The Ultimate Tandy Panel

In this incredible gathering of former Tandy computer employees we learn some of the great stories from behind the scenes. The panelists include:
Paul Schreiber
Paul worked as both a co-op technician (1977) and as Senior Project Engineer (1980-84, 1988-93). Among the many projects he worked on were modems, the Model II/III graphics cards, and the VIS/Sensation multimedia PCs.
Rick Thompson
Rick worked as a Senior Project Engineer from 1980-1993. He was the lead designer on many of the business computers, such as the Model II, the Model 3000 family, and the Model 4000 family.
Jerry Heep
Jerry was the longest-serving Tandy R&D employee, working as a Senior Project Engineer from 1975-2012. Among his 37 year tenure, he designed everything from Project Green Thumb (precursor to CoCo 1), firmware for modems and infrared remotes, and automated the Tandy Center lights using a proprietary network.
Steve Mosher
Steve had a dual career at Tandy. Initially he was the first and only RFI/EMI/Design engineer from 1979-1991, and then joining the Tandy Law Dept from 1991-1997 where he managed patent applications and patent infringement claims against Tandy.
Kathy Paur
Kathy worked at A&A International covering computer products and peripherals from 1976 to 1993.
VCF Southwest is made possible by the efforts of the Vintage Computing Collective of North Texas, an 501(C)3 non-profit. Please consider a donation to help us continue to produce shows and content like this. www.paypal.com...

[@LarryRobinsonintothefog]

Worked at Tandy Center in the mid-1980s and was told that they changed messages by changing light bulbs and was thinking that was dumb for an electronics and computer retailer, but now I know it was done with a Z8.

[@johnathanstevens8436]

Yes, after using the trs80gp emulator to emulate a model 16 and installing xenix I learned about the AgFarm terminal and saw the software to host videotex .. I found some scant manuals about it on bitsavers or someplace. It only briefly mentions the "communications multiplexor" (I think it was in one of the catalogs too maybe) as some sort of nebulous box. So it was interesting to hear about what the backend actually was.
I get the impression it was only used on one or two big pilot projects though .. like for the USDA and one of the local newspapers. Interesting that the videotex tags were edited in Scriptsit. Videotex just did not take off in the US the same way it did in France, etc.
Interesting capability to download and run code to the terminal .. maybe could have played small games or productivity apps.
The Tandy Center must have been something to see back then ❤

[@LarryRobinsonintothefog]

Thought that building on 7th was an old paper mill with a Radio Shack store in the corner, but I was only there as a kid.

[@LarryRobinsonintothefog]

Saw a Agritext or Startext in a coco case in an office in Tandy Center.

[@LarryRobinsonintothefog]

If the Jerry Ballard is the same one he was en engineer at our repair facility.

[@manuelmaseda4875]

Who needed to approve the slides?

[@frnno967]

It wasn't that someone needed to "approve" the slides, it was that the presentation system controls were password-locked and no one from the university could be found to unlock it because it was a Saturday. So the projection system was non-functional as a result.

[@eugenekiselev]

With humor about great and wonderful history ! Thank you for sharing this ! I loved every second of this video.

[@randyrivero1216]

EPIC!