[Coco] Coco's Origin Date

[Steve Ostrom]

Just wondering if anyone knows the date when the first announcement of 
the Coco was made, the date when the first real Tandy advertisements for 
the Coco were published and where, and the date when the first Coco was 
sold retail.

I was able to track down an early official Tandy announcement, published 
in the September 1980 issue of "80 Microcomputing".  Ed Juge, in his 
"Inside 80" column, writes, "I'm writing this prior to any 
announcements; bear this in mind when I say, we are about to announce 
our new TRS-80 Color Computer!"  He goes on to describe the early 
version of the Coco in good detail.  Since this was published in the 
September issue, which must have gone to press early in August, I 
figured some other publication may have had an earlier announcement, or 
maybe even a Radio Shack outlet broke the news before this.

If anyone else has any other documented information, please let me 
know.  I'd be interested in hearing about other rumors and official 
announcements.

Thanks, and have a safe and happy new year!

-- Steve --