Early days of the PC with Radio Shack's TRS-80

[carmel_andrews]

I was reading a pdf (ebook) version of 'the black book of the comm. 128'

In the prelude to the main text, where it gave a potted history of commodore upto the c128, it mentioned that just before commodore developed or released the comm. pet it did some deal with tandy/radio shack where commodore would design or develop a computer system for tandy

Was that what eventually became the Tandy trs 80 or something closer to the comm. pet (since the actual system never materialised) since for some reason best known to Tandy, they decided against seeing the deal through with cbm and designed their own system

[BillO]

Ah yes, the good ol' days. I used to hang around the Radio Shack in Square One mall for hours each week playing around on the display model of the TRS-80 Model I. I always needed to buy some resistor, capacitor or other small items, so the manager did not mind so much. I would also demo stuff to real customers to help 'pay' for my time.

It was the time of the 80 cent Canadian dollar (or worse) so the model I was more like $699 in this neck of the woods. Far more than I could afford. It did get me saving though, but I broke down after saving $400 and bought myself a OSI SuperBoard. Yeah, I know you guys could get them for $280, but they were just under $400 up here.

Much later on I got a few COCO's to mess around with, but they were the only RS computers I actually owned (I still have 2 of them). But man, I still used to pour over their catalog.

[BigDumbDinosaur]

BillO wrote:

Ah yes, the good ol' days...I always needed to buy some resistor, capacitor or other small items...

Not much has changed. I still go to RS to buy the occasional resistor, etc. And in one of those strange coincidences, my company buys cases of "air" through RS. I found their "air" is superior to just about every other brand out there. We use a lot of it around here.

Quote:

It was the time of the 80 cent Canadian dollar (or worse)...

Ah, those were the days...when I could enjoy a good Canadian steak for the price of an American Big Mac. Sucha deal!

[barrym95838]

BigDumbDinosaur wrote:

... I found their "air" is superior to just about every other brand out there. We use a lot of it around here ...

Are you talking about compressed "air" or hot "air"??

Mike

[BillO]

BigDumbDinosaur wrote:

Ah, those were the days...when I could enjoy a good Canadian steak for the price of an American Big Mac. Sucha deal!

That's still the case. You guy's pay about 60% of what we do for food. I have no idea why.

[BigDumbDinosaur]

barrym95838 wrote:

BigDumbDinosaur wrote:

... I found their "air" is superior to just about every other brand out there. We use a lot of it around here ...

Are you talking about compressed "air" or hot "air"??

Mike

Compressed. I avoid "hot air" as much as possible.

[BigDumbDinosaur]

BillO wrote:

BigDumbDinosaur wrote:

Ah, those were the days...when I could enjoy a good Canadian steak for the price of an American Big Mac. Sucha deal!

That's still the case. You guy's pay about 60% of what we do for food. I have no idea why.

I don't understand it either. Canada has lots of fertile farmland, plenty of beef, poultry, etc. So where's all that cost coming from? Perhaps Canadian food prices are realistic and we Yanks are benefiting from federal farm subsidies that artificially hold down the cost. I doubt that it costs much more to grow crops or process beef, pork and poultry in Canada than it does in the USA. Aside from a somewhat shorter growing season, it's all pretty much the same sort of farming we have here.

When she was still alive, my grandmother (lived in Gananoque ON) used to grumble all the time about the cost of groceries. She died at age 102 and had been around so long she probably remembered when milk was 10 cents a gallon.

[BillO]

I'm not sure where it all began, but it seems it has been determined by business that Canadians are willing to pay more for stuff and not complain.

Just a year or so ago when our dollar was actually valued above the US dollar someone at the CBC called Toyota and asked why a certain model of Corolla was under $14K in the US and $18K in Canada. Toyota Canada responded that it was the cost of transportation to Canada more than anything. The reporter, undaunted, called dealers in Alaska and Hawaii and got quotes of under $15K from both locations. Officials from Toyota Canada were unavailable for further comment.

This last spring, on a short jaunt to Florida we stopped overnight in the Atlanta area just down the street from a Toyota dealer. I dropped in to have a look at the Tundra I was interested in. $31K out the door in Atlanta, $39K out the door in Toronto. I'm hanging on to my Canadian made Honda Ridgeline for another few years. So much for free trade and the auto-pact.

[BigDumbDinosaur]

BillO wrote:

I'm not sure where it all began, but it seems it has been determined by business that Canadians are willing to pay more for stuff and not complain.

Just a year or so ago when our dollar was actually valued above the US dollar someone at the CBC called Toyota and asked why a certain model of Corolla was under $14K in the US and $18K in Canada. Toyota Canada responded that it was the cost of transportation to Canada more than anything. The reporter, undaunted, called dealers in Alaska and Hawaii and got quotes of under $15K from both locations. Officials from Toyota Canada were unavailable for further comment.

