First impressions of the Tandy Model 102

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Admittedly, some of you might find this an odd little feeling, one that isn't such a big deal, but I'm writing this on a little machine that turns on and off instantly and saves my files as I type them. None of that "hit save" thing... unless I want to change the title, make a duplicate, or something. I'm watching TV, and when I feel like it, I just turn it off and walk away.

I don't feel like it just yet.

Seriously, this is the neatest little thing, and I can't get over it. I was first introduced to the existence of this machine when the eMate by Apple was introduced. Man, was I sold on the concept of easy computing - give the person what they want, when they want it, and no more. The Boston Globe wrote an article about the eMate, saying that finally their staff had found a replacement for their old TRaShers... I'd forgotten about them...

Anyway, the Globe was saying that the eMate was great, was wonderful, was amazing... but even the things it did, I didn't really want. Sure, a web browser would be nice, sure a drawing programand a spreadsheet (that didn't do what I need my spreadsheet to do - I hve weird uses for spreadhseets) I wanted one thing - easy editing and writing, along with instant on/off. The big problem about the awesome and really damn cool and really damn amazing eMate was this: PRICE!!

I got my Tandy 102 for fifty bucks, and it comes with a modem (okay okay, all of 300 baud, when 28,800 is now considered slow...) and it does what I want. Well, okay, I can't ever see myself USING the modem... whatever. Fifty bucks, when the best used price I ever saw for the eMate was $450.

The closest I ever got to the idea of the TRaSher was when I had a housemate with a Radio Shack word processor. The housemate was kinda out there (weird allegations where the cops had to point out that she couldn't accuse someone of stalking when it was a housemate and involved the use of kitchen utensils - it makes as much sense to you as it does to me, trust me). She had a WP-2, and it was pretty neat. But I didn't think of buying one (this was 1993) until the stores were out stock.

So what is it that is so cool about the M102? I want long battery life, I want easy text editing (I can format once I transfer the files to my desktop or my laptop), I want to have instant on (so that I can turn off the machine with my ideas already typed out while others are still waiting to boot and launch), and I want to have it relatively small.

I don't need all the functionality of the desktop (look, I don't do Photoshop on the road, trust me), and I don't need the short battery life of the laptop I own (a perfectly decent 486-100 which does me just fine). I want something that can really do what I need (like write a web page with my impressions of it, right?)

So, what is it that I like about the M102? First off, beyond the long battery life (and they're AA's, so I can use my large stash of rechargeables, even though they die pretty quickly since they're a volt low in total), the easy access to a simple AC adapter when close to a wall, the very easy and obvious text editor (written by Mr. Bill Gates himself, last of his great authoring efforts, and the keystrokes are STILL used in Word), and the fact that the dimensions of the thing are the same as a sheet of paper. In other words, it fits into my bag really easily.

How did I decide to get one of these things? It all worked out with me deciding to finally blow some cash. This occurred right around the time that I found the eBay auction site. Interesting little phenomena was going on there: people could sell things and enough folks browse around in the auction that the sellers get more than they would if they stayed in their little niche market. There were a few benefits to this. First off, I never would have found the market for old Tandy machines, second off, they never would have been able to find buyers.

The problem with auctions lies in the fact that suddenly, a million people are bidding on the same thing you want. So the price is always too high. In the end, I got lucky. I paid about 20 bucks less than most people. Of course, a lot of people still have these lying around their closets, I would bet (hey, 700,000 were produced, that's more than the Newtons out there).

I'm really happy with it. I've been able to write on the go, and not worry about when the thing dies. Plus, when it dies, everything is still in memory. The best thing is the easy access. The worst thing is the lack of memory. I've had some problems downloading files, but I'm working on it.

I'll write more later on, descriptions of the type of work that I do on this machine. I'm curious myself, so I might as well share it with you.

This page written 2 april 98.

Update: 5 april 98: File transfers on the Model 102.