We're so RETRO it hurts the eyes
Welcome to the world of DOS based Tandy's!
A VERY brief history
In 1977, when Tandy/Radio Shack introduced the first TRS-80 computer (the Model I), nobody could have predicted how fast the computer industry would not only take off, but transcend borders and become a global phenomenon. Until 1983, the computer industry consisted of Radio Shack, Apple, Atari, Commodore, and a couple of other companies, well known to nerds, but very few others (IMSAI, for example). Rumor has it, that not only did the Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I hold onto the top of the market for several years in hardware, but in software as well. Never one to rest on their laurels, Radio Shack also released the TRS-80 Color Computer (affectionately called CoCo) and the successor to the Model I, the Model III in 1980.
In 1981, International Business Machines (IBM) was prepped to blow the roof off of the computer industry, with the IBM PC, model 5150 (ironically later a Van Halen album title, but I digress). The 'PC' as it later became know as, was a stark departure from the home computers that preceded it. With a modular architecture giving the ability to add features internal to the machine, the PC was a personal computer that would actually minimize desktop usage. Anyone with a CoCo and an MPI, or a TI-99/4a and it's behemoth expansion aparattus knows the value of desk space in a home office. While not a graphical power-house upon release, with it's CGA graphics, the PC quickly began to receive third party hardware support, much to IBM's chagrine.
Tandy's response to the IBM entrant into the personal computer market was much the same as other companies; basically equivalent to an 'it'll never take off'
sort of attitude. Atari, Commodore and Apple had a similar response, and for several years, there was little competition to the IBM. IBM felt very diffierently,
as the powers that be felt the rest of the home computer market consisted of toys and hobbiest machines at best. It was only a few months after release
that first IBM PC 'Clone' hit the market, and IBM promptly sued nearly every company that brought a clone to market, claiming copyright infringment and making the
defending company prove they didn't use IBM's BIOS.
You can read a lot more about the history of the PC and the Clone Wars that followed
using this link.
Most anybody reading this site probably either lived thru the times, or already knows about the hardware wars of the mid to late 80's. For me, researching
this again was nostalgia, as I had forgotten some details, but I again, digress. It took another two years for Tandy/Radio Shack to release a PC based computer,
the myth, the legend, the partly IBM compatible, the Tandy 2000. The links in the NAV bar to your left will take you to pages covering the various PC style
computers released by Tandy during the 80's and 90's. My intention is to hit every model, prior to the AST sell-out, as nobody wasnts THOSE memories...
Computing Ads in the 1980's
There were lots of changes in the computer industry since the 1980 roll-out of the Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer (affectionately referred to as the CoCo) by the mid-1980's. Bill "the Incredible Huxtable" Cosby was pushing the Ti-99/4a; Radar O'Reilly and most of the M.A.S.H. cast was mugging for the IBM Personal Computer; Dick Cavet was doing Apple ads; William "Capt. Kirk" Shatner was trying to sell Commodores; Alan Alda broke from the rest of the M.A.S.H. cast and was hawking Atari equipment; and busty spooky chick Elvira was in print selling something called LMBS. With that much star power, was there anyone left to help sell the Tandy/TRS-80 line? Well, none other than Isaac "I, Robot" Asimov made numerous print ads for the 'Shack's computer lines - virtually all of them. Bill "The Incredible Hulk" Bixby made quite a few TV commercials. Celebrities mugging for computer companies weren't the only changes, either. Apple, Commodore, IBM and Atari all began marketing the first 16/32-bit computers in this time frame as well. Atari had the ST line, Commodore released the Amiga and Apple was making the Macintosh - all based on the Motorola 68000 series. Some of you may be asking "What does this have to do with the CoCo?" and that would be a legitimate question. While the rest of the computer industry fought amongst themselves with computer models based on the Motorola 68000 series chip, Tandy continued walking their path on three fronts.
First, Tandy invested heavily in the MS-DOS machines with the Tandy 1000 series of computers. With architecture similar to, but not tied to the fate of the PCjr, the 1000 line was a critical and commercial success. There were a number of other lines including the 2000, 3000 & 4000 that helped Tandy remain a computer powerhouse into the early 1990's.
Second, Tandy continued with the Model III/IV support - even though it was dwindling in sales and software support by this time.
Third, while From 1982 to 1985, several high profile magazines stated that the CoCo was dead (it's notable that those publications 'died' long before the CoCo did), Tandy decide to march on with the very successful Color Computer line. Which leads us to... the PC Tandy's...
