could not resist the temptation to take it for a quick spin around the castle grounds, luckily I was not caught before I parked it up where I found it.
Sector Software had one of the first Z88′s in the country when I was asked by Clive Sinclairs’ company Cambridge Computers to beta test their machine. After a trip down to Cambridge to sign the non disclosure agreement and take posession of a Z88 I set about testing the machine and wrote the first QL to Z88 link kit, this was followed by an Amiga to Z88 link kit. These were file transfer and print spooling programs which allowed you to transfer your data to and from your laptop computer.
This is a clip from the Lancashire Evening Post reporting on the fifth computer show.
British Telecom – STD Index
After obtaining a licence from British Telecom, Sector Software released STD Index on the QL, Amiga and IBM PC, this was British Telecom’s dialling code database of UK and foreign numbers on computer disk with our own search engine, this was very useful for reverse searching numbers.
RSA Test Centre
Demands for formalising the computer skills of our students led to Sector Software becoming an RSA (Royal Society of Arts) registered Test Centre. This allowed us to deliver courses run by RSA, the CLAIT (Computer Literacy and Information Technology) course was ideal as a starter course in computing and was adopted for our students.
Wordsmith
My next software release was Wordsmith on the Amiga, this was a crossword, anagram and puzzle solver for crossword and competition addicts. This was also used in some schools to help children find rhyming words or words on a particular theme I later found out.
Shopper Index
Because of a personal need for an instant reference to the contents of technical articles Shopper Index was written. This was a database of Amiga Shopper magazines contents in a very fast stand alone search engine. This gave readers of this magazine instant access to years of Amiga Shopper magazine articles, letters, reviews and tutorials all wrapped up in our very fast search program. The editor of the magazine used the software to keep track of past reviews and advice given in the magazine articles and letters.
Tandy WP2 Link
Tandy’s educational arm Intertan contacted us to arrange for us to write a link to their WP2 computer. This worked in a similar fashion to our Z88 link, allowing up and downloading of data contained in the WP2 for archiving on a home computer or spooling the documents to the printer.
Fuji Digital Camera Link
After being sent a digital camera by Fuji in 1997 and one from Sanyo in the same year I set about writing software to link these to a computer.
Prison Sentence Calculator
One project which has been written but is currently on hold due to changes to the way sentencing is carried out, is our software for HM Prison Service which calculates prisoner’s sentences. This software calculates a prisoner’s release dates for either consecutive, concurrent or mixed consecutive and concurrent sentences. This takes into account time spent in custody (police or otherwise), ADA’s(additional days awarded) ADAp’s and a host of other variables. Data entry is simple and fast, the calculations are even faster taking no more than a few seconds to calculate a complicated record.
This program was originally written on the Commodore Amiga and was converted to run on IBM compatible machines, we have to wait for the Prison Service to decide how to correctly calculate remand time on concurrent sentences before the final version of the software can be released. You may remember the time when 500 prisoners were let out early when they found out that they had been calculating their release dates wrongly. This software knows all the rules and the amendments to the rules issued over the years. Output is to the standard sentence calculation white/pink/or blue forms complete with sentence chart.
Touch Typist for Microsoft Windows
Our best selling Touch Typist software was rewritten for the IBM compatible market. It was converted from our Amiga program by the same name. Touch Typist is a typing tutor which has sold over 100,000 copies on the Commodore Amiga, Sinclair QL, Atari St and Acorn Archimedes. One magazine reviewer said that “compared to Mavis Beacon and Intellitype (it’s closest rivals) Touch Typist is a lot more straightforward and rewarding to use”, need we say more.
Touch Typist was released on CD ROM for Microsoft Windows and a short while later was released as a software download. This means that it allows payment and unlocking online, the whole process of downloading the software, paying for it and starting to learn to type takes just a couple of minutes.
Custom Software Packages
Since the 1980′s we have written various custom software packages for local businesses to handle customer details, invoicing and data conversion. We are usually called upon when a business has large amounts of data that needs conversion from one format to another. We design custom software to read source files in one format, process and convert it to another format.
Website SEO
Sector Software does some website design work but that is not one of our main activities, instead we specialise in gaining visitors to existing websites by a multitude of techniques from simple Search Engine Optimisation through to operating our own specialist software to market websites, urls, personal profiles, blogs and social media accounts.
Second Life – Virtual Worlds
We have been operating in the virtual world of Second Life since January 2007. We use Second Life to organise meetings and training sessions, we build, write software and generally learn all there is to know about Second Life. This platform is excellent for some businesses and we have made many new friends, customers and business contacts through this medium. Sector Software were the first company in the UK to offer a Second Life course back in 2007.
Filming and Podcasting
I am currently writing various pieces of software which will be sold as downloads in the near future, but my main workload has been filming, editing and producing podcasts for ourselves and for other people. Although we first had video on our website in 2001, we only started producing podcasts (for Itunes etc) in January 2010. Video podcasts or Internet TV is the future medium for businesses wanting to make an impact on the web so for that reason I am doing lots of work in this medium with a view to distributing content via Google TV and the many other outlets such as the Boxee Box etc.
Android
With the growth of mobile phones came the growth of software developed for phones. In 2010 I started writing software for mobile phones, this was mostly internal use software but I currently have a few projects on the go for the Android operating system.
Online Courses
Because I found it difficult to be in many places at once, I decided to move some of my courses online. This allows me to train a greater number of people and not be restricted to where I can train based on geography. The first of these courses to be released was my Online Photoshop Course to replicate the content from my Photoshop classroom training.
This has been a short overview which will be updated in my spare time if I have any !!!
I hope you found it interesting.
David Batty