Editing Tandy Corporation (section)

==Computers==
{{See also|List of TRS-80 and Tandy-branded computers}}
{{plain image with caption|Tandy computer logo.svg|Tandy's wordmark as used on its computer products}}
[[File:Computer History Museum (9361695221).jpg|thumb|[[TRS-80|TRS-80 Model I]] (1977)]]

{{quote|We've got a very easy business. We get up in the morning, and the only thing we have to do is figure out how to beat IBM, Apple, AT&T, and Japan, Inc.|[[John V. Roach]], Tandy CEO, 1988<ref name="ferrell198807">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/1988-07-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_098_1988_Jul#page/n89/mode/2up | title=Windows on John Roach | work=Compute! | date=July 1988 | accessdate=5 September 2016 | author=Ferrell, Keith | pages=88-89}}</ref>}}

Tandy was one of three companies (along with [[Commodore International]] and [[Apple Computer|Apple]]) that started the [[personal computer revolution]] in 1977 by introducing complete pre-assembled [[Microcomputer|microcomputers]] instead of a kit. Their [[TRS-80]] (1977) and [[TRS-80 Color Computer|TRS-80 Color Computer ("CoCo")]] (1980) line of [[home computers]] were popular in the years before the [[IBM PC]] became commonplace, and had wide distribution in Radio Shack stores at a time when there were few [[computer store]]s.

Tandy had 60 Radio Shack Computer Centers by 1980, and expected to have 250 Radio Shack stores that sold its entire computer product line by the end of 1981.<ref name="libes198012">{{Cite magazine |last=Libes |first=Sol |date=December 1980 |title=Bytelines |url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1980-12/page/n215/mode/1up?view=theater |magazine=BYTE |pages=214-218 |volume=5 |issue=12}}</ref> By then computers were the most important part of Tandy's sales. The company attempted to monopolize software and peripheral sales by keeping technical information secret and not selling third-party products in Tandy-owned stores. An experimental Tandy computer store at company headquarters sold non-Tandy products until the company banned doing so. A market research company reported in 1981 that not selling others' products slowed Tandy's growth, and predicted that competitors would benefit.{{r|green198108}}

[[File:TRS-80 Pocket Computer.jpg|thumb|[[Tandy Pocket Computer|TRS-80 Pocket Computer]]]]
Discussing the report, [[Wayne Green]], publisher of ''[[80 Microcomputing]]'', warned that the company might have become overconfident from defeating "poorly financed and inadequately managed competitors", and that [[IBM]] and others would not likely be "as myopic and hidebound as Radio Shack". He wrote that had Tandy continued its experiment, "they might have a couple of thousand Tandy Computer Centers around the country, instead of the [[Byte Shop]]s and [[Computerland]]s we now see. And Tandy would have had a lot more control over Apple and other upstarts".<ref name="green198108">{{Cite magazine |last=Green |first=Wayne |date=August 1981 |title=Tandy Growth Retarded |url=https://archive.org/details/80-microcomputing-magazine-1981-08/page/n9 |magazine=80 Micro |page=10 |access-date=2019-05-28}}</ref> In 1982 he wrote that while its thousands of stores were once a "considerable advantage" over competitors, "the Shack is falling way behind in sales outlets and thus in sales ... we've seen the Apple come along and, with fewer outlets, pass the TRS-80 by in sales". Green warned that the company needed to make "soul-searching, perhaps painful, decisions".{{r|green198212}} Citing a recent study by ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' finding what he described in May 1983 as "a severe loss" of Tandy market share, Green said "Until some major changes are made in the approach to computer sales by most Radio Shack stores, I expect that businessmen will be put off by the adjacent counters of toys and gadgets".<ref name="green198305">{{Cite magazine |last=Green |first=Wayne |date=May 1983 |title=Remarks |url=https://archive.org/details/80-microcomputing-magazine-1983-05/page/n7/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=2025-03-31 |magazine=80 Micro |pages=8, 10}}</ref>

Tandy's market share—as high as 60% at one time—indeed declined by 1983 because of competition from the [[IBM PC]] and lack of third-party products. Tandy adopted the [[IBM PC compatible]] architecture with the [[Tandy 1000]] and [[Tandy 2000]] (1983–1984). The 1000 helped Tandy achieve a 25% personal computer market share in 1986, tied with Apple and in second place behind IBM.<ref name="white198708">{{Cite magazine |last=White |first=Ron |date=August 1987 |title=The Tandy Story: 10 years after the TRS-80 Model I |url=https://www.vintageisthenewold.com/the-story-of-tandy-10-years-after-the-trs-80-model-1/ |magazine=80 Micro |access-date=2019-05-18}}</ref>

