General Information

Serial #

609193

Part Number

3

Total Parts

13

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

synthetic casing, disk receptacle and parts/ metal parts/ rubber? feet

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

19.0 cm

Width

13.2 cm

Height

5.6 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Computing Technology

Category

Digital peripheral devices

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Radio Shack

Country

Japan

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

Period

early 1980s +

Canada

Part of a collection of electronic equipment for musical composition, performance and recording owned and used by Canadian Paul Hoffert, composer, musician, author, researcher, entrepreneur and arts administrator. American born, he came to Canada as a child and his career has encompassed many areas of the Canadian music business, including working as a jazz pianist, CBC music director and performer, educator, manufacturer of stereo equipment, music producer, and film composer. In the late 1960s he worked for a short time as a researcher in Hugh LeCaine's electronic music lab at NRC, where he wrote a computer program for music analysis and developed a solid-body electric violin. In 1968 Hoffert and rock drummer Skip Prokop, formed the very successful jazz-rock band Lighthouse (1969-1974, 1982, 1993-present), which earned one platinum record and four gold records and received three Juno awards between 1971 and 1973 In 1977 Hoffert received a Canadian Film Award (later known as a Genie) for best original musical score for the movie "Outrageous!". He also headed the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, the Guild of Canadian Film and Television Composers,and the Ontario Council for the Art. In 1995 he was inducted into the Canadian Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2009 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.

Function

A computer data storage device used with a personal computer to supplement the PC's internal floppy disk drive by storing data and/or software on a magnetic disk.

Technical

The Hoffert collection consists of approximately 25 pieces of electronic equipment for musical composition, performance and recording. These range from iconic keyboard instruments of the 1970s, to a variety of digital devices from the 1980s, to computer software from the early 1990s. These were used either for stage performances, especially during his years in the jazz rock band Lighthouse, or for work in his home studio. This is one of the first and most widely used laptop computers. It incorporated an 8-line monochrome LCD screen and had an optional disc drive. Powered by four AA batteries, its simple text editor (written by Microsoft) and built-in 300-baud modem made it very popular with journalists. Mr. Hoffert's Model 100 comes with the original suitcase and disk drive.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

grey lettering on front reads 'TANDY PORTABLE DISK DRIVE'/ labels on underside read 'SER. NO. 609193', 'TANDY/ PORTABLE DISK DRIVE/ UNITÉ DE DISQUE PORTATIVE/ 6V ("AA" CELL x 4) 26-3808', AND 'TRADEMARKS OF RADIO SHACK/ DIVISION, TANDY CORPORATION/ MADE IN JAPAN, DIST. IN CANADA/ BY TANDY ELECTRONICS LIMITED/ BARRIE, ONTARIO L4M 4WS'

Missing

appears complete

Finish

buff casing with black front panel, disk receptacle, controls/ black cable covering with gold coloured connector/ black feet

Decoration

N/A