History and Background On Our User Group

This month will mark the beginning of our third year as the Sinclair-Timex User Group. The user group is a group of individuals who get together to share information about their Sinclair and Timex computers.

During the past two years, we have grown from 18 members to 800 members. This fantastic growth is indicative of the excitement and enthusiasm within the group. I’m looking forward to seeing further growth in our group and more activities and participation by our members.

History of Our Group

During the summer of 1981, I was working for the U.S. headquarters of Sinclair Research, Limited, in Boston planning some marketing strategies to introduce Clive Sinclair’s ZX-81 microcomputer to the U.S. market. The ZX-81 had already been introduced in Europe and was doing very well, especially in the U.K. where there already was an established base of owners of the ZX-80, the forerunner of the ZX-81.

I was very excited because Sinclair was the first to come out with a personal computer for under $200.00. (In those days, a personal computer cost between $500 and $2500.) Both the ZX-80 and ZX-81 were light and compact—only 12 ounces and 6 1/2 inches long, not much larger than a dessert plate.

Yet the Sinclair computer packed a lot of computing power. It was capable of computing (performing number crunching) as fast as most personal microcomputers. It could run useful programs for home, business, school, and entertainment. However, many people had a hard time taking the Sinclair computer seriously because of its size and price.

I really believed that the Sinclair computer would revolutionize America because of its low cost for, not only the computer, but also the hardware (peripherals or accessories) and the software (programs). This low cost would allow anyone interested in learning more about a computer an opportunity to do so. This would spread the base of owners and users so that we would see new applications being developed by people who, prior to this time, never thought of owning or using a personal computer!

I was determined to find out what owners of Sinclair computers were using them for so I approached Jonathan Rotenberg, President of the Boston Computer Society (BCS), to ask if I could start a Sinclair user group. He gave me permission and I was off and running. Most user groups, as ours, are open to the public on a trial basis; however, regular attendees are encouraged to join. Benefits in joining the BCS include not only membership in our group, but also an opportunity to join the 27 other user groups of the BCS, receive Computer Update, a bimonthly magazine, attend workshops, and other benefits.

BCS user group directors are responsible for finding their own free meeting space since none of us have a budget for rental of space.

Consequently, I arranged for our user group’s first meeting to take place in a store front operation in Kenmore Square in Boston. Eighteen people showed up at the first meeting to exchanged ideas and discussed questions regarding the ZX-80 and the ZX-81. It felt like we were off to a good start. However, two days before the second meeting, I found out that the company that had allowed us to use their space had filed for bankruptcy and we had to find another meeting place. I found an alternate spot in time to keep the second meeting.

Our group kept growing, even though we did not have a permanent home. After outgrowing three meeting places, we were offered use of the Science Building at University of Massachusetts. We originally met in the Small Science Auditorium which holds 125 persons. We moved to the Large Science Auditorium on our first anniversary at which time our attendance was over 200! We have continued meeting at University of Massachusetts and are very grateful to Richard Kane from the Physics Department and Joe Lally from Continuing Education who got us permission to use the space.

Format of Meetings

Our meetings generally include one to three main presentations by a combination of members and outside guests. Guests usually represent a company that produces and markets hardware, software, services, or publications that support the Sinclair-Timex computer. We always try to encourage participation from our members and, therefore, allow time for questions and announcements. After announcements, we break up into special interest groups, the subjects of which vary according to the interests of the people present.

Special Interest Groups

On-going special interest groups within the Sinclair-Timex User Group include the Beginner’s Group and the Machine Language Group. The Beginner’s Group meets directly after our general monthly meeting to help beginners or prospective Timex buyers. We answer questions and exchange information. The Machine Language Group meets first Wednesday of the month. At this special meeting, advanced users discuss various aspects of: the Sinclair-Timex hardware and machine language programming that are too detailed for our general meeting.

Services

Services available to our members which include our library, this newsletter, newsletter exchange, and free advice. You can check out books, magazines, and public domain software from our library. We always are actively looking for donations. We have a monthly newsletter which has expanded from a one-page handwritten document to a 12 page newsletter with highlights of the past meetings and agenda for the upcoming meetings. It normally contains articles on aspects of the computer, software and hardware reviews, editorials, and interviews. We exchange our newsletter with other groups across the country to keep track of who is doing what. You can have access to these newsletters through our library. Most members are willing to help each other with questions, on an informal basis.

Benefits

Benefits you receive from the group are related to the extent of your involvement. The benefits I have received as founder and director of the group are many. For one thing, this group has provided an opportunity for me to meet very interesting and exciting individuals and companies. Because of my work with this group, I have received phone calls from people literally all over the U.S. and Canada. These calls have included inquiries about the Sinclair-Timex computers and exchanges of information about the various user groups across the country. Professionally, I developed a consulting and later a staff position with Timex Computer Corporation. I also have worked with publishers in reviewing books on the computer, as well as referring other members of our group to review books or products.