Editing TRS-80 (section)

=== Development ===
[[File:Radio Shack Tandy TRS-80 Model I System.JPG|thumb|{{nowrap|Tandy/Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I}}]]
In the mid-1970s, [[Tandy Corporation]]'s [[Radio Shack]] division was a successful American chain of more than 3,000 electronics stores. Among the Tandy employees who purchased a [[MITS Altair]] [[kit computer]] was [[purchasing agent|buyer]] Don French, who began designing his own computer and showed it to the vice president of manufacturing [[John V. Roach]], Tandy's former [[electronic data processing]] manager.<ref>obituary, ''[https://thenyledger.com/business/john-roach-pioneer-of-the-personal-computer-is-dead-at-83/ John Roach, Pioneer of the Personal Computer, Is Dead at 83]'', The New York Ledger, Business, March 24, 2022</ref><ref>[[Texas Christian University]], "John V. Roach Honors College". Archived from the original on 2018-05-27. Retrieved 2018-05-26</ref> Although the design did not impress Roach, the idea of selling a microcomputer did. When the two men visited [[National Semiconductor]] in California in mid-1976, [[Homebrew Computer Club]] member Steve Leininger's expertise on the [[SC/MP]] microprocessor impressed them. National executives refused to provide Leininger's contact information when French and Roach wanted to hire him as a consultant, but they found Leininger working part-time at [[Byte Shop]]. Leininger was unhappy at National, his wife wanted a better job, and Texas did not have a [[state income tax]]. Hired for his technical and retail experience, Leininger began working with French in June 1976. The company envisioned a kit, but Leininger persuaded the others that because "too many people can't solder", a preassembled computer would be better.<ref name="swaine19810831"/>{{r|thomas1977}}{{r|white198708}}{{r|reed1}}

Tandy had 11 million customers that might buy a microcomputer, but it would be much more expensive than the {{US$|30}} median price of a Radio Shack product, and a great risk for the very conservative company.<ref name="reed1">{{cite web |url=http://www.trs-80.org/trs80-introduction-part1/ |title=The Introduction of the TRS‑80 (Part 1) |publisher=TRS-80.org |access-date=January 23, 2015 |author=Reed, Matthew}}</ref>{{r|white198708}} Executives feared losing money as [[Sears]] did with [[Cartrivision]],<ref name="leininger19770917">{{cite conference |url=http://www.trs-80.com/trs80-models-model1.htm |title=TRS-80 architect reminisces about design project |access-date=February 28, 2011 |author=Leininger, Steven W. |date=September 1977 |conference=San Diego Computer Society |archive-date=May 31, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531175602/http://www.trs-80.com/trs80-models-model1.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> and many opposed the project; one executive told French, "Don't waste my time—we can't sell computers." As the popularity of [[Citizens band radio|CB radio]]—at one point comprising more than 20% of Radio Shack's sales—declined, however, the company sought new products. In December 1976 French and Leininger received official approval for the project but were told to emphasize cost savings; for example, leaving out lowercase characters saved US$1.50 in components and reduced the retail price by {{US$|5}}. The original {{US$|199}} retail price required [[manufacturing cost]] of {{US$|80}}; the first design had a [[membrane keyboard]] and no video monitor. Leininger persuaded Roach and French to include a better keyboard, a monitor, [[datacassette]] storage, and other features requiring a higher retail price to provide Tandy's typical profit margin. In February 1977 they showed their prototype, running a simple tax-accounting program, to [[Charles Tandy]], head of Tandy Corporation. The program quickly crashed as the computer's implementation of [[Tiny BASIC]] could not handle the {{US$|150,000}} figure that Tandy typed in as his salary, and the two men added support for [[floating-point math]] to its [[Level I BASIC]] to prevent a recurrence. The project was formally approved on 2 February 1977; Tandy revealed that he had already leaked the computer's existence to the press. When first inspecting the prototype, he remarked that even if it did not sell, the project could be worthy if only for the publicity it might generate.{{r|ahl198411}}<ref name="white198708">{{Cite magazine |last=White |first=Ron |date=August 1987 |title=The Tandy Story: It all started 10 years ago in a converted used-car showroom... |url=https://archive.org/details/80-microcomputing-magazine-1987-08/page/n51 |magazine=[[80 Micro]] |pages=50–64 |access-date=2019-05-18}}</ref>{{r|reed1}}

MITS sold 1,000 Altairs in February 1975 and was selling 10,000 a year. When Charles Tandy asked who would buy the computer, company president Lewis Kornfeld admitted that they did not know if anyone would, but suggested that small businesses and schools might. Knowing that demand was very strong for the {{US$|795}} Altair—which cost more than $1,000 with a monitor—Leininger suggested that Radio Shack could sell 50,000 computers,<ref name="reed2">{{cite web |url=http://www.trs-80.org/trs80-introduction-part2/ |title=The Introduction of the TRS‑80 (Part 2) |publisher=TRS-80.org |access-date=January 23, 2015 |author=Reed, Matthew}}</ref>{{r|white198708}} but no one else believed him; Roach called the figure "horseshit", as the company had never sold that many of anything at that price. Roach and Kornfeld suggested 1,000 to 3,000 per year; 3,000 was the quantity the company would have to produce to buy the components in bulk. Roach persuaded Tandy to agree to build 3,500—the number of Radio Shack stores—so that each store could use a computer for inventory purposes if they did not sell.<ref name="welch2007"/><ref name="swaine19810831">{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rD0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA40 |title=How the TRS-80 Was Born |access-date=February 28, 2011 |first=Michael |last=Swaine  |author-link=Michael Swaine (technical author) |date=August 31, 1981 |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |pages=40–43 |volume=3 |number=17}}</ref><ref name="thomas1977">{{cite news |url=https://archive.org/stream/CreativeComputingv03n05SeptOct1977/Creative_Computing_v03n05_Sept_Oct_1977#page/n93/mode/2up |title=Radio Shack's $600 Home Computer |author=Thomas, Wes |work=[[Creative Computing]] |date=September–October 1977 |pages=94–95}}</ref><ref name="ahl198411">{{cite web |url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v10n11/292_Tandy_Radio_Shack_enters_.php |title=Tandy Radio Shack enters the magic world of computers |access-date=February 26, 2011 |author=Ahl, David |author-link=David Ahl 
 |date=November 1984 |work=[[Creative Computing]] |page=292}}</ref>{{r|white198708}} [[RCA]] agreed to supply the video monitor—a black-and-white television with the tuner and speakers removed—after others refused because of Tandy's low initial volume of production. Tandy used the black-and-silver colors of the RCA CRT unit's cabinet for the TRS-80 units as well.{{r|white198708}}