A new book about the Tandy / Radio Shack CoCo computer is ready for pre-order!
I’m happy to officially announce that my next book, CoCo: The Colorful History of Tandy’s Underdog Computer, written with Boisy Pitre, is now available for pre-order from booksellers everywhere, including Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble, and of course, the publisher’s (Taylor & Francis/CRC Press) Website. My personal favorite place is Amazon, where you can buy it at a nice discount from the full retail price, plus, if the price drops upon the book’s publication sometime in November, you get it for the lower price. Of course, you don’t get charged until it actually ships.
What’s nice about the book (available in both paperback and ebook versions) is that this is the first time the story of Tandy’s Color Computer – affectionately dubbed “CoCo” – will be told in this manner. The first version of the computer debuted on July 31, 1980, and it and its successors were staples in Radio Shack stores into the 1990s. While never the most popular computer series, the ubiquity of Radio Shack’s stores, catalogs, and overall advertising meant that it was impossible to ignore, even if systems like the Apple II, Commodore 64, and IBM PC garnered all the headlines. Thanks to extensive interviews with most of the principles involved in the computer’s creation, community, and support, you’ll have a definitive first-hand account of how the computer series came to be, from an extensive pre-history right through to what’s going on today, where a small, but enthusiastic cadre of fans still enjoy working with the systems. In short, you get to learn about the “soul” of this underdog computer series, including all the business decisions that went into its creation, all the personalities both directly and indirectly involved in its support, and some of the herculean efforts needed to keep the platform alive.
Finally, for those not interested in pre-ordering, I’ll be sure to post again once the book is actually ready to ship. As always, I greatly appreciate the support.