PC Ephemera - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

26 Oct 2005

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Subject: RE: PC Ephemera
   From: Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com>
   Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2005 19:12:18 -0700 (PDT)
     To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at
classiccmp.org>

On Wed, 26 Oct 2005, Chuck Guzis wrote:
  Not AFAIK.  It was very difficult to buy the
"bare" PC retail, what with
 demand being as strong as it was.  Most units were sold with at least one
 160K floppy. 
prob'ly mostly because they were charging about $500 for a Tandon TM100-1!
(and a few hundred $ for each row of 16K RAMs)

In fall 1981, I was able to buy a bare 5150, plus FDC and CGA.
I had plenty of RAM and floppies in stock for TRS-80s.

I wasn't able to get another bare one until summer 1982.

By 1983, the college where I teach was buying that configuration a dozen
at a time.

  I can recall trying the interface out and saying
"yes, it works", but the
 most useful aspect of it was the motor control relay. 
Yep!
I used it just long enough to confirm that it would not be a good way to
distribute software. 
Harrumph!  I'd given up in "audio cassette interface" back in 1976 as 
mostly useless.  I was rolling on the floor laughing when I got to see
the "PC" and it has the bit bash trash cassette interface.  That was a 
definate "you gotta be kidding right?" moment.

Why laugh?  My desktop had a multibus 8086 system running at 8mhz with 
a full megabyte (no rom holes) and four 8" DSDD (NEC!) drives in the 
spring of 1982. 

Allison 