QL Computing

Personal Computer News

Ralph Bancroft

'QL Computing' by Ian Sinclair, published by Granada Publishing at £5.95 (paperback, 176 pages). Whenever a new micro appears there is a rush by the book publishers to be first out with a book about the machine. The trouble with these 'instant' books is that the contents tend to be a little too instant, and give the user little more than what can be found in the manual. Ian Sinclair is no stranger to this kind of book and QL Computing definitely falls into the instant category. True, it is based on use of the QL (it is surprising how often someone writes a book about a micro that no-one has yet got their hands on), but Mr Sinclair (no relation to Sir Clive) has to admit his QL was one of the early versions which came with the decidedly 'provisional' manual. Like so many of the instant books it is padded out with such essential information as how to wire on a 13 amp plug, tune in your television, and the virtues of using a proper four-way expansion box. This is followed by an idiot's guide to writing simple programs in the QL's SuperBasic, as though the only thing that is worth writing about the QL is the language it uses. (Granada publishes another title that might be more appropriate called 'QL SuperBasic'). And that is about all you get for £5.95.