In 1982, Tandy Corporation entered into a development contract with Oklahoma-based software company Dorsett Educational Systems, known for its 25 years pioneering educational technology. The deal resulted in dozens of titles being released for the TRS-80 Color Computer.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1982-01-03 |title=Dorsett Systems Strengthens Position With 2 New Contracts |url=http://newsok.com/article/1969101 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201184715/https://www.oklahoman.com/article/1969101/dorsett-systems-strengthens-position-with-2-new-contracts |archive-date=2021-12-01 |access-date=2017-12-04 |work=NewsOK.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

Radio Shack stores sold TRS-80 computers with other products, while Radio Shack Computer Centers only sold computers. Non-company-owned franchises sold Radio Shack products, including computers, and non-Radio Shack items. [[Value-added reseller]]s distributed relabelled versions of Tandy computers.<ref name="freibergeroutlets19810831">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rD0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54 | title=Tandy's Outlets | work=InfoWorld | date=1981-08-31 | access-date=26 October 2016 | author=Freiberger, Paul | pages=54}}</ref> Despite selling computers through old-fashioned,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dfarq.homeip.net/the-rise-and-fall-of-shack-and-how-to-fix-it/|title=The rise and fall of Shack, and how to fix it|first=Dave|last=Farquhar|date=12 May 2010|website=The Silicon Underground|access-date=23 February 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.buyerpersona.com/2015/03/how-radio-shack-lost-their-buyer-focus-and-their-business.html|title=How Radio Shack lost their buyer focus and their business|date=12 March 2015|website=Buyer Persona Institute|access-date=23 February 2019}}</ref> department-store-like Sunday-newspaper inserts{{r|bartimo19840820}} that emphasized price instead of technology and functionality,{{r|ahl198411}} by 1980 ''[[InfoWorld]]'' described Radio Shack as "the dominant supplier of small computers".<ref name="hogan19810831">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rD0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA6 | title=From Zero to a Billion in Five Years | work=InfoWorld | date=1981-08-31 | access-date=15 February 2015 | author=Hogan, Thom | pages=6–7}}</ref> and in 1981 "one of the best marketers in the computer industry".<ref name="freibergerfuture19810831">{{Cite news |last=Freiberger, Paul |date=1981-08-31 |title=Radio Shack Prepares for the Future |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rD0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA51 |access-date=26 October 2016 |work=InfoWorld |pages=51, 53–54}}</ref> [[Adam Osborne]] that year described Tandy as "one of the great enigmas of the industry". He wrote of his amazement that a company "with so few roots in microcomputing" was the "number-one microcomputer manufacturer" while "selling computers out of Radio Shack stores, no less?"<ref name="osborne19810413">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dj4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA42 | title=The Portable Osborne | work=InfoWorld | date=1981-04-13 | access-date=1 January 2015 | author=Osborne, Adam | pages=42–43}}</ref> Green suggested in 1982 that stores separate computers from toys to convince "middle-income (-class) customers that Radio Shack stores are not primarily dealers in schlock for the unwary lower-income people".<ref name="green198212">{{Cite magazine |last=Green |first=Wayne |date=December 1982 |title=Is the Shack in real trouble? |url=https://archive.org/details/80_Micro_1982-12_1001001_US/page/n7/mode/2up |magazine=80 Micro |type=editorial |pages=8, 10, 12 |access-date=2020-02-29}}</ref> [[James Fallows]] that year wrote, while praising [[Scripsit]], that he at first "had snobbishly resisted Radio Shack because of the low-rent appearance of its products".<ref name="fallows198207">{{Cite magazine |last=Fallows |first=James |date=July 1982 |title=Living With a Computer |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/07/living-with-a-computer/306063/ |magazine=The Atlantic |language=en-US |access-date=2019-03-17}}</ref> A ''[[BYTE]]'' reviewer admitted in 1983 that he at first dismissed the [[Model 100]] "as a toy" because he saw it in a store next to a [[radio-controlled car]], stating that "it's too bad that Radio Shack is associated with toys and [[CB radio]]" when the computer "shows tremendous planning and foresight".<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-09/page/n161/ | title=The Radio Shack TRS-80 MODEL 100 | magazine=BYTE | date=September 1983 | volume=8 | issue=9 |access-date=2021-11-11 | author=Kelly, Mahlon G.| pages=162}}</ref>
<!--<ref name="malloy198305">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1983-05/1983_05_BYTE_08-05_The_Electronic_Office#page/n15/mode/2up | title=Little Big Computer / The TRS-80 Model 100 Portable Computer | work=BYTE | date=May 1983 | access-date=October 19, 2013 | author=Malloy, Rich | pages=14}}</ref>-->

