OT: Tandy Silver

[GCC Consulting]

> 
> When I got my Model I in 1977 the manager saw that this 
> machine could be a real winner.  I remember seeing the 
> promotion manager of one of the local TV stations walk out 
> with three floppy drives under his arm.  He was writing a 
> program that analyzed ratings.
> 
> Later when the II came out the manager put on a full-time 
> salesman that made calls to businesses.
> 
> I got to know the manager quite well.  The store was in the 
> Winter Park Mall - and was one of the smallest RS outlets in 
> the US in terms of square footage.  It probably was in the bottom 10.
> 
> I got to see Dave's sales figures [I was a good friend and 
> he'd refer a great many with Model I questions to me - the 
> ones the store could not answer].
> 
> July 1977 - the month before the Model I was announced, the 
> story grossed $37,000.  Not to bad for that size.  July 1978 
> he grossed the same about in computer sales alone.  He was 
> second in overall sales in the US behind one of the largest 
> stores in Chicago.
> 
> These machines were not to be kept in stock and would be 
> ordered when a customer wanted one.  But Dave always had two 
> or three in stock at any one time.
> 
> His early customers like myself - had standing orders for a machine
> - so he would order in our name - and sell them to people who 
> wanted them.
> 
> I got Scott Adams his first floppy drives through Dave when 
> you could not find them anywhere.
> 
> Dave was aggressive in selling these, and the other RS 
> managers in the Central Florida region were not happy that 
> Dave was making so much money selling them so they started 
> complaining to the regional and district managers.
> 
> RS saw a good thing - doubling store sales in a year did not 
> go un-noticed.  Normally you'd get canned for going against 
> company policy, but Dave did such a good job that Radio Shack 
> did not want to lose him, but had to get him out of that 
> district to placate the managers in that area.
> 
> They made him an offer he could not refuse.  And that was NOT 
> like the Godfather type offer.
> 
> They gave him a district managers job, paid for his 
> relocation, and all expenses of the move.  And it was to the 
> land of his dreams.
> >From Winter Park Florida to Australia.  
> 
> You have to be a real performer to go against company policy 
> and have them bend over in order to keep you.
> 
> I remember that it was just a few days after RS had announced 
> the I, probably a weekend of the first week in August.
> 
> I walked into the store and saw Barry - a high school student 
> - and I was the entertainment at his Bar Mitzvah a couple of 
> years earlier.  I asked him if he knew anything about the 
> Model I and he said "We have one upstairs".
> 
> "upstairs" was just a room at the back of the store with 
> about a 7 foot ceiling that was added over the stock room as 
> the managers office.  There was a guy at the I, and I waited 
> about 10 to 15 minutes for him to get up and I sat down.  
> Fifteen minutes later I put down a $100 deposit to get the 
> machine that was supposed to be shipped in about 4 weeks.
> 
> Of course the demand soared so instead of October 1st I got it
> on December 27th.   Dave's machine upstairs had a serial number
> like 226.  Mine was just a few digits over 10,000 when I got 
> it almost 4 months later.
> 
> When the II hit Dave went into high gear.  Hiring an outside 
> salesman was not normal for RS, and I think Dave did this on 
> his own. I don't think he was an official RS employee - but I'm not
> sure.   Were outside salesman that called on customers done
> by any other RS stores that anyone knows of?
> 
I wrote my first basic program for a model I.  The RS store across from the
Empire State building had one on display and everyone wanted to use it.  But, no
real programs that they wanted to let the public "play with".  So, I wrote a
program which allowed the customers to interact with the computer by asking
questions limited questions and answering.  Mostly math type questions.  The
manager loved it as it gave people something to do with this "new fangled
device".  

I purchased my first model II from Dave Rogoet(not sure of the spelling).  This
was before he went to work for SCC.
The system I purchased, for my business, set me back about 8 grand. Model II,
64K memory, 3 drive external bay, dot matrix printer & profile.  

I wrote my own app for my business and used to travel with a set of disks.  When
I needed to enter orders or do billing, I would stop in at a RS store in the
City I was in and ask to use a computer.  Most of the managers were very
obliging and I had a lot of people watching me work.  I know this sold a few
machines for the stores as these customers saw actual work being done and not
just a demo of some software.

When the mod 16 came out I upgraded to a XENIX system.  My daughter had a
terminal in her room and learned Scripsit & Multiplan.  She was in 7th grade and
they were just starting to get computers in her school. I still have one of her
8" disks with her work on it. 

I recently gave one of these disks to my associate who teaches computer science
at Brooklyn College.  His students were shocked when they saw this 8" disk which
"only" held 450K.

Got a free Real World accounting software from the computer center when they had
to deliver 30 XT compatible computers with color monitors(just out) and they
couldn't get the video boards to work.  The manager didn't want to pay the
repair center, located in his center, to do see why.  I had been looking at the
installation instructions and noted the dip switch settings.  I said to the
manager "if I can get this working in 5 minutes will you give me the Accounting
Package?"  Since he had about 1 hour to get this order out or it would be
cancelled, he agreed.  I had him leave the room were the machines were set up.
Pulled the card, set the dip switches, replaced the card, rebooted the computer
in full color, and had him back in the room in less the 5 minutes.  Got the
software before I told him how to config the card.  He laughed when I told him,
but this was a big sale as these computers were for the UN.

Richard Kreiss
GCC Consulting