Dear Friends,
I hope you can excuse us if this ENTER column gets a little personal, but this issue of T-S Horizons is being dedicated to Jeremy Charles Duncan. Jeremy was born earlier this morning (May 23) at 8:43. He was 8 lb 4 oz and 21 inches long. His mother is recovering very well for having gone through a Caesarean section and his father (yours truly) is recovering well for having witnessd a Caesarean birth. Daniel, Jeremy’s 2 1/2 year old brother is waiting at home patiently, wondering where mommy is and exactly what a “baby brother” is, and TS Horizons is late again.
New Subscribers
For the sake of any new subscribers who have not heard, T-S Horizons is intended to be monthly but occassionally it comes out late with a 2-month cover date (e.g. May/June). Rest assured that your subscription is for 12 issues, not 12 months, and that we really do try to be on time. Now that we’ve gotten the personal and the obligatory out of the way let’s get down to business.
The Portuguese 2068: Hopeful Hybrid or Mutant Misfit
Have you heard the latest? Timex is back. So is the 2068. Well not exactly. Timex of Portugal has been marketing their version of the 2068 in Europe and is toying with the idea of mass merchandising in the U.S. That may seem like an odd turn of events since Timex (U.S.) decided to give up on the computer market. But read on.
As I understand it the Portuguese 2068 (or TC 2068) is internally similiar to the American 2068 (TS 2068) with a Spectrum rear edge connector. The TC2068 is sold with a Spectrum emulator (which will work on the TC but reportedly not on the TS). Now the Spectrum is the most popular computer in Great Britain, which has the highest per capita level of home computers in the world. The Spectrum is also the most popular computer in Spain and several other countries. So T. of P. has a product that can run Spectrum programs and use Spectrum peripherals. I wonder how Sinclair likes the competition from its own offspring.
Can the TC 2068 make it in the U.S. ? First of all we understand that it is having serious problems with the F.C.C. (Currently limited quantities are being sold as evaluation units). But beyond that two questions must be answered. 1.) Does the existing Timex market need the computer? Most mail order dealers (Zebra, Sunset, Brown, etc.) feel they have adequate supplies of TS 2068’s currently. Some are relucant to sell the TC 2068 for that reason. 2) Can a new market for the 2068 be created? Frankly we doubt it. It may be that Timex (U.S.) has already “poisoned” the market for good.
Even if they had the greatest reputation, I doubt that a new $159 to $200 64K computer can make it in the U.S. market. I recently saw an Atari 800 in Children’s Palace for $99. One option is to implement some of Dave Higgenbottom‘s ideas and make it a 128K machine, but that probably won’t happen.
Apart from the marketing of the machine, most technically inclined types who have seen it seem to feel it’s a nice machine. Nazir Pashtoon and Paul Donnelly have reviewed it favorably and I consider their opinion to be very dependable. But you should know that some others are less enthusiastic. One reliable source called it “a real mutant. 2068 guts. Spectrum bus. You need an emulator which was not included with mine although I paid for it. You can’t hook up the (Sinclair) microdrives directly… This is a very quick evaluation but (for $400 or so total cost computer, drives, and connectors)… I’ll take the QL anyday.” So the verdict is mixed for the TC 2068.
However, unlike the TC 2068, several vendors are carrying and are very excited about the disk drives being sold by T. of P. These can be adapted to the U.S. 2068. The technical information printed here was provided by Zebra Systems and Sunset Electronics. The presidents of both companies in a joint venture went to Europe recently to look into the new hardware. We hope to have a report from them for the next issue. See ads in this issue for who’s selling what?
Impending Cancellation of SYNTAX
I suppose it’s the end of an era of sorts. Kirt Olson of Syntax called a couple of weeks ago to inform us that Syntax is no longer taking new subscrtions. They will publish enough new issues to complete all current subscriptions and any and all back issues are available. Any 12 continuous issues may be purchased for $48, their regular annual subscription rate.
Syntax was the original American publication for Sinclair Computers. Those of us that originally ordered ZX80’s and ZX81’s through the mail received a free sample copy of Syntax. Since then the price has gone up considerably.
At the height of success of TS1000/ZX81 Syntax tried to start a glossy magazine called Syntax Quarterly. A nice idea but going up against both Sync and Timex Sinclair User with a higher priced quarterly didn’t seem to work out. After three issues SQ was cancelled. At one point Syntax had 10000 subscribers. I hate to see Syntax go even though a few users were willing to spend $48 a year for it. I guess that makes TS Horizons the oldest surviving TS specific publication around. I think I’d better be going now. I hear a baby crying.
Yours truly,
Rick Duncan