1977 – Tandy Corporation announces the TRS-80, one of the world's first mass-produced personal computers. The TRS-80 Micro Computer System (TRS-80, later renamed the Model I to distinguish it from successors) is a desktop microcomputer launched in 1977 and sold by Tandy Corporation through their Radio Shack stores. The name is an abbreviation of Tandy/Radio Shack, Z-80 microprocessor. It was one of the earliest mass-produced and mass-marketed retail personal computers. The TRS-80 featured a full-stroke QWERTY keyboard, the new Zilog Z80 processor (rather than the more common Intel 8080), 4 KB DRAM standard memory (when many 8-bit computers shipped with only 1 KB RAM), small size and desk footprint, floating-point BASIC programming language, standard 64-character/line video monitor, and a starting price of US$600 (equivalent to US$2400 in 2017).
Poster Comment:
It was almost twenty years later that I had my first desktop. Windows 3.11, what a dog it was, but I was hooked.