Editing TRS-80 (section)

=== Delivery ===
The first units, ordered unseen, were delivered in November 1977, and rolled out to the stores the third week of December. The line won popularity with hobbyists, home users, and small businesses. Tandy Corporation's leading position<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/22784/TRS-80-Microcomputer-System-Model-I-16k-Level-II/|title=TRS-80 Microcomputer System Model I 16k Level II - Computer - Computing History|website=www.computinghistory.org.uk}}</ref> in what [[Byte (magazine)|''Byte'']] magazine called the "1977 Trinity" ([[Apple Computer]], [[Commodore International|Commodore]], and Tandy) had much to do with Tandy's retailing the computer through more than 3,000 of its Radio Shack storefronts in the USA.<ref name="byte95">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.byte.com/art/9509/sec7/art15.htm |title=Most Important Companies |access-date=June 10, 2008 |date=September 1995 |magazine=[[Byte (magazine)|Byte]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618072507/http://www.byte.com/art/9509/sec7/art15.htm |archive-date=June 18, 2008 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Tandy claimed it had "7000 [Radio Shack] stores in 40 countries".<ref name="Tandy/Radio Shack">{{cite web|title=Radio Shack Computer Catalog RSC-3, page 24|url=https://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/flipbook/c1979_rsc-03.html?fb3d-page=24|website=Radio Shack Catalogs dot com|publisher=Tandy/Radio Shack|access-date=December 1, 2022|archive-date=May 31, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531195020/http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/catalogs_extra/1979_rsc-03/h024.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The pre-release price for the basic system (CPU/keyboard and video monitor) was {{US$|500}} and a {{US$|50}} deposit was required, with a money-back guarantee at time of delivery.

By 1978, Tandy/Radio Shack promoted itself as "The Biggest Name in Little Computers".<ref>{{cite web|title=Radio Shack Computer Catalog RSC-2, page 20|url=https://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/flipbook/c1978_rsc-02.html?fb3d-page=20|website=Radio Shack Catalogs dot com|publisher=Tandy/Radio Shack|access-date=December 1, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Tandy/Radio Shack"/> By 1979 1,600 employees built computers in six factories.{{r|white198708}} ''[[Kilobaud Microcomputing]]'' estimated in 1980 that Tandy was selling three times as many computers as [[Apple Inc.|Apple Computer]], with both companies ahead of Commodore.<ref name="green198010">{{cite news |url=https://archive.org/stream/kilobaudmagazine-1980-10/Kilobaud_Microcomputing_1980_October#page/n5/mode/2up |title=Publisher's Remarks |work=Kilobaud Microcomputing |date=October 1980 |access-date=June 23, 2014 |author=Green, Wayne |author-link=Wayne Green |pages=6–9}}</ref> By 1981, ''[[InfoWorld]]'' described Radio Shack as "the dominant supplier of small computers".<ref name="hoganmarket19810831">{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rD0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA6 |title=From Zero to a Billion in Five Years |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |volume=3 |number=17 |date=August 31, 1981 |access-date=February 15, 2015 |author=Hogan, Thom |pages=6–7}}</ref> Hundreds of small companies produced TRS-80 software and accessories,<ref name="lundell19810831">{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rD0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA46 |title=TRS-80 Outcrop Companies Evolve |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |volume=3 |number=17 |date=August 31, 1981 |access-date=February 15, 2015 |author=Lundell, Allan |pages=46–47}}</ref> and [[Adam Osborne]] described Tandy as "the number-one microcomputer manufacturer" despite having "so few roots in microcomputing".<ref name="osborne19810413">{{cite magazine |last=Osborne |first=Adam |author-link=Adam Osborne |date=April 13, 1981 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dj4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA42 |title=The Portable Osborne |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |volume=3 |number=17 |access-date=January 1, 2015 |pages=42–43}}</ref> That year Leininger left his job as director for advanced research; French had left to found a software company,<ref name="markoff19811005">{{Cite magazine |last=Markoff |first=John |author-link=John Markoff |date=1981-10-05 |title=TRS-80 Co-creator to Leave Tandy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JT0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA3 |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |volume=3 |issue=20 |pages=1, 6 |access-date=2020-03-20}}</ref> and the company had rejected his attempt for a Tandy Computer Center to sell non-Tandy computers.{{r|green198108}} while the company's computer success helped Roach become Tandy's CEO.<ref name="hayes19921027">{{Cite news |last=Hayes |first=Thomas C. |date=1992-10-27 |title=Tandy Ventures Into the Unknown |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/27/business/tandy-ventures-into-the-unknown.html |access-date=2024-01-09 |work=The New York Times |pages=D1 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Selling computers did not change the company's "schlocky" image; the Radio Shack name embarrassed business customers, and Tandy executives disliked the "Trash-80" nickname for its products. By 1984, computers accounted for 35% of sales, however, and the company had 500 Tandy Radio Shack Computer Centers.{{r|swaine19810831}}{{r|ahl198411}}<ref name="bartimo19840820">{{cite magazine |last=Bartimo |first=Jim |date=August 20, 1984 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HS8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA47 |title=Radio Shack Polishes Its Image |access-date=February 28, 2011 |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |volume=6 |issue=34 |pages=47–52}}</ref>{{r|white198708}}<ref name="roachbio">{{cite web |url=http://www.ce.org/Events/Awards/2728.htm |title=John Roach, Tandy/Radio Shack |access-date=February 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070709114606/http://www.ce.org/Events/Awards/2728.htm |archive-date=July 9, 2007 |publisher=Consumer Electronics Association}}</ref>