In search of the TRS-80 of the 21st Century


TRS-80"Clyde Bentley:

I found that to effectively replace a laptop with the current crop of smartphones, a journalist needs the eyes of a 20-year old, the fingertips of an elf and the tenderness of a surgeon. Tiny is tiny, no matter how you look at it. I couldn’t get the knack of quickly switching to audio recorder, photographing a poorly-lit subject on the go and texting the office while walking out of the meeting.

I’ve played around with the Nokia N800 with a Bluetooth keyboard, but I’m not sure it’s there, either. I have blogged and Twittered  with an  iPod Touch.

Has any anyone found the journalist’s “Trash 80” of the 21st Century?

The “Trash 80” or as Tandy labeled it, the TRS-80 Model 100, 102 or 200, was completely able to survive the dreaded “sports reporter” treatment, which should be de rigueur testing for all laptops billed as durable.