Floppy Days 44 - Tandy CoCo, Part 1, History with Boisy Pitre

Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Floppy Days, the show about home computers of the late 70’s through the 80’s. The next machine up to cover on the timeline is the Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer, affectionately known as the CoCo. Since there’s SOO much information to cover about this interesting machine, it will be a multi-parter, with the first episode covering the history of the CoCo. I was lucky enough to get one of the authors of THE CoCo history book, my good friend Boisy Pitre, to come on the show and co-host this with me. We’re going to cover the history of the CoCo from before its inception, through its introduction, until its eventual cancellation. Boisy provides a fantastic perspective on the life and career of this machine and I think you’ll enjoy it.

Before delving into the main part of the show, I’ll cover a little bit of news, new acquisitions and feedback.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

• FreHD - http://ianmav.customer.netspace.net.au/trs80/emulator

• BEST Electronics - http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/

News

• Uthernet II Order Page - http://www.a2retrosystems.com/order.htm

• Uthernet II FAQ - http://www.a2retrosystems.com/support.htm#faq

• Video from Terry Stewart on the Amstrad CPC 464 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOuPuE194fo&feature=em-subs_digest

• VCF Midwest 10 - August 29-30, 2015, Elk Grove Village, IL - http://vcfmw.org/

• Chicago TI International World Faire - http://www.chicagotiug.com/tiki-index.php?page=Faire October 31, 2015, Evanston, IL

Feedback

• WinUAE - http://www.winuae.net/

• picture of Brent Santin’s Vic-20 setup - http://sleepingelephant.com/denial/wiki/images/d/d4/VIC-20_80_column_setup.jpg

• VIC-20 information Wiki - http://sleepingelephant.com/denial/wiki/index.php?title=DenialWIKI_Home

• VIC-20 Mega-Cart - http://mega-cart.com

• Doug Crawford’s blog for vintage activities: https://abitoutofplace.wordpress.com/

• Tomy Tutor Information - http://www.floodgap.com/retrobits/tomy/

• The Trash Compactor - http://www.trs-80.org/norcom-tc-iii/

Interview with Co-host Boisy Pitre

• CoCoRx - https://github.com/boisy/CoCoRX

• “Swift for Beginners: Develop and Design” by Boisy Pitre - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0134044703/?tag=flodaypod-20

• Twitter - @boisypitre

• Email - [email protected]

• “CoCo: The Colorful History of Tandy's Underdog Computer” by Boisy G Pitre, Bill Loguidice - http://www.amazon.com/dp/1466592478/?tag=flodaypod-20

• Boisy’s Blog - http://latenightcoco.blogspot.com