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Texas Instruments TI-500 LED Watch

Date of introduction:		Display technology:	LED
New price:		Display size:	4
Size:	1.6" x 1.2" x 0.45"
Weight:	0.8 ounzes	Serial No:
Batteries:	2*AG12	Date of manufacture:	wk 27 year 1976
AC-Adapter:		Origin of manufacture:	USA, Hong Kong
Precision:		Integrated circuits:
Memories:
Program steps:		Courtesy of:	Peter Muckermann

This TI-500 is one of the first digital watches developed and manufactured by Texas Instruments.
The combination of the power hungry red LED display and the small coin-shaped batteries made this type of watches very inconvenient:

Press a small button - read the time.

Small notice from IC-WHEN: Juni 1981 Texas Instruments, Inc. (TI) announces a Fall 1981 line of digital watches just two days following a formal announcement that it will be totally out of the digital watch business by the end of the year.

(AUTHOR’S NOTE: The source of this information suggests that to announce a product line just two days after declaring to be out of that business is baffling. Actually, it is easily explained if TI was finalizing negotiations with one of it's digital watch parts suppliers. When the supplier becomes convinced that TI would be willing to abandon the line over a disputed terms, they may quickly econsider their position and TI would appear to contradict an earlier announcement without feeling the need to discuss why.)

If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.