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The author of this article and The 8-Bit Guy live in the United States. What do you want them to do, imagine anecdotes for other regions? There are plenty of pe

The author of this article and The 8-Bit Guy live in the United States. What do you want them to do, imagine anecdotes for other regions? There are plenty of people who cover European, South American, Asian, and Soviet retro computing histories.

KingOfCoders 6y ago
Not spreading false information. Of all sites I would think HN would appreciate correctness. "The TRS-80 Model 100 is claimed by some to be the world’s first portable computer." About the first portable, at least an earlier one than the TRS-80 mentioned: Epson HX-20 [1] The TRS-80 Model 100 was a Kyotronic 85 [2] The TRS-80 PC-1 was a Sharp PC-1211. The TRS-80 PC-2 was a Sharp PC-1500. The TRS-80 PC-3 was a Sharp PC-1251. The TRS-80 PC-4 was a Casio PB-100. The Tandy PC-5 was a Casio FX-780P. The Tandy PC-6 was Casio FX-790P. The Tandy PC-7 was Casio FX-5200P. The Tandy PC-8 was Sharp PC-1246. Beside Tandy, many (all?) Timex computers where Sinclairs invented in the UK [3] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epson_HX-20 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epson_HX-20 [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_100 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_100 [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timex_Sinclair_1000 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timex_Sinclair_1000
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- Aloha 6y ago
  Oh yes, Tandy was the master of contract manufacturing, they had many Japanese manufacturers OEMing their consumer electronics. Most of the 8-bit microcomputers were US made or developed though, notably: Apple II Family Commodore PET, VIC-20, 64 families TRS-80 Family Atari 8-bit family (400/800) TI-99/4 Family This said - There are many very innovative computers that were not, the BBC Micro, the Sinclair ZX Line, Amstrad CPC. There were also a bevy of machines made in the USSR, which vanishingly little details about have gotten into english language spheres.
  - KingOfCoders 6y ago
    And all the Japanese maschines (e.g. MSX, I've used some Sharp MZ-800 in the 80s) and Italian Olivettis. One could also object to "they had many Japanese manufacturers OEMing their consumer electronics." Tandy didn't OEMing Sharp, but Sharp brought computers to the market for themselves, not for Tandy. Then Tandy rebadged those for the US. Semantics, I know, but it's different from e.g. Apple using Foxconn. It's not like Tandy told Sharp what to build.
    - Aloha 6y ago
      the software (and hardware at times too) was different than what shipped in the Tandy machines, they were OEM, built to a budget/spec, machines - yes, Sharp used their existing designs, but what sharp sold was often a bit more than slightly different.
KingOfCoders 6y ago
And don't get me wrong, the 8bit guy is very knowledgeable, nerd, good hacker, has cool videos and seems to be a nice guy with good intentions. His most recent video is called "Pocket Computers from the 1980s" but should be called "Pocket Computers from the 1980s in the US" - I would be perfectly fine with that. He only talked about the PB-700 with it's amazing gfx display for the time. But there were many Sharps and Casio pocket computers in the 80s that had 2 or 4 line gfx displays, e.g. the PC-1600 or some casio FX-8XX models. It's only that Tandy chose to not rebadge those. So the impression he gives about the pocket computers of the 80s is off by his US view.

KingOfCoders 6y ago

Not spreading false information. Of all sites I would think HN would appreciate correctness. "The TRS-80 Model 100 is claimed by some to be the world’s first portable computer." About the first portable, at least an earlier one than the TRS-80 mentioned: Epson HX-20 [1] The TRS-80 Model 100 was a Kyotronic 85 [2] The TRS-80 PC-1 was a Sharp PC-1211. The TRS-80 PC-2 was a Sharp PC-1500. The TRS-80 PC-3 was a Sharp PC-1251. The TRS-80 PC-4 was a Casio PB-100. The Tandy PC-5 was a Casio FX-780P. The Tandy PC-6 was Casio FX-790P. The Tandy PC-7 was Casio FX-5200P. The Tandy PC-8 was Sharp PC-1246. Beside Tandy, many (all?) Timex computers where Sinclairs invented in the UK [3] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epson_HX-20 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epson_HX-20 [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_100 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_100 [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timex_Sinclair_1000 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timex_Sinclair_1000

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
Aloha 6y ago
Oh yes, Tandy was the master of contract manufacturing, they had many Japanese manufacturers OEMing their consumer electronics. Most of the 8-bit microcomputers were US made or developed though, notably: Apple II Family Commodore PET, VIC-20, 64 families TRS-80 Family Atari 8-bit family (400/800) TI-99/4 Family This said - There are many very innovative computers that were not, the BBC Micro, the Sinclair ZX Line, Amstrad CPC. There were also a bevy of machines made in the USSR, which vanishingly little details about have gotten into english language spheres.
- KingOfCoders 6y ago
  And all the Japanese maschines (e.g. MSX, I've used some Sharp MZ-800 in the 80s) and Italian Olivettis. One could also object to "they had many Japanese manufacturers OEMing their consumer electronics." Tandy didn't OEMing Sharp, but Sharp brought computers to the market for themselves, not for Tandy. Then Tandy rebadged those for the US. Semantics, I know, but it's different from e.g. Apple using Foxconn. It's not like Tandy told Sharp what to build.
  - Aloha 6y ago
    the software (and hardware at times too) was different than what shipped in the Tandy machines, they were OEM, built to a budget/spec, machines - yes, Sharp used their existing designs, but what sharp sold was often a bit more than slightly different.

KingOfCoders 6y ago

And don't get me wrong, the 8bit guy is very knowledgeable, nerd, good hacker, has cool videos and seems to be a nice guy with good intentions. His most recent video is called "Pocket Computers from the 1980s" but should be called "Pocket Computers from the 1980s in the US" - I would be perfectly fine with that. He only talked about the PB-700 with it's amazing gfx display for the time. But there were many Sharps and Casio pocket computers in the 80s that had 2 or 4 line gfx displays, e.g. the PC-1600 or some casio FX-8XX models. It's only that Tandy chose to not rebadge those. So the impression he gives about the pocket computers of the 80s is off by his US view.