80 Microcomputing

80 Microcomputing, also known as 80 Micro, was the most famous of the TRS-80 magazines and the magazine people tend to remember most. It was the first of the platform-specific computer magazines to become very popular, creating a model that many other magazines followed. Harry McCracken, former editor-in-chief of PC World, described PC World as “essentially an 80 Micro clone that happened to be about Windows, not TRS-80’s.”

80 Microcomputing lasted for 101 issues, plus one special anniversary issue. The first issue was published in January 1980 and the final in June 1988 (although TRS-80 coverage was dropped starting with January 1988). With the combined June/July 1982 issue, 80 Microcomputing was renamed to 80 Micro and the cover date was advanced one month.

The magazine was very successful and spawned:

• a spinoff magazine for the Color Computer (Hot Coco)
• a spinoff magazine for MS-DOS (PC Resource)
• a ten-volume series of books (The Encyclopedia of the TRS-80)
• a book of extra material (The Rest of 80)
• a book of reviews (80 Micro’s Review Guide)

Wayne Green created 80 Microcomputing as an offshoot of Kilobaud Microcomputing, a computer magazine that he started in January 1977. 80 Microcomputing originally covered only the original TRS-80 (the Model I), but later expanded its coverage to include additional computer models after they were introduced. In all, the magazine covered (although not all at the same time) the Model I/III/4, Model 100, Color Computer 1/2, Model II/12/16, Model 2000, and the Model 1000 series.

At its height in 1982, 80 Microcomputing was the third largest magazine in the country. Only Vogue and Byte were larger. The largest ever regular issue was November 1982 at 518 pages. The special Anniversary issue published a few months later was 594 pages. The ratio of editorial pages to advertising pages remained roughly equal, so these issues contained around 250 pages of advertising. This large number of advertising pages demonstrated the vibrancy of the TRS-80 market, and many of those advertisements remain interesting today.

Over its long run, 80 Microcomputing contained many well remembered columns including:

• “80 Applications” by Dennis Báthory-Kitsz
• “Kitchen Table Software” by David Busch
• “The Assembly Line” by William Barden
• “The Next Step” by Hardin Brothers
• “Fun House” by Richard Ramella
• “Feedback Loop” by Terry Kepner
• “The Gamer’s Cafe” by "Rodney Gambicus"
• “Commander 80” by Jake Commander

Starting in August 1983, the Color Computer content was moved to the recently spun off Hot Coco magazine. Coverage of the Model II/12/16 quietly disappeared at about the same time. After Hot Coco stopped publishing with the February 1986 issue, some of the Color Computer features moved to 80 Micro in the March 1986 issue. Those features remained until December of the same year.

In late 1987, the publishers of 80 Micro decided to end all TRS-80 coverage in the magazine. Beginning with the January 1988 issue, the magazine was focused exclusively on Tandy MS-DOS computers. The end of the TRS-80 coverage led directly to the creation of three other publications: TRSTimes, Computer News 80, and TRSLINK.

After the magazine’s transition to MS-DOS, many of the TRS-80 companies stopped advertising. With declining subscribers, diminished advertising, and narrow focus, it was no surprise but still sad when 80 Micro published its final issue in June 1988. That issue was only 80 pages long.

Written by Matthew Reed | Filed Under Magazines · 80 Micro · Wayne Green