{"id":855,"date":"2012-03-12T14:13:13","date_gmt":"2012-03-12T19:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/?p=855"},"modified":"2012-03-14T08:55:44","modified_gmt":"2012-03-14T13:55:44","slug":"retro-scan-of-the-week-the-ipad-of-the-1980s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/archives\/855\/retro-scan-of-the-week-the-ipad-of-the-1980s","title":{"rendered":"[ Retro Scan of the Week ]<\/span> The iPad of the 1980s"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1980s<\/a>It’s the MICRO EXECUTIVE WORKSTATION, people!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

iPad, schmyepad. In the 1980s, we had hair on our chests, far fewer seat belts, and we walked backwards downhill halfway from school every day in the monsoon season. AND WE LIKED IT. We also used the TRS-80 Model 100<\/a> — a sleek 3.9-pound, 2-inch thick machine that could run 20 hours on a single set of four AA batteries — for all of our mobile computing needs.<\/p>\n

Imagine 8 kilobytes of RAM. Imagine a full travel keyboard and a 240×64 display that could fit in your lap. Imagine downloading stock prices at $12\/hour from CompuServe at 300 bits per second over two acoustic couplers. It’s not a fantasy — it’s life in 1983.<\/p>\n

Below, I present for your perusal a stat-by-stat comparison between the mighty Radio Shack wonder and today’s iPad, then I ask you: which is truly superior?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

TRS-80 Model 100 vs. new iPad (2012)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
 <\/td>\n\nTRS-80 Model 100<\/font><\/strong>\n<\/td>\n\nThe new iPad<\/font><\/strong>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nYear Introduced<\/strong><\/td>\n\n1983<\/td>\n\n2012<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nPrice<\/strong>
(2012 Dollars)<\/strong><\/small><\/td>\n		\n$2,501.05\n<\/td>\n\n$499.00\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nPrice<\/strong>
(1983 Dollars)<\/strong><\/small><\/td>\n		\n$1099.00<\/td>\n\n$219.27<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nCPU Type<\/strong><\/td>\n\nIntel 80C85<\/td>\n\nApple A5X (Cortex-A9)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nCPU Speed<\/strong>
(MHz x cores)<\/small><\/td>\n		\n2.4<\/td>\n\n2,000
(unconfirmed)<\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nRAM<\/strong>
(kilobytes)<\/small><\/td>\n		\n8<\/td>\n\n1,000,000
(unconfirmed)<\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nUser Storage<\/strong>
(kilobytes)<\/small><\/td>\n		\n5.062<\/td>\n\n16,000,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nDisplay Resolution<\/strong><\/td>\n\n240 x 64 pixels<\/td>\n\n2048 x 1536 pixels<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nNetworking Speed<\/strong>
(bits\/second)<\/small><\/td>\n		\n300
(internal modem)<\/small><\/td>\n		\n300,000,000
(802.11n Wi-Fi)<\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nBattery Life<\/strong><\/td>\n\n20 hours<\/td>\n\n10 hours<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nDimensions<\/strong><\/td>\n\n11.875 x 8.5 x 2 inches<\/td>\n\n9.5 x 7.31 x 0.37 inches<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nWeight<\/strong><\/td>\n\n3.9 pounds<\/td>\n\n1.44 pounds<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nNumber of Apps<\/strong><\/td>\n\n5<\/td>\n\n20
(+ 200,000 online)<\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nOperating System<\/strong><\/td>\n\nCustom \/ Microsoft BASIC v1.1<\/td>\n\niOS 5.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\nNotable Features<\/strong><\/td>\n\n56-key keyboard, RS-232 port, parallel port, bar code reader, 300 baud modem<\/td>\n\nCapacitive touch screen, Retina display, 5MP iSight camera, FaceTime camera, Wi-Fi adapter<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

Just as I suspected. The iPad wins. Oh well.<\/p>\n

[ From Radio Shack 1984 TRS-80 Catalog (RSC-10), p.59 ]<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

Discussion Topic of the Week:<\/strong> Can you think of any scenarios where a Model 100 might be more useful than an iPad?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s the MICRO EXECUTIVE WORKSTATION, people! iPad, schmyepad. In the 1980s, we had hair on our chests, far fewer seat belts, and we walked backwards downhill halfway from school every day in the monsoon season. AND WE LIKED IT. We also used the TRS-80 Model 100 — a sleek 3.9-pound, 2-inch thick machine that could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,27,26,8,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-computer-info-and-history","category-regular_features","category-retro-scan-of-the-week","category-technology-commentary","category-computers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagecomputing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}