11:01:52 AM EST Sunday, December 8, 1985

(Sysop .^Dave^.) As most all of you must know Ed Juge is our guest this morning
  Ed is Tandy's Director of Marketing [Planning] and I'll turn the floor over
  to him ....
  Right NOW!!
(rowlfe) So, Ed, exactly what is it that a Director of Market Planning does?
(Ed J) The title is Dir-Market Planning, and I'm supposed to help us position
 our products in the best possible light in each of their respective markets! 
 That's a lot of PR, and a little market research. But a lot of my work
 involves dealings and relations with the media.

(Bill S) For some time I have been looking for a good publication covering the
 I/O routines on the Model 100. Can you help?
(Ed J) Well, the big problem about firmware is always... as in this case...
 the code is property of Microsoft. We've released about all they're willing to
 allow us to release and fortunately, I think, some of the siggers have gone
 far beyond that.  It's a question of proprietary information, copyrights, etc.
(Bill S) All I am seeking is the Input Status Port, the Output Status Port, the
 Staus Bit information and the In/Out Ports. That's not so much to nak.
(Sysop .^Dave^.) Have you seen the six part System Map in DL 4
  and POKES.100 et alia??
(Bill S) I don't think so but I've read the 100 ROm and Ram Files
(Ed J) Bill, give me your ppn, and if I can dig it up, I'll let you know.  
(Sysop Tony) (PORTS.100?)
(Sysop .^Dave^.) Bill, the 100ROM files have that information ....
(Bill S) Yes I've read Ports.100
(mpm) tnx dave, you covered it. 100rom.rcx is quite helpful.

(=Norm=) I would first like to compliment Tandy on the increased preseence in
 the Forums, with this, and Tana...
 NOw, Question: What is being done to increase knowldge, at the store level?
(Ed J) Ok, Norm. We know that's a big problem, and we're looking for ways to
 address it. But, You must realize that a customer can purchase through our
 stores about 1200 software products spread across 9 cpus there ain't no way,
 my friend, that the store folks are going to be able to answer in-depth or
 technical questions about 5% of it and may not even be able to tell you for
 sure what's there. My brother game me the devil about this but he wanted to
 know about XMODEM protocol supporting comm programs for the T-2000.  Can you
 imagine just how specialized that is even though it's his one and only real
 hot-button? That's been the subject of many discussions by industry leaders at
 many conferences, the latest I've attended being Dick Shaffer's in Palo Alto
 last Monday. We'll do ALL we can to improve it... we know it's the weakest
 link in the retail chain today.  Ours and everyone else's.
(=Norm=) Thank you very much Ed, And, once again, I like the direction <we> are
 taking in the Forums. You see, I'm one of the ones in the trenches!
(Ed J) Thanks, Norm... I'm happy about Tana and our increased presence too! 
(corky) [ditto]
(Maddi) [moi aussi!]

(mpm) Any word on a return to your column in 80-Micro, et al ED?
(Ed J) No, not yet.  We frankly have had a lot of flak from the three
 (yep, there's a new one) magazines supporting our MS-DOS line.  Have to be
 ultra careful not to show favoritism. If you mean the Ask Tandy, that is... if
 you mean the old Tandy Topics, they don't want it (they being Eric Maloney).
 For the info of the group (and to explain why Ask Tandy isn't my real bag
 I should say I'm not an engineer or a technical type. My forte is the business
 end of small computers... use in small business.. with the computer product
 managers reporting to me... no engineering. so don't get too technical with
 your questions, please.

(DON PLISKA) yes ed the local radio shack store has not been much help with
 some questions. where can I turn? 
(Ed J) The first line of help should be your nearest ATSO (if there is one)
 or customer service rep in local computer center (if no ATSO) then the
 customer service lines in Ft. Worth.
(DON PLISKA) how can I find the atso or the customer service line in Ft. worth
(Ed J) Ask your local store for the number of the nearest ATSO.  If there's a
 Computer Center, they will know for sure.
(rowlfe) [atso???whazzat?]
(Ed J) ATSO is Area Training and Support Operation.  Tana... comment?
(tana) Yes, The ATSO's are listed in the Tandy Newsletter, here on CIS, as well
 as the [phone] #'s in Ft. Worth. 

