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Radio Shack's First PC: 45 Years of TRS-80:
45 years ago, Radio Shack released the TRS-80 Micro Computer System, a 1977 personal computer that launched an era of low-cost PCs along with computers from Apple and Commodore. Here's what was special about it.
On August 3, 1977, Radio Shack introduced the TRS-80 Micro Computer System for $599.95—about $2,904 today adjusted for inflation. This complete system included a main unit with a built-in keyboard, a cassette recorder, and a monochrome monitor. After the introduction of the Model II later, this first model became known as the TRS-80 Model I. In 1977, the TRS-80's $599.95 price was a big deal. To compare, the Apple II sold for $1298 with 4K of RAM (that's a whopping $6284 today), and it didn't include a monitor or a storage device.
But you always get what you pay for: The original TRS-80 was a fairly primitive machine. Under the hood, the TRS-80 utilized its Z-80 CPU at 1.77 MHz and included a mere 4 kilobytes (KB) of RAM. Its video could only display 64 columns and 16 rows of monochrome text (all uppercase) with no support for true bitmapped graphics (although by using a block-shaped text character, you could create a 128×48 pixel display). It also did not include any sound hardware, but many programs used a trick to output simple sounds through the cassette port.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Snotnose on Sunday August 07 2022, @08:23PM
This was my biggest problem with piss poor managers. When I'm programming I've got 5-7 things in my head, pull me out of my space and it's all gone. Takes me 20-30 minutes to get back to where I was. If I have a scheduled meeting or somesuch I can wind them down such that I can pick up my train of thought quickly. But when a "manager" pokes their head into my office and wants something, that stack in my brain is toast.
I had a micro-manager some 20 years ago that I finally convinced to use email to ask her stupid little piddling questions, which is all she ever asked. For whatever reason email doesn't pull me out of my flow. I got an email question from her, replied to it, then she poked her head in my office "did you get my email?". Boom! goes the stack in my head.
She was by far the worst manager I've have in 40+ years of software development.
This is not a slam on female managers, I've had several who were fine.
Also not a slam on software. I play PBEM (Starweb, Galaxy) games, when processing a turn I've got a stack of stuff in my brain. Took me 6 months to teach the new wife to not bug me when I was doing a turn.
My ducks are not in a row. I don't know where some of them are, and I'm pretty sure one of them is a turkey.