Timex Sinclair 1000 (1982)

Timex Sinclair 1000

🥇First Computer Under $100

The Timex Sinclair 1000, launched in July 1982, was a masterclass in aggressive "bottom-line" engineering, becoming the first fully assembled computer in the U.S. to break the $100 price barrier. A slightly Americanized version of the British Sinclair ZX81, it featured a Z80A processor and a meager 2KB of RAM (double its predecessor, yet still barely enough to hold a few paragraphs of text). To keep costs low, Timex utilized a notoriously finicky membrane keyboard that offered zero tactile feedback, requiring users to rely on a "one-touch" keyword system where a single keypress generated entire commands like PRINT or GOTO. It lacked color, sound, and a dedicated monitor, instead hijacking the family television via an RF modulator that produced a famously "jittery" black-and-white display. Despite these limitations—and the infamous "RAM pack wobble" that could crash the system if the 16KB expansion module was even slightly nudged—the TS1000 sold over 600,000 units in its first six months, proving that for the price of a fancy dinner, Americans were willing to put up with almost any mechanical quirk to join the computing revolution.

Source: John Babina III