Tandy's Little Wonder (1993)(Farna Systems).pdf - TRS-80 Color ...

ow. The debut article featured general information aboutthe relatively new group. Membership would be $25 per yearand new users would receive one free disk from the library(additional disks were $3 for members). A condensed librarydirectory was also published. Disks would be sent onstandard OS-9 5 1/4" or 8" floppies as well as CoCo 5 1/4"(single sided 35 track) format.Bob Rosen moved Spectrum Projects to San Jose, California.in May. Word was out about the future release of theC-Compiler from Radio Shack, and VIP CALC fromSoftlaw. New product releases came from Prickly-PearSoftware with their Disk Trivia and the Tom Mix milestone,Worlds of Flight- the first real flight simulatorfor the CoCo. This was the last issue of Rainbow that the OS-9 Users Group President’s Column appeared in. A short noteasking for assistance with group activities and new membersappeared. Dale Puckett would print highlights from the usergroup in his KISSable OS-9 column from then on.By the time the June 22-24 RainbowFest touched down inChicago, Dragon/64 ads had vanished from all CoCo magazinesas Dragon Data Ltd. (British parent company) wentunder receivership. It seemed that "...The Color ComputerYou’ve Been Waiting For" wasn’t fairing as well as expected.THE FIFTH YEAR (Jul ’84 - Jun ’85)The CoCo turned 4 years old in July, at the same time RadioShack’s TRS-80 Microcomputer News published its lastissue. The Rainbow celebrated its third anniversary withyet another innovative feature, a scratch ‘n sniff adventuregame. The issue also contained a complete index of articlesand reviews which have appeared in the magazine since itsbeginning. Rumors appeared about a new Radio ShackCoCo keyboard, and the folding of Chromasette. A newproduct called Tele-Form was first marketed by CIGNA.The software enabled mail-merge with Telewriter.In August, TCCM was the subject of "going out of business"rumors, Bob Rosen put BBS #5 "on the air" in San Jose, andrumors circulated in England that Tandy was interested inthe floundering Dragon Data Ltd. company.At the September RainbowFest, held in Princeton, NJ (28-30), Dennis Lewandowski debuted his 128K upgrade.Other first timers include NOMAD the robot from FrankHogg, Graphicom II from Whitesmith, and a graphicsprogram and digitizer from GRAFX. The rumored takeoverby a Spanish company (EUROHARD) gave BritishDragon users something to roar about. Dragon productionwas moved to Spain when the takeover was finalized inOctober. Soon after, TANO Microcomputer ProductsCorp. sold their remaining stock to California Digital.Included in the deal was a number of joysticks and software.The number of computers was undisclosed, but CD was stillselling them in March of 1993 for only $39. At this timethere were under 1000 left. Many had reportedly gone toSouth American companies and schools. The Dragon endedup having a long life after all!TCCM’s rumored demise proved correct as the last issueappeared in October. This was the third CoCo magazine tofold within the past year (including Chromasette’s DiskMagazine). Dennis Kitsz also announced the start of UnderColor (UCL for short), which hit newsstands in November.An auto-answer modem too expensive? Check out the Novemberissue of Rainbow and find out how to teach yourModem I to auto-answer. Bill & Sara Nolan sold Prickly-Pear Software to Mike & Joanne Chinitis. Rumors,rumors everywhere: Radio Shack has CoCos with truelowercase (using the new Motorola 6847-TI VDG chip)which won’t be released until after the holidays.Better late than never, a 26 page Under Color magazinepremiered in December with information about two "new"Korean manufactured (for Tandy) CoCo 2s featuring a 1.3BASIC ROM. Other new December arrivals included TheWizard from NEXUS which modified Telewriter’s characterset, Dennis Lewandowski’s 128K upgrade, theCalindex appointment scheduler from Grantham Software, a video digitizer from The Micro Works, andNOVASOFT (a Tom Mix company) started marketing itsCoCo goodies. 7000 people attend Britain’s first 6809Colour Show for Dragon and Tandy CoCo users.1985 started with a bang and a whimper! The bang came fromthe debut of another CoCo milestone, CoCoMax fromColorware. Like Telewriter, nearly every CoCo user hasseen or used this graphics program, which was patternedafter MacPaint (for the Apple Macintosh). The whimper wasprovided by rumors that Color Micro Journal was about togo "belly up".The February RainbowFest in Irvine, California (15-17)attracted 8,000 visitors for a first-hand look at CoCoMax(250 sold). Product debuts included the P-51 MustangAttack Flight Simulator from Tom Mix, the 68008 expansioncard from RGS Micro Electronics, and a 15 keynumeric keypad from Moreton Bay. Tandy sold 16KCoCos for a mere $50, a drop in the proverbial bit bucket.Back to where it all started, CoCo information will start reappearingin 68 Micro Journal as rumors of 68 ColorMicro Journal’s demise prove true. With this month’sissue, CMJ joined Color Computer News, Chromasette,and The Color Computer Magazine as the fourth majorCoCo publication to fold within the past 17 months.March brought word that the "new" CoCo would be anexclusive OS-9 machine (no BASIC ROM) and would be inRadio Shack stores sometime between September ’85 andMarch ’86. Callers to any of Bob Rosen’s 4 bulletin boardsin Woodhaven, New York were greeted not by the usual highTandy's Little Wonder page 15