Monday, November 5, 2018

The Time Has Come for Tandy Assembly

In a few short days I'll be making a 600 mile drive from New York to Springfield, Ohio for the second annual Tandy Assembly.  The truck will be packed with Tandy Radio Shack computers and my son will be sitting next to me riding shotgun. In my book, it really doesn't get much better.

I've always loved driving and taking long road trips.  When I was a kid all I wanted to be was a truck driver.  I dreamed of having my own rig and spending my life driving across the country like Sonny Pruitt from the 1970s television show "Movin On'" or BJ McKay from that other classic 70s trucking show, "BJ and the Bear".  I still have that dream today so the annual trip to Tandy Assembly helps me live it a little bit.

And once we arrive, what a time it will be.  So many Tandy Radio Shack computing enthusiasts packed into one exhibit hall.  Friends that I haven't seen in a year will be there.  Some of those friends I have been in frequent contact with, like my podcasting mate Ian Mavric.  But, it's always great to meet up with good friends in person.  With the others that I have not been in contact with, it will be time to catch up on what's been happening the past year.

Once again, we sold out the exhibit space.  The speaking schedule is also full and the Saturday night festivities will be huge fun.  Stewart Cheifet will be speaking!  I was always so excited when I found the Computer Chronicles playing on PBS.  Certainly, one of my favorite shows.  I'm really looking forward to hearing him relate tales of those days.

Tandy engineer Mike Yetsko will be speaking Saturday night.  If you don't know Mike, be prepared for some great stories.  Mike worked all across Radio Shack back in the day.  From managing a store selling TRS-80s in Pennsylvania to working as an engineer in Fort Worth, Mike has seen it all and will let us know what it was like to be part of the company during those glory years.

Arno Puder and Sascha Haeberling will be speaking about their TRS-80 App Store.  They have a hardware component that will connect your TRS-80 to the internet and allow you to download TRS-80 apps, like you favorite games from Big Five Software.  Simply incredible!

Speaking of Big Five Software, we'll also have Arthur Gleckler talking about how he developed a TRS-80 game and sold it to Big Five Software when he was only a teenager!

So many more great speakers and tons of exhibits are on tap.  If you are a fan of Tandy Radio Shack computers, there really is nothing that comes close to attending Tandy Assembly.  If you can't make it this year, try to plan on doing so next year.  If you are coming this year, stop by my Model II exhibit and say hello.  I love talking about TRS-80s!

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