While unpacking some old boxes the other day, I ran across a computer I hadn’t seen in some time. It’s a tiny machine with an integrated chiclet keyboard in a cream-colored case about the size of two ...

Don French, a buyer for the consumer electronics chain Tandy Radio Shack (TRS), believed that Radio Shack should offer an assembled personal computer and hired engineer Steve Leininger to design it.

Quick – name the most important personal computer of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Those of you who mentioned the legendary Apple II – that’s fine. I respect your decision. Forced to think ...

Quick — name the most important personal computer of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Those of you who mentioned the legendary Apple II–that’s fine. I respect your decision. Forced to think objectively ...

For over half a century, if you wanted to buy electronics parts and gadgets in the United States, one retail chain loomed large above all others: RadioShack. Its combination of distinctive, often ...

As a relic of the early 80s, the TRS-80 Color Computer couldn’t display very many colors. By default, the CoCo could only display 8 colors on the screen at a time, but [John] figured out a way to ...

August 3, 1977: The Tandy TRS-80 personal computer makes its debut. The first affordable, mass-market computer gives the Apple 1 some serious competition. The success of Tandy’s TRS-80 built on the ...

Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Introduced in August 1977, the TRS 80 was the first complete, pre-assembled small computer system on the market. Introduced in August 1977, the TRS 80 was the first ...

Quick – name the most important personal computer of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Those of you who mentioned the legendary Apple II – that’s fine. I respect your decision. Forced to think ...