The Trash Computer That Became Your Phone

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Journeying down the path of vintage tech and retro computers is a good time even when it’s full of twists and turns… which it always is. But what happens when you’ve got a proto-portable computer that fits in your pocket, that struggles to function, that runs into incompatibility issues at every stage, and that was made by a leather company who decided to get into the home electronics business?

That’s the Tandy TRS-80 Pocket Computer, sold exclusively through Radio Shack. And there’s a reason why the portable TRS-80 and its desktop companion were dubbed the ‘Trash-80.’

Charles Tandy built an empire so sprawling that the federal government had to break it up, and the TRS-80 line was one of his crowning achievements before his death. Everything was looking great for both Tandy and Radio Shack – but the TRS-80 Pocket Computer revealed the vulnerabilities of both businesses, the volatility of the hyper-evolving personal computer market, and the risks of market leadership in one of the most uncertain, unstable technological eras humanity has ever seen.

The TRS-80 Pocket Computer was one of the earliest forerunners to Apple’s iPhone and to smartphones in pockets around the world. But it was also a cautionary tale for the entire tech industry… and it continues to serve as a warning for anyone interested in vintage computer restoration.

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