What’s Happening to TS World

Sinclair Research Ltd., the UK home computer maker, it was reported, in the last issue was being purchased by Robert Maxwell. Mr Maxwell recent bid of 12M pounds has been withdrawn. An agreement has been reach with Thorn EMI, Timex, Datatech, AB Electronics, plus Barclays and Citibank Banks, once again pledging their support to the ailing Sinclair. In an effort to combat the new Amstrad Computer the price of the QL in the UK has been dropped to 199. pounds. The rumor is that Sinclair will drop the microdrive cartridge in favor of a 3 in Sinclair is believed to be working on a portable version of Spectrum also.

Several readers have asked why so many dealers have quit the support of Timex Sinclair Computers (TS). While it is true, many dealers have converted to other brands or quit the business, there are about 150-200 small dealers still in the business, plus about a dozen large to medium dealers supporting TS.

The main reason that dealers have quit Timex is than it is no longer being sold in great quantities, because Timex (TCC) has quit the computer business. Most dealers dropped the TCC products when TCC announced they were quitting. The average dealer feels that with so few purchases of the major system the sales for software and products will drop below the point where it is not worth the time or money to stock such products. As a new product is developed and marketed to the point of expected sales the continued sales is very small without new computers being sold.

The illegal copying of software is also a major factor in this problem, because it reduces the sales volume even farther. Many users feel that because a computer is an orphan it is alright to copy software. They don’t stop to think about the dealer who is looking for their dollars to stay in business. It is mostly the same people who cry the loudest when a dealer goes out of the business.

To correct this problem users should be encouraged to buy all they can afford from the dealer to keep him active. Software made available from User’s Group Libraries should not be copied if it is commerically available.

We at the National Timex Sinclair User Network are helping by providing low cost advertising to those dealers who are looking for more demand for their advertising dollar.

We at TSS have seen these problem first hand by the lost of income in our own business. Without the Group Plans we offer we would have gone bankrupt long ago. The sales of software and book when we set up this business would pay a clerk to keep up with the processing and shipping of orders and other adminastive duties. When these sales didn’t happen we had to let the clerk go. Now that we are forced to do everything ourself the newsletters are late and mail is slowly answered. I figured maybe TSS was not offering enough products, so in this issue on pages 10 thru 14 we are listing all software for TS 1000, 1500, TS 2068 and ZX 81 available to us for resale. Next issue we will list the Spectrum products. There are more than two dozen publications (Newsletters and Magazines) available in the USA for the T.S. user. Some of these support other brands as well as our own favorate computer. Many of them suffer from the same problems we do and we hope they will continue. Only time will tell I guess.

I have been looking for a working business partner to help with the workload. A investment in the business would be required. If managed right, the business will be returning profits within a year. The key to this is support the new QL computer fully. Since this is a new computer and still being sold I see a great future for anybody who gets in early enough.

If you are interested call me and we will talk about it. My number is (615) 877-6328 and I can be best reached from 1-8 PM Monday thru Friday (EST) or 1-6 PM on most weekends.

We will continue to support the customer to the best of our ability as long as we receive demands for the products and services we provide. We have many new titles listed so look us over and order something today.

Thank You, D. Barnard.