@bgrinter @harrymccracken Level 1 BASIC on the TRS-80 Model 1 was my first experience with it at 8 or 9, then later at 11 or 12 delving heavily into Extended BASIC on the TI. Highly portable, was able to take what I already knew and adapt it to the new environment. It was our lingua franca.
@flargh @harrymccracken magazines would post code for popular platforms like the Spectrum or C-64, the challenge was to convert them to TI Basic.
@bgrinter @harrymccracken 99er magazine was a lifeline too.
@flargh @harrymccracken used to be really hard to get in Australia, however there was a brilliant user group TISHUG who’d import them. Their monthly meetings were looked forward to, although being in Darlinghurst we’d have to catch the train to Kings Cross - can’t believe I was allowed to do that alone at 13…
@flargh @bgrinter @harrymccracken When my father got a TRS-80, in the spring of 1978, Level II BASIC and 16KB RAM were backordered, so he got a Level I machine with 4KB which was upgraded some months later. I still wince when I think about Level I.