(* LAN Y *) Recognizing that the new PDD ("Pudd", fer short was a (very canny)
 compromise between cost and capabilities, can we anticipate improvements to
 allow TELCOM simu-download etc soon??
(Ed J) LAN Y, don't look for any operating system enhancements from Tandy on
 this one.
(TomA) [What is PDD)
(Ed J) We put it together so the 3rd party and sharp individual programmers
 could do their things. PDD is Portable Disk Drive.
(* LAN Y *) Itty bitty portable 3.5" drive from Tandy.
(BILL G) {great, Ed that's what I wanted to hear}

(BILL G) I had a similar tech q but this isn't a tech session, right?
(Ed J) Dependa on what you want to ask... I'm not a technical type, but...
 always willing to try.  ... most of what I might be able to tell you is why we
 did or didnt.
(BILL G) I was wondering if you can access PDD from BASIC.?
(Ed J) NOo, but I heard unconfirmed report that Traveling Software was showing
 a full-blown OS at their Comdex booth.  Have had a note on my desk to call
 Mark Eppley and ask, but haven't had time. Anyone heard anything?

(Walt L.) a general question; will Tandy tend to follow the IBM "standard"
 or can we expect to see innovative hardware from Tandy in the future?
 For instance, a M-68000-based machine?
(Ed J) Excellent question, Walt <can I go now, Dave>...
 I think you'll see Tandy continue supporting the CoCo, Model 4, and our
 existing products for some time to come.  The 16B included, but we recognize
 the predominance of IBM's standard.  Will we follow them everywhere?  No.
 Will you see some innovative hardware?  Yes.  We will try to leverage off of
 the popularity of their OS, and the software library it has fostered, but
 we'll try to go IBM  one step better in features, performance, and  for
 certain, cost/performace benefits.
(Walt L.) Glad to hear that, Ed. and I expect to stick with Tandy as I have
 since buying my Model I in 1979.
(Ed J) I don't think you'll be sorry, Walt.  Thanks!

(rowlfe) will there be some sort of tech manual for the PDD as there was for
 the Model 100? ie. schematics, rom call info and the like?
(Ed J) Usually, the tech manual is simply our service manual with a "user
 friendly" chapter placed up front.  I don't know what Stu's plan is on this
 one, but you can get all the info the tech manual might have by ordering a
 service manual.  That's available now.

(Maddi) Ed- ^Dave^ demo'd the Tandy 600 for me & I was impressed! Could you
 request your Tandy folks to configure another DVI master disk with a disk
 operating system & disk basic (& cable) that would work with the Tandy 600,
 so DVI could be used as an additional drive(s), OR let us know if this is
 technically impossible?
(Ed J) My strong guess, Maddi, is that it's impossible.  Remember, the 600 uses
 a completely different processor.  If you want to try to download some of
 your BASIC programs and try them out you could transfer via RS-232.
 But BASIC is an optional ROM on the 600.  I don't know how similar it is to
 what you have now.  Some modifications of the programs might be required, and
 I can assure you any calls or peeks or pokes will have to be worked out from
 scratch.
(Maddi) Thought that since DVI can work with the 200, which also has different
 addresses, etc. the Tandy engineers might be able to think up a way.
(Ed J) Yes, but the 100 and 200 both use 80C85 processors.
 the 600 uses 16-bit 80c88. 
(Sysop .^Dave^.) Basic comments: there is no PEEK or POKE in 600's basic.
  I have downloaded ASCII versions of Model 100 and IBM-PC programs and run
  them on the Tandy 600 after mild modifications. There will be PLENTY of
  software available for the Tandy 600. Many of you are familiar with the early
  GRAPHX.100 with leaping random, symetrical lines. There is GRAPHX.600 tooo.
(Baba) IS the 600 compatible with 100/200 sw? 
(Ed J) At the BASIC level... somewhat...

