1977 · Mass-Market Personal Computer · Work 970 of 1,871
A small electronics store in a shopping strip in Texas on an autumn afternoon, on a demonstration table between shelves of transistor radios and batteries a flat keyboard unit of silver-grey plastic with ventilation slots, its recessed black key field set with black keys, two light grey keys and a block of keys at the right, every key plain, smooth and unmarked, a small red lamp glowing, behind it a silver-grey monitor with a black front, two pale rectangles side by side glowing on its dark screen, a hand in a short-sleeved white shirt laying a cassette into a small black cassette recorder, a bright shopfront onto a sunny parking lot.
What it was used for
A complete computer system that Radio Shack showed at a press demonstration at the Warwick Hotel in New York on 3 August 1977 and sold through its own chain of shops. Matthew Reed gives 599.95 dollars for the complete system 26-1051, comprising the computer with power supply and built-in 53-key keyboard, a 12-inch display and a Realistic CTR-41 cassette recorder. Inside was a Zilog Z80 at 1.77 MHz, 4 KB of working memory and Level I BASIC in 4 KB of ROM. The Smithsonian records about 5,000 shops in which the machine was stocked.
What was new
What stands out is not the technology but the sales channel: a complete computer in the electronics shop on the corner. The company itself did not believe in it. Steve Leininger and Don French proposed 50,000 units; management found that laughable and wanted 1,000; the target was later raised to 3,000 because Radio Shack had slightly over 3,000 shops and the machines, if unsold, could be used there for stock control. French says the plan was phrased as "when", not "if", the computer failed to sell. In about 6 weeks over 10,000 pre-orders arrived, and in 1978 Radio Shack sold 100,000 units.
What the sources leave open: The price figures count different packages: Reed gives 599.95 dollars for the complete system; the Smithsonian gives 599 dollars for the introductory offer plus 400 dollars for the computer alone and 600 dollars with monitor and recorder. On quantity: the Smithsonian says "over 100,000 in its first year", Reed says "100,000 in 1978". The pages do not agree on which span is meant.