# Floppy Days 142 - Interview with Steve Leininger, Designer of the TRS-80 Model I

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/floppy-days-vintage-computing-podcast-167763/floppy-days-142-interview-with-steve-leininger-designer-of-the-trs-80-model-i
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/floppy-days-vintage-computing-podcast-167763/floppy-days-142-interview-with-steve-leininger-designer-of-the-trs-80-model-i.md
Podcast: [Floppy Days Vintage Computing Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/floppy-days-vintage-computing-podcast-167763)
Published: 2024-08-30T17:23:00+00:00
Episode link: https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-142-interview-with-steve-leininger-designer-of-the-trs-80-model-i
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/floppydays/142FloppyDays_2024_08_Interview_with_Steve_Leininger_Designer_of_the_TRS-80_Model_I.mp3?dest-id=130236
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/floppy-days-vintage-computing-podcast-167763/episodes/floppy-days-142-interview-with-steve-leininger-designer-of-the-trs-80-model-i
Duration seconds: 4926

## Resource

Interview with Steve Leininger, Designer of the TRS-80- Model I Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper 0 Floppy Days Tune 1 min 13 sec Vintage Computer Ads 1 min 42 sec Intro 9 min 03 sec bumper - Peter Bartlett 9 min 11 sec New Acquisitions 17 min 11 sec bumper - Ian Mavric 17 min 19 sec Upcoming Computer Shows 21 min 53 sec bumper - Myles Wakeham 21 min 58 sec Meet the Listeners 28 min 37 sec Interview with Steve Leininger 1 hr 20 min 29 sec Closing This particular episode has a special meaning for me, personally. You see, as I've mentioned on earlier episodes, the TRS-80 Model I from Tandy/Radio Shack was my first home computer (even though my first programmable device was a TI58C calculator). I recall the joy and wonder of playing with the machine (it wasn't called the Model I at that time; just the TRS-80; as it was the first of the line) in the local Radio Shack store in 1977 and 1978 and the incredible rush of owning one in 1979; after my wife purchased a Level I BASIC machine for me as a gift for college graduation. That machine only had 4K of RAM and 4K of ROM (Tiny BASIC), as it was the entry-level machine, but it was a thing of beauty. I felt like I could do anything with that machine, even though my justification to the wife was that we could track our checkbook and recipes on it. I think she knew better, but went along with it anyway. The computer came with everything you needed, including a tape drive and black-and-white monitor, which was good for a poor recent college graduate. I quickly, as finances allowed with my new engineering job, upgraded the computer to 16K of RAM and Level II BASIC (a powerful Microsoft 12K ROM BASIC) and enjoyed the machine immensely, even using it in my job supporting the build-out…

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