[[File:Tandy 1400 LT.jpg|thumb|A Tandy laptop computer, the 1400LT (1987)]]
In 1984, a [[sell-side analyst]] stated that Tandy had an "impressive product line, magnificent distribution capability, control of the whole process from manufacturing through distribution, and a reasonably nimble management that is willing to move with the product cycle".<ref name="uston198403">{{cite news | url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v10n3/18_Barbara_Isgur_talks_to_Ke.php | title=Barbara Isgur talks to Ken Uston; an industry analyst speaks out. | work=Creative Computing | date=Mar 1984 | access-date=5 January 2015 | author=Uston, Ken | pages=18}}</ref> Roach described his company as "basically a distribution system for high technology products", with 500 Radio Shack Computer Centers and 800 to 900 "Plus" stores, Radio Shack locations with a large computer section. By then computers were 35% of Radio Shack sales; the Model 100 was the world's best-selling notebook computer, while Tandy was the leading Unix vendor by volume, selling almost 40,000 units of the [[68000]]-based, multiuser [[Tandy Model 16]] with [[Xenix]],{{r|ahl198411}}<ref name="bartimo19850311">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5C4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA28 | title=Tandy Revamps Product Line | work=InfoWorld | date=1985-03-11 | access-date=21 January 2015 | author=Bartimo, Jim | pages=28–29}}</ref>

The company's association with consumers likely hurt an 1982 attempt at [[direct sales]] to companies, despite Tandy avoiding the Radio Shack name.<ref name="serlin198511">{{Cite magazine |last=Serlin |first=Omri |date=November 1985 |title=Whatever Happened to the Supermicro Market? |url=https://archive.org/details/Unix_World_Vol02_10.pdf/page/n17/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=2025-05-17 |magazine=Unix World |pages=16-19}}</ref> It began selling all computers using the Tandy brand<ref name="pitre2013">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9oJcAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA33 | title=CoCo: The Colorful History of Tandy's Underdog Computer | publisher=CRC Press |author1=Pitre, Boisy G |author2=Loguidice, Bill | year=2013 | pages=33| isbn=9781466592476 }}</ref> because, an executive admitted, "we were told by customers that the Radio Shack name was a problem in the office". In the mid-1980s, it began selling peripherals compatible with non-Tandy products such as the IBM PC.<ref name="bartimo19840820">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HS8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA47 | title=Radio Shack Polishes Its Image | access-date=February 28, 2011 | author=Bartimo, Jim | date=August 20, 1984 | work=InfoWorld | pages=47–52}}</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 | date=November 1984 | work=[[Creative Computing]] | page=292}}</ref> The company also mandated in 1986 an IBM-like dress code for store employees.{{r|white198708}} In 1987, ''BYTE'' wrote that "Tandy might now be offering the most extensive lines of computer products in the world", including the $99 Color Computer 2, $499 Model 102 notebook, various PC compatibles, and the $3,499 Tandy 6000 Xenix system.<ref name="byte198710">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1987-10-rescan/1987_10_BYTE_12-11_Heuristic_Algorithms#page/n103/mode/2up | title=The Tandy Anniversary Product Explosion | work=BYTE | date=October 1987 | access-date=4 August 2014 |author1=Malloy, Rich |author2=Vose, G. Michael |author3=Stewart, George A. | pages=100}}</ref> The company acquired [[GRiD Systems Corporation|GRiD Systems]] in March 1988.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE0DA103FF934A25750C0A96E948260 "Tandy to Buy Grid Systems"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 17 March 1988.</ref> Grid Systems was a laptop manufacturer whose products included the [[GRiD Compass]] (1982), [[Grid GridCase 1535EXP|GridCase]] (1985), GridLite (1987), and [[GridPad]] (1989) [[tablet computer]].

Tandy also produced the short-lived Tandy 1100FD and Tandy 1100HD notebooks. Released in 1989, the 1100 Series was based on the popular [[NEC V20]] processor clocked at 8&nbsp;MHz. Tandy also produced software for its computers running [[DOS]], in the form of [[Tandy Deskmate]].<ref>{{cite web |author-first=Nathan |author-last=Lineback |url=http://toastytech.com/guis/deskmate.html|title=Tandy Deskmate 3.05 (Desktop 3.69)|website=Toastytech.com|access-date=23 February 2019}}</ref> That same year, Tandy introduced the WP-2, a solid-state notebook computer that was a rebadged Citizen CBM-10WP. Eventually, in the early 1990s, Tandy Corporation sold its computer-manufacturing business to [[AST Research|AST Computers]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mess.org/old-web/sysinfo/t1000hx.htm|title=Info for t1000hx|date=29 September 2008|access-date=23 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929121200/http://www.mess.org/old-web/sysinfo/t1000hx.htm|archive-date=2008-09-29}}</ref> and all Tandy computer lines were terminated. When that occurred, Radio Shack stores began selling computers made by other manufacturers, such as [[Compaq]]. In 1992, the company introduced the Tandy Zoomer, a predecessor to the [[Palm Pilot]], designed by [[Jeff Hawkins]]. Also that year, the company produced an interactive, multimedia CD-ROM player called the [[Tandy Video Information System]] (VIS). Like the Tandy computers, it was based on the IBM PC architecture and used a version of [[Microsoft Windows]]. Tandy even produced a line of [[floppy disk]]s, and continued producing IBM PC compatibles until the end of the [[Intel 486]] era.