Given that a Corolla built to US standards is mechanically the same as the Canadian version (except for the speedometer and some other gauges, and the owner's manual), Toyota Canada has to be inflating the shipping. The story about transportation cost is BS. Continental US-bound Toyotas that were assembled in Japan usually come in through Long Beach CA. Canada-bound Toyotas from Japan usually arrive at Vancouver or thereabouts. The rest of the trip to the dealer is via rail (very economical for long hauls, around $100 per automobile and about $115 for a light truck) and local truck delivery. It doesn't cost $4000 more to ship an automobile from Vancouver to, say, Toronto, than it does to ship the same car from Long Beach to Chicago. In fact, long-distance rail shipment in Canada tends to be cheaper per mile/kilometer than in the US due to Canadian railroads being able to operate freight trains at higher speeds (80 MPH maximum vs. 70 MPH in the states) and over greater distances in between stops.

No question you guys are being gouged, which is evident in Toyota Canada dodging the CBC person after he(?) found out that the same car was cheaper in Alaska (definitely off the beaten path, eh?). Maybe Canadians should boycott Toyota and force them to get real with their prices. Their cars aren't that good that everyone has to have them. Recent Ford products are better in most respects—my wife's 2014 Fusion was a substantial improvement over the 2009 Toyota Corolla she traded in, and has a better sound system to boot.

Quote:

So much for free trade and the auto-pact.

Nothing forces foreign car makers like Toyota to agree to the auto-pact. NAFTA did level the playing field and made it possible for Canadian manufacturers to gain parity in the US market—two of my home appliances are products of Canada, but cost about the same as US-made equivalents. The problem with automobiles is that unless they are assembled in Canada, Mexico or the US, NAFTA isn't going to have any effect.

Situations like what you describe with car prices p*ss me off. There's no reason for Canadians to have to pay more for the same model, except Toyota's greed.

[White Flame]

I don't know if this is correct, but I've heard that all that Alberta beef actually goes down to the US for slaughter and/or processing, then is shipped back up to Canada as packaged meat, hence dumb prices.

[BitWise]

White Flame wrote:

I don't know if this is correct, but I've heard that all that Alberta beef actually goes down to the US for slaughter and/or processing, then is shipped back up to Canada as packaged meat, hence dumb prices.

A fine example of a 'dead spread' as we call it in investment banking - Originally it was the difference between the price for 'live hogs' and 'pork bellies' in the same delivery month on a commodities exchange.

[enso]

A lot of what is called 'food' in the US is not considered food in many other places. For instance, ground beef labelled as 100% ground beef can have 10% of 'pink slime'. The stuff that they sweep from the floor of the slaughterhouse, grind off the bones, etc. and bleach with ammonia.

Organic food is sold a premium. After USDA got into the game, I don't really trust organic food either. Especially as they force hormone-free milk distributors to attach labels saying that there is nothing wrong with hormones.

The food business is a mess in the US.

[BigDumbDinosaur]

White Flame wrote:

I don't know if this is correct, but I've heard that all that Alberta beef actually goes down to the US for slaughter and/or processing, then is shipped back up to Canada as packaged meat, hence dumb prices.

I've never heard of that, but wouldn't be too astonished if it were true. Business is a strange business.

[BigDumbDinosaur]

enso wrote:

A lot of what is called 'food' in the US is not considered food in many other places. For instance, ground beef labelled as 100% ground beef can have 10% of 'pink slime'. The stuff that they sweep from the floor of the slaughterhouse, grind off the bones, etc. and bleach with ammonia.

There's no evidence that anything in pink slime was swept off the floor. That said, I wouldn't intentionally eat the stuff even if a rabbi blessed it and pronounced it kosher.

My source for ground beef is, of all places, Sam's Club (part of Walmart for those here who aren't in the USA). There is no pink slime (guaranteed) and the beef is always high quality. When we have people over for a burger and brat cookout I always get compliments about my hamburgers. The meat is mostly the reason. It surely can't be due to my cooking skills.

Quote:

Organic food is sold a premium. After USDA got into the game, I don't really trust organic food either. Especially as they force hormone-free milk distributors to attach labels saying that there is nothing wrong with hormones.

The food business is a mess in the US.

The food business isn't the only mess we have...

[BillO]

BigDumbDinosaur wrote:

Situations like what you describe with car prices p*ss me off. There's no reason for Canadians to have to pay more for the same model, except Toyota's greed.

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread but this came up in conversation recently (price of Corrolas higher in Canada). It turns out all the Corrolas for North America are built right in Cambridge, Ontario.

I can assure you I will never buy a Toyota.

http://www.tmmc.ca/en/north-plant-cambridge.html