TRS-80 Fragmentation

[Bill Gunshannon]

On 04/26/2018 10:00 PM, Geoffrey Oltmans via cctalk wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 26, 2018 at 7:18 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk <
> cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
>
>> D'ya mean like an automobile company making more than one model?  Surely
>> there is no need for Toyota to make both a Corolla AND a Camry!
>>
>>
> Hmm... not really sure about that comparison. After all, it's not like the
> Corolla and Camry need different fuel and/or travel on separate roads.
> Plus, I expect that despite their many differences there are probably quite
> a few fundamental similarities (similar stereos, HVAC controls, brake
> components, etc).
>
> The Model 1 was a wild venture into a field that they knew little about,

At that point in time it was a field everybody knew little about.
>> and didn't know what to expect.
>> Ask Allison about what they expected.
>> It turned out that what they made was surprisingly close to correct for
>> people like US.
>> Well, other than 16 lines by 64 characters of B&W, and a memory map that
>> was not compatible with CP/M.
>>
> I guess they fixed that by the time the 4 came along.

CP/M ran on the Model I and the Model III.  CP/M was a very adaptable OS.

>
>
>
>> But what about pocket computers, PDAs, calculators?  Have to come out with
>> some offerings there.
>>
> Well, like I said before. I think you could easily dismiss the calculators
> and PDAs, since they were more of an appliance (i.e. create text documents
> that are easily interchangeable with other machines). Heck even a lot of
> the early PDAs could create spreadsheets that were compatible with Lotus
> 1-2-3, even moreso in some cases they were built in applications.
>
>
>> Would they have been more successful if the model 2000 had been a PC
>> clone, instead of "better than"?
>>
> Well, in some respects they eventually managed to do that with the Tandy
> 1000s... some incompatibilities aside.

Tandy wasn't the only one who tried to do better.  Look at the NEC APC.
Quad Density Double Sided 8" disks. High density color graphics with 256
colors.  Dismal failure in the market because it wasn't fully "IBM 
Compatible".
The follow-on NEC APC/III was a great big step backwards.

bill