TRS-80 Model 1 (was: Arty computers (was: Re: PDP-11/70 in Yates Center, KS)

[Chuck Guzis]

On 1 Feb 2007 at 13:35, Jim Isbell, W5JAI wrote:

> The apple was a flop, yes.  The Commodore also was a flop.  Just look at the
> numbers.  The apple was a flop because it was marketed as entertainment and
> drawing pictures (which it excelled at) while the TRS-80 was a scientific
> machine that crunched numbers.  Yes, today the tables are reversed, but back
> then, those of us who were into computers (I had been in computers since
> 1960 on the IBM 7070) were looking for computing power for serious work.

Golly, I hope you've got your tongue firmly planted in your cheek 
here!  In 1960, if you were looking for serious computing power for 
number crunching, you got a 7090 and ran FMS.  The 7070 was strictly 
for the BDP crowd.

You can't have it both ways--if you were serious about computing 
power, there were more powerful S-100 and Multibus boxes --with  more 
expandability and peripheral choice--and just about any language 
choice that you could imagine. .

No--you said "personal computer".  The Apple II was just that--and 
enormously successful as such.  One thing that it accomplished was 
that it established Apple in the educational field.  I think that had 
Apple not had its educational discount program, it wouldn't be around 
today.

(I've never owned an Apple II of any flavor)

Cheers,
Chuck