[bobbytuck]

Another TRS-80 fan here. I learned programming by sitting in the back of a Radio Shack where they had a Model I Level II and a Model II with those big 8" drives. This was probably around '81 or so. A year or so later they eventually had a Model III in the front of the store.

Whenever I get burned out on software (in my case, Vue and React) -- and build complexity -- I always remind myself of those TRS-80 days. The only learning references around were the books for sale by the TRS80's -- a couple books on TRS80 graphics, Rodney Zak's 'Z80 Assembly Language', and William Borden's Z80 books. And of course the Tandy version of Zork in the little plastic baggie hanging from a wall hook beside 'Eliza' and 'Dancing Demon' -- and then the wall of brown folders of 'Scripsit' and 'VisiCalc' on TRSDOS 1.3 (?). Maybe the editor/assembler at the time, too -- 'EDTASM'. Don't remember if that was in a baggie on the wall hook or in a Tandy brown TrapperKeeper with the cassette insert and several tapes.

Those were great days -- and everything (for me, at least) was new and exciting. Nothing was ever too daunting or too complex -- even as daunting (and as complex) as Z80 assembly seemed to me -- a 13 year old at the time.

That's a feeling I always try to recapture in very deliberate ways these days. It's good remember how it all started.

[Diederich]

This was my first computer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Color_Computer Got it for Christmas in 1980. Second computer was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_100 and third was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga_1000 I have the Model 100 in storage, and it still works just like new, taking four AA batteries.

Complexity is daunting today. I believe, however, that the power available far outweighs the total difficulties.

I am still inspired by the basic possibilities that most anybody can, with nothing but access to a computer and the Internet, write some javascript and html in a simple editor and make it available to most everyone in the world.

Objectively speaking, that's simple and approachable, far more so than anything I ever did or was aware of.

[jjav]

The detail in the store description is wonderful. That's exactly where I grew up, learning to program on store equipment as the store manager let me spend the days there in exchange for showing potential customers what these things were.