TRS-80 | The Dot Eaters

Isaac Asimov. He was one of the most influential writers of our time, having written the Foundation series, along with many other SF and non-fiction works, a list of which would be too exhaustive to repeat here. And not only was he a great writer, he could rock the mutton chops and also knew a good deal when he saw one:

Here’s another one:

Ad with science fiction author Isaac Asimov shilling for the Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer

“What a value!”, 1983

And…

Some practical advice from Isaac Asimov, 1982

Even as Tandy computer spokesperson, I have a feeling Mr. Asimov didn’t say all those things. Perhaps not a single one of them. It must be a weird thing for an ad copywriter to put words into the mouth of Isaac Asimov, but they give it the old college try in this campaign. “An exciting entertainer”? “Just one of many fine computers from Radio Shack”? “During the day I might write about starships. At night, I blast ’em on my Color Computer”?!!! I also like the images of him holding the joystick like someone just plopped it into his hand, a rictus grin forming on his face with the thought “What the f**k is this thing?”.

But still, you have to take it from Isaac. What a value!

source of first ad: knmoor, via his flickr stream

(This article was originally posted to The Dot Eaters on Feb. 2, 2013)

Tandy’s TRS-80 computer, lovingly called the “Trash-80” by aficionados, was an early home computer released in 1977, that same magical year that established the idea of computers in the home with the Commodore Pet and a little number called the Apple II.

Nothing quite gets the nostalgic fires burning as a product catalog. So here we feature a link to a 1982 Radio Shack (owned by Tandy) catalog, profiling all the wonderful programs and games you could get for the system. Not only is the content great, but the whole thing is presented in such a tactile way that your can almost feel your grubby hands sliding across the slick paper, drooling over the new games rolling in for your machine:

Click to see catalog

I also recommend checking out the whole site, Radio Shack Catalogs. It is an astounding repository of promotional materials from Radio Shack’s history, and you can’t think of 70’s electronics without harkening back to the Shack.

source: tetujin via Reddit

Category Archives: TRS-80

The Ad Game: Isaac Asimov, TRS-80 Computer Mouthpiece

1982 TRS-80 Product Catalog