The Problem That Needed Solving By late 1982, Timex Computer Corporation had a gap problem. The TS1000 had launched in July of that year and sold in extraordinary numbers, over a million units by some accounts, but it was showing its limitations fast. American consumers, unlike their British counterparts, had little patience for the machine’s […]
Two Factories, One Computer: The Making of the Timex/Sinclair 1500 Read More »
National Education Corporation (Irvine, California) had been selling vocational training by mail since 1946. When home computers became affordable, they saw a natural extension of their business. Timex was looking for the same thing from the other direction. Dan Ross, COO of Timex Computer Corporation, was vocal about the TS computers as educational tools. “Computers
The NEC Technical Literacy Series Read More »
There’s something quietly wonderful about discovering that other people have been building the same thing you’ve been building. Not exactly the same — differently the same. Same general idea, completely different priorities, completely different angles. Each one a window into the maker’s own preoccupations. I built Retro Pixel Converter over a few weeks, partly because
A constellation of retro pixel converters Read More »
Whether you’re digging through TAP files from World of Spectrum, trying to understand how a vintage BASIC program works, building your own TAP files for an emulator, or just curious what’s on those old disk images — TS-2068 Disk Browser is a free, open-source desktop app that makes it easy. What Can You Do With
In June 1980, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago, a few hundred people encountered something that would barely register on the radar of the American computer industry but would prove irresistible to a certain type of enthusiast. The Sinclair ZX80 wasn’t the show’s star attraction—that honor belonged to products from established companies with established
The Sinclair ZX-80 Comes to America Read More »
Ed Simpson, publisher of Home Business News, wrote and published book called Cash From Your Computer in 1987. It featured vignettes about small businesses using, featuring, or organized around small (home) computers. In one section, he wrote about Rick Duncan, publisher of T/S Horizons. Rick Duncan is the owner of T/S Horizons, a publication for
T/S Horizons in Cash From Your Computer Read More »
The Timex/Sinclair went from product announcement to in stores in just under a year. And then Timex left the market. A few examples of computers released during this timeline are included for context.
Timex Sinclair 2068 Timeline Read More »
There were six of us in the whole startup: myself, Billy Skyrme (director), Bob Behler (engineering), Carlos Dragovich (production), Margot Murphy (marketing) and Dan Ross (VP). All of these names where characters in a maze game I wrote called Grimm’s Fairy Trails. I was the Software Manager for Timex Computers. I was there at the
George Grimm on Timex Read More »
When the Timex/Sinclair 2068 finally reached store shelves in the fall of 1983, it arrived bearing the weight of considerable expectations. After the phenomenal success of the T/S 1000—which had sold 550,000 units in just five months—and the delays and confusion surrounding what had originally been announced as the “T/S 2000,” the computing press and
Timex/Sinclair 2068: A Computer in Search of an Audience Read More »
An unlikely savior, David Higgenbottom, a body shop owner turned computer enthusiast, embarked on an audacious journey to resurrect the defunct Timex/Sinclair computer business in 1984.
The Man Who Tried to Save Timex Read More »
In the early 1980s, when home computers were just beginning to find their way into households across America, two engineers in North Carolina created something remarkable: an analog interface that could transform a Timex/Sinclair computer into a sophisticated scientific instrument. They called it VOTEM—short for VOltage and TEMperature—and it would eventually find its way aboard
VOTEM: The $40 Computer Peripheral That Went to Space Read More »
