TRS-80 Model 100

Retro Thing looks at the TRS-80 Model 100, one of the first laptops, the third computer I owned, and my constant companion on four continents until the Internet came along. It not only had a great keyboard and a raft of built-in programmes, but it also came with a built-in 300 baud modem that gave me the incredible power to tap into the AP teletype feed. I even had the battery-powered external floppy drive that, along with a stack of discs the height of a fat dictionary, allowed me to write a couple of books without burning through a small forest of paper during the rewrites.

I had flashbacks to my Model 100 days over the past couple of weeks while the Internet link at Chez Szondy was US and I ended up taking the netbook and camping in the public library, Denny's, McDonald's, and the green room at the local NPR studio in search of a wifi link. Now I've learned that Starbucks has finally noticed that this is the 21st century and announces that it will no longer charge of wifi. That means when I drive the wife and daughter into town on a Friday evening, when the library is closed, to catch the latest animated extravaganza I won't have to choose between checking my RSS feeds over a Big Mac and comparing lumber prices down at the hardware store. It may mean that the trade off is bad coffee, but at least the chairs are more comfortable.

Progress.