Rex Naden was vice-president of research and development at Timex during the time they produced the Timex/Sinclair 1500 and 2068 computers.
He spent thirty-five years in the semiconductor industry, holds fourteen US patents and earned his BA, MS and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from Rice University.
Naden developed his affinity for production at an early age. “Growing up, I worked for my father in a factory, becoming an avid student of manufacturing processes,” he said.
“When my dad started his own refrigeration and heating business, I again worked for him; I was fascinated by the physics of fluids and motors and by the business aspects of running a company. My interest in computer software and systems probably had roots in the experience of observing these processes.”
Early Career at Texas Instruments
After earning his PhD in 1971, Naden joined Texas Instruments, starting at the Central Research Lab in Dallas. He later moved to the consumer products division in Lubbock, Texas, where he put his interest in computers to work. The TI 99/4A computer was one of the projects he worked on in Lubbock.
He joined Timex in 1982, as vice-president of R&D, managing development of all Timex products. The R&D division had about 250 people but only a portion worked on computers.
“It was a pretty exciting time,” Naden reminisced. “We were shipping a lot of products. For instance, we shipped 500,000 blood pressure meters in one year.”
Timex had already manufactured the ZX-81 for Sinclair and launched the Timex/Sinclair 1000 by the time Naden joined. His experience and expertise at TI were immediately applied in engineering Timex-branded computers. In addition, “we brought on some experienced computer development people from Burroughs to lead the computer work.”
Worked to Improve Production Ability
“Timex entered the computer business through their excellent manufacturing capability,” Naden said. “Learning the definition, development, and systems sides was the next step.”
“[Timex] brought me in, and I brought in other people, to make computers and software into real consumer products with high reliability and a low return rate.”
“We visited Clive Sinclair in Cambridge six or seven times. It was amazing. There were a lot of really smart people [at Sinclair]. They were like a research group, really good at getting the first prototypes out.”
“We brought discipline in the production side. They designed it and we fit their design into a manufacturing environment where it could be produced in volume.”
The ZX Spectrum case and keyboard were adopted for the Timex/Sinclair 1500, which launched in 1983.
Custom Chip for Timex/Sinclair 2068
After several design iterations, a Timex color machine was launched as the Timex/Sinclair 2068. One of the notable changes was replacing the Ferranti ULA with an equivalent device designed by Naden’s group in Middlebury, CT.
In the 2068 machine Timex used a gate array device by NCR Semiconductor that was developed and produced “similar to how it’s done today,” he said. Naden “went out to visit NCR in Fort Collins, Colorado. That’s where they built the chips.”
Timex also “had several sales visits by VLSI Technology,” another semi-custom semiconductor company. Naden joined VLSI after Timex.
In reflecting on his experience in the computer industry, Naden observed: “The most elusive thing is a feel for what the customer wants, e.g. what will delight the customer. I certainly learned a lot about what that would take.”
Naden retired in 2007 to concentrate full-time on landscape photography. He taught workshops for ten years at the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite Valley and his work has been purchased widely for display in the healthcare and financial sectors.
