Timex Computerists: Outlook Bright for New Products and Services.
Immediately after TIMBX quit the computer business, it was kind of hard to tell where TIMEX-Sinclair computing was going in the United States. For computer owners, it was a matter of worrying about where you’d get support for the computers you had bought. For businesses like B. Arthur Brown Company, it was a matter of whether we could make enough money giving that support to pay for expenses and make a profit.
Things looked pretty bleak there for a while. With all of the screw-ups and poor management from TIMEX, most dealers and distributors hadn’t been making any money for quite some time before the big announcement. The TS2068 looked like it was going to pull us all back on track. But TIMEX started messing up the market for that one, too. Then, when TIMEX quit, many dealers just decided they’d had enough and gave it up. You get to a point where you’re tired of fighting after awhile.
Now that the dust has settled, I can see a bright star on the horizon for TIMEX computerists and Sinclair computers in the US. Unlike other companies that quit computers (ie. Texas Instruments), TIMEX wasn’t the brains behind their machines. Sinclair Research of England designed them. Now, they’re quite healthy and happy with the computer business. Their ZX Spectrum, essentially the same computer as the TIMEX 2068, has sold over a million units world wide. They’ve even made a deal with an oriental campany to manufacture the popular ZX-81 computers again. These are essentially the same as the TIMEX 1000. Finally, Sinclair plans to re-enter the US. market this Fall with the Spectrum and ZX-81 as well as their new business computer, the Quantum Leap. We’ll probably begin distributing for them sometime in the first part of 1985.
Most of the software and peripherals that work on Spectrums and ZX-81s will work on TS2068s and TS1000s with little or no modification. This means that TIMEX computer owners will again have the support of a major manufacturer. It also means a continuing market for companies like our’s, who sell to TIMEX and Sinclair owners. And, its a message of stability to software and peripheral developers who need to know there’s a future before investing in new products.
Many of you are probably wondering when the microdrives will be available. They’ve been available for some time now in England. I expect them in the US. this Fall or early ‘85 when Sinclair will be selling them. In the mean time, we’re working on importing a commercial mini-disk drive from that country. It’s supposed to handle a megabyte of data and cost around $500. You’ll spend about as much or more for less memory on 8 microdrives, but the mini-disk unit won’t create such clutter on your desk. I suspect Sinclair is thinking along the same lines… Rumor has it he struck a deal with Hitachi for a mini-disk drive.
On the home front, there are some rugged individualists that have answered the call to keep the public informed. The major magazines may have folded, but you can get some pretty top notch information from TS Horizons, Syncware News, and Syntax.
Already the flood of converted Spectrum software and peripherals has begun. Tasman line of RS232 and Centronics interfaces, word processing, and utility software. A new line of English games is in here, too. And, we have the RGB conversion kit for those of you who want the perfect picture afforded by RGB monitors. All of these are brand new products for your TS2068 computer. Even more are coming! And, so you can start boning up on the next wave of Sinclair computers, we’ve imported a new line of books on the Spectrum and Quantum Leap.
Yes, the outlook is bright for owners of TIMEX and Sinclair computers. We’ll try to keep you informed as we search out and find the latest new products. But, make sure youre on our mailing list! To put you on our permanent mailing list, you have to either buy something or specifically request to be put on our list. Call or write today.