(Thom H.) Ed, I understand that at last one 3rd party vendor had has developed
 an expanded RAM for the 200 and is close to bringing it to market.  What are
 Tandy's plans in this regard and what do you, as an industry observer, think
 this 100K+ RAM for the 200 will do for 200 sales and 600 sales?
(Ed J) News to me Thom. But I don't know what it would do, unless it's an
 outboard RAMDISK type of arrangement.  The basic limitation is that an 8-bit
 processor can only address 64K of total RAM+ROM space.  The 200 has 40K ROM,
 leaving 24K of addressable RAM space.  So there's no way you'll address a
 larger block.  I don't see the value in more than 3 RAM  banks.  Do you?
(Thom H.) Ed, this product expands one of the banks, through, apparently, use
 of an outboard processor and bank selection.  It functionally gives you one
 huge RAM bank, and the two normally small ones. Anyhow, assuming that it CAN
 be done how do you think it would do (an "inboard" product)?
(Ed J) Ok, Thom. I think the number of users who TRULY need more than 24K is
 pretty small.  I doubt it will sell significant numbers, but then if my
 crystal ball was always right I'd be in the Bahamas on my Yacht... clipping
 coupons.
(corky) [most journalists need more]
(BILL G) and engineers, need more too!
(Thom H.) If that's the case, why come out with the 600?
(Ed J) Normally, when you use bank switching, it slows the processor by about
 half it's speed.
(Thom H.) [This is independent* processor]
(Ed J) Time will tell! We don't forsee the 600 selling in large quantities.
(Thom H.) Isn't more RAM the main rationale for the 600?
 And, if you don't expect to sell lots of themn, why bring it out and, B) what
 will long-term support for the 600 be?
(Ed J) IBM  probably didn't expect the AT to sell in quantities like the PC,
 but it fills a need for a power user, and it will sell plenty to make it a
 good product.  Ditto the 600. The rationale includes...
 ... those who need more memory...
 ... larger screen...
 ... more capable software...
 ... built-in disk storage...
 ......and so on.  The memory was only one part of the plan.
(Thom H.) If you mean "more" and "larger" than the 100 then the 200 seems to
 meet most of those requirements and with a 100K+ RAM would REALLY do it, eh?
(Ed J) ...the 200's built-in software is more than enough for some users, but
 it pales completely next to the horsepower of the 600.  You have a FULL
 Microsoft Multiplan, a FULL Microsoft Word (relatively) and a FULL database
 manager. Take a look sometime.

(BOB R) about the pdd, along with a service manual, it would be good for us
 hackers to have some type of programmers guide so that we may be able to write
 programs that can access the drive.
(Ed J) Ok, Bob, I'll pass on the word.  I really suspect our people didn't
 expect the fantastic acceptance of the PDD. It's hard to find, they're selling
 so fast... and we're out of them in the Ft. Worth warehouse.  Maybe we can
 take another look at additional support.  I'll pass on your feelings to our
 product mgr.
(BILL G) [price/perform remember]

(rowlfe) on feedback, what kind gets up to your level from end users like us?
 since you are here often can you give us some sort of comparison?
 good, bad, etc?
(Ed J) Hmmm. rowlfe, I'm not sure how to answer that.  A lot of letters come in
 to me and the chairman forwards a lot to me to answer for him.  Then Tana
 brings comments to me from these forums all the time. In general, those who
 are happy rarely take time to say anything. after all, that's what they paid
 their money for.  So, the usual feedback we get is negative.  But, sometimes
 it's good, and when someone like Consumer's Report takes an unwarranted shot
 at us, we get a stack of copies of hate mail directed at them.  So, we know
 we're doin' something ok sometimes. Does that answer?
(rowlfe) ok. but, what do the product managers say vs what you see here?
 that may be a better way to put it. 
(Ed J) Well, they appreciate feedback.  Their job is to product products
 that customers want.  Some requests they get are just not realistic, and
 don't represent the majority of the users.  But some are quite good.
 the 200 was a direct result of feedback from 100 users.  The 600 was
 a combination of feedback, and what technology would let us do a reasonable
 cost. Even the "rumor mills" provide some valuable feedback.  One PM says
 (tongue in cheek) that if the reaction of the users to a rumor is good, he
 considers doing the rumored product.

(Baba) Ed, does the 600 have built in modem/terminal?
(Sysop .^Dave^.) YES!!!
(Ed J) yes
(Baba) is the modem like the one in the 200 and what protocall does the term
 support?
(Ed J) The modem is 300 baud, auto-dial, auto answer, will even wake up
 a powered-off 600 to answer the phone.  It supports XMODEM protocol, so
 it's much more powerful than the 100 or 200.  The term program allows you to
 write a 'script'... send XXXX then wait to receive YYYY, then send ZZZZ, etc.
 Script length is basically limited only by memory.
(Sysop .^Dave^.) Further, the 600 screen will keep up very well with 1200 baud
  via external modem.
(Baba) Does the xmodem allow binary file xfer unlike all the xmodem I have
 found for the 100.
(Sysop .^Dave^.) I've up/downloaded BIN and other files with built in XMODEM
  with no problems.
(Baba) Is there a reason the 100/200 can't transfer ".co" files w/ xmodem??
(Sysop .^Dave^.) the Model 100 CAN transfer .CO files with the right software
  X-TEL from Sigea Systems is the only one that will do it that I know of
  though. For the Model 100 and Tandy 200.

(* LAN Y *) RE: the PDD, AXIONIX is now offering an outboard video interface.
 I think there would be a great market for a Super-PDD with such an interface
 melded with the PDD in one package at a good price... say <$500.
(Ed J) Well I'm not sure what the market would be.  The problem with a video
 interface is that it requires a complete computer to run it. the VDI had a Z80
 computer complete with its own memory inside. It's expensive to do, and most
 people don't want to carry that much stuff.
(* LAN Y *) Well, The AXIONIX "thinv-vid" is advert'd for under $250. (anyone
 seen one?) It is small, and if it works, I could see myself actively
 Super-gluing it to my PDD to get this Optimum package.
 Dont worry, I still love the PDD.
(Sysop .^Dave^.) LAN, the "anyone see one" is the essential key. Been talking
 for over a year.
(Ed J) I agree. I don't think I've talked to anyone who's seen one.
(Ed G.) [What software would you run?]

(Walt L.) Another general question, Ed. why doesn't Tandy reveal sales numbers?
 I've been curious for almost ten tears as to how many Model I's, 100's
 etc. are "out there" and I'm sure others are, too.
(Ed J) Ok. We don't see any competitive advantage to giving out those numbers.
 We don't compete with anyone for shelf space and so it's just not in our
 interest.  I will make a few comments. I heard a Microsoft rep say about 2
 years ago "There have been well over a million TRSDOS  systems sold" (since
 they get royalty payments on BASIC, they probably know better than anyone.)
 Next, on the issue of MS-DOS. Compaq posted a billboard at Comdex, saying one
 new Compaq is sold every 59 seconds of every business day.  A $3 calculator
 will relate that to about 10,400 per month.  Heck, we said we were outselling
 them with just the Tandy 1000, when we thought they were selling 15,000 a
 month. We're probably outselling the PC itself in retail channels today.
(Walt L.) Ed, I just want to say that I've tried to convince a few prospective
 buyers to go with Tandy and being able to quote some impressive sales figures
 could be a "clincher."
(Ed J) Well, Walt, I can't give you figures... chairman's orders, but by the
 time you talk to your prospective buyer friends, you'd probably be correct
 in saying Tandy has ALREADY sold more 1000's this month than Compaq will sell
 (all of their computers), during the entire month of December.  <grin>
(Sysop .^Dave^.) Walt, count the Radio Shack Computer Centers versus Compaq
 Centers et alia.
(Sysop Tony) Ed, while I'm no marketing whiz, seems to me releasing figures
 WOULD be productive. It would establish TANDY as the real leader in the
 field and help deal with the reported image problem that they are only a
 hobbyist computer.
(Ed J) ;It would seem so, Tony, but IBM, who is probably the overall leader
 gives out no figures.  As you know, our new VP Computer Merchandising is a
 17-year IBM  veteran.  He says the figures projected by Future, Infocorp,
 Yankee, Dataquest, et al, are not even close to reality for IBM, and now he
 knows they're just as bad for Tandy.  So, if we chose to give out numbers,
 there wouldn't be anything accurate to bounce them off of.  It's a no-win
 situation, and would just be a curiosity-satisfyier for some folks.

(John R) Ed, why was Microsoft Works chosen for the OS of the 600 instead of
 MS-DOS, and are there any plans to offer an "upgrade" MS-DOS system ROM for
 the 600.  There are several programs that I use on my 2000 for word
 processing, etc., that I would like to have on a more-or-less portable
 machine.
(Ed J) Works was chosen because it seemed to be an upward extension of what
 the 100 and 200 had offered. We think the 100 and 200 have so far outsold the
 other portables, largely because they furnish the things people want in a
 portable. The HP, DG and others have not sold well at all.  So, why imitate a
 "looser"? There isn't one MS-DOS program which would run on the 600, if it did
 have MS-DOS availabe, due to the smaller screen.  At the time the 600 was
 committed, there just wasn't a good LCD available which could be built
 into a reasonable-cost machine, to give 80x25.  So... WORKS!  
(* LAN Y *) MICROSOFT might consider that retrograde!
(John R) Well, many of the word processors are configurable, albeit by
 patching, for screen size. Thanks for the answer. 
(Ed J) Remember that the 600's WP is compatible with Microsoft WORD.  You can
 up...download data between them.
(Sysop .^Dave^.) John, Methinks you will be pleased with the 600's Basic
  which has run IBM programs for me AND includes special machine language CALLs
  that are, I suspect, unique to the Tandy 600 but make it a LOT more powerful
  for database use. Includes FGTYPE, DBOPEN and such stuff. Works too!
(John R) Thanks for the preview. I await with baited bauds. 

(Ed G.) Hi, Ed.  two questions. First :  We are about to release a supplement
 to FLOPPY.CO for the PDD. (We would have had it earlier if not for our care
 not to violate our license)  What is the reaction to such a product likely to
 be from Tandy?  Will they be offended? We aren't saying by our product that
 people should throw FLOPPY away, just supplement it with our product.
(Sysop .^Dave^.)   [Ed J: Ed G = Acroatix  of TMPC fame.]
(Ed J) No, Tandy won't be offended, in fact we're tickled pink to see anyone
 support our products. We put the FDD port on the 600 for you guys in the
 aftermarket.  We don't intend to offer an outboard FDD. Offended?  Next time
 you're in Ft. Worth, I'll buy your dinner for supporting us!
(Ed G.) Thanks Ed.  Second question. I am intrigued with the 600, or what
 I've seen of it.  However, I was wondering why so little is given third-party
 vendors in the way of ROM sockets to fill with goodies.   Surely, you
 don't think that MS Works, good as it may be, is the last word?  I think
 a little extra capacity (without removing BASIC or MSPLAN) would have been
 real nice.  Am I mistaken about this supposed lack of expandability?
(Ed J) I don't think that there's a problem.  Most buyers probably won't buy
 more than 1 or 2 ROMS, and you can copy anything from a ROM on the 600 into
 RAM, and run it from there.  Remember, we don't provide space for BASIC and
 MSPLAN either, but you can copy one into RAM, and use both. Additional ROM
 sockets require space and add cost.  They would have been nice, but I don't
 think represent a big drawback with that ability to copy to RAM.
(Sysop .^Dave^.) BASIC takes up a bit less than 34K.

(Denny T) Ive been having problems with Email, is there any special parameters
 to set online?
(Ed J) Denny, you should check your DEFALT settings against those shown in
 the EMAIL docs. They might not be the only setting that work, but a lot of
 settings dont, and those listed do.  If all is set right... it should work.
 Best I can estimate, more than 1,000 folks must be using some form of the
 program today.
(Denny T) It just hangs when uploading
(Ed J) Pick up a new version.  That problems' been fixed.
(rowlfe) [so does my copy. do you use it still Ed?]
(Ed J) Version 5.9 (I think) fixes it.
(rowlfe) [oops, I got 5.8]
(Ed J) Whatever version is currently in the data library is the correct one. 
 Uploaded about 3 weeks ago I think.

(Sysop .^Dave^.) Methinks that concludes the COnference  ....
  Many thanks to Ed Juge and all attendees ....
  All may stay for general yak yak of course ...
  CO terminated. All go to YAK YAK mode .
(Ed J) Thanks for having me, ... it's been fun!  See you all later.

1:09:19 PM EST Sunday, December 8, 1985