Dick Smith System 80 Software
Although most of the software marketed for the System 80 was written primarily for the TRS-80 Model 1, there were a few programs commissioned by Dick Smith and written for his new computer. The advertisement opposite, taken from Micro-80, issue 10, September 1980, shows that Dick Smith was serious about building a bank of homegrown programs. All these programs worked on the Model 1 as well, but avoided using the arrow keys making them compatible with early System-80 models.
This page comments on just a few. More can be seen listed in the software flyer on the advertising page. Note that not ALL programs listed on the flyer are in the category above. Some were TRS-80 Model 1 programs (e.g. the ones from Microsoft) which were simply licensed to Dick Smith Electronics for retailing to those with System 80s.
The cassette files for these programs
can be downloaded from the Cassette
Image Archive and the disk files can be obtained from the Disk
Image Archive, or from links in the descriptions below.
Some homegrown examples include...
Accounts Receivable
Retailing at $350 Aussie dollars in 1981, one of the more expensive Dick Smith business packages was this accounts receivable system. I managed to rescue this application from three worse-for-wear disks. Disk 1 is self booting in drive 0, but requires disk 2 to be in drive 1 to complete the process. BTW, if a directory command is issued on the program disk in drive 1, it appears empty. Don't be alarmed, it's not. It's just that the files are invisible, presumably so as not to confuse the user.
A zip containing the package can be downloaded here. Click here to pick up the manual.
Amateur Radio Log
As many amateur radio enthusiasts frequented
Dick Smith stores (and probably became computer maniacs to boot!) it's
no surprise to find software specifically for this hobbyist group in the
Dick Smith catalogue! Basically a tailored database program, this 1982 offering
(on this non-booting single-sided, single density, 80-track disk image) allows logging of all those exotic contacts.
Concentration
Written by Wayne G. Richmond (1979, revised 1980), this is a memory game for two players (or teams). Click here for the cassette image.
Data File Manager (DATFILE)
Just what it says. A database manager as explained in this Dick Smith information sheet. You can download a self-booting disk image here and a manual here.
DeathTrap
Fairly primitive avoidance arcade game,
supplied on tape for 16K machines.
Get it here.
Diagnostic Disk
A disk-based memory and disk testing program.
The layout is incredibly similar to TRS-80 package "Floppy Doctor/Memory Diagnostics" by Dave Stambaugh. I wonder if it was licensed from him?
Download the manual here and the self-booting disk image here.
A non-booting version can be found on this non-booting single-sided, single density, 80-track disk image.
Dick Smith Demo
This BASIC cassette-based program is a
kind of cheesy screen saver which (I assume) played on the computer while
in the shop. It actually came as the first program on a System-80
demo tape, which also contained the other
EACA demo offerings.
Disk Mailing List System
A database systems for names and addresses. Used for printing those sticky lables that went on envelopes back in the day. Download a self-booting disk image here and its associated manual here.
Electronic Shopping
Way before Amazon, Dick Smith had their own "on-line ordering from home" system. With a suitably pimped-up disk-based System 80 with RS-232 and modem, customers could log into a Dick Smith inventory database and order items for mail delivery. Given the prices on this promotional flyer, I would say this would have been avaiable around 1983. It was possibly a first for electronic retailing, at least in Australia. It would be interesting to know how long it lasted (or what it morphed into) and just how much it was used.
The software cost a mere $AUS 5.00. A self-booting disk (in DMK format) is available here.
Hangman
A classic game of Hangman. Witten by Wayne G. Richmond in 1980 and distributed (exclusively?) by Dick Smith Electronics. A cassette image can be uplifted right here.
Personal Income Tax
In 1982, this software could assist in filling out your 'S' Tax Form. Here is an image of the casette tape insert and the cassette image can be downloaded here.
Paymaster Payroll System V1.41
I don't know a lot about this one but it's obvious from the name as to its function.
Try it out yourself by downloading a self-booting disk image. Here is the manual.
Scurve Invaders
This cassette-based offering was an early
attempt to use arcade games to educate. In order to kill the massing alien
ships, the player had to correctly solve an equation.
Good try, but it was more fun just to
blast them! (-: Click here for the manual and here for the program.
Share Market Analysis
This menu-driven program providing "point and figure" charts for individual or group stocks. You can download a self-bootable disk image here and a manual here.
Speed Reading
A program in four parts designed to increase your reading speed. Written by Wayne G Richmond in 1979. Download all the cassette image files in this handy zip.
Stock Control and Pricing (SCAP)
A Stock Control and Pricing application
was commissioned and written specifically for the System 80 by Dick Smith
Ltd. I don't have the software but a
brochure can be seen on this section of the website.
According to
an employee of Dick Smith Ltd. at the time this software, which consisted
of a mixture of BASIC, interspersed with machine code routines and supplied
on a slightly modified DOS disk, was very good for its time and found
its way into a number of large companies. The "Dr What" chain
of video stores in Australia is one example.
Stock Market Game
Practice wheeling and dealing stocks and shares. A 1982 program witten by Bob Wilson Software for Dick Smith Electronics, distributed on cassette. Click here to see the cassette inlay and here to download the program file.
Space Invader
Actually this was a pretty good cassette-based
game. It followed the standard scenario (kill all the ships until
they reached the bottom of the screen (and you)). BTW, this screen
shot, from a TRS-80 Model emulator, is not quite the same image as would
be seen on a System 80. Can you figure out
why?
Pick up the cassette image from here
Turbo 2000
This is quite a good racing game. I'm not sure if a cassette
version ever existed, but I got hold of this one. It's on this non-booting single-sided, single density, 80-track disk image.
By Rick Maurice, 1982
WORP-1 and WORP-9
WORP1 was a budget word processing
package sold by Dick Smith for the System 80. Designed as a low-cost
alternative to the TRS-80 programs Scripsit and Electric Pencil it suffered
from the fact it was written in BASIC. That means it had a hard
time keeping up with fast typists and now and again the dreaded Level
2 string "garbage collection" routine would kick in leading
to the operator staring at a non-responsive computer for a significant
period of time! A self-booting disk image can be downloaded here, and the manual from here.
WORP-9 (pictured) seems to have been an upgrade to WORP-1. Written all in machine code, it was much faster. Costing $350, this version was written specifically for the System 80 MK II and requires the extended ROM found in that machine (downloadable here). A self-booting disk image can be downloaded here. The manual can be downloaded here. One problem running WORP-9 in an emulator is that it makes use of the function keys (F1. F2 etc.) found in the MK II. Emulators I know of don't support these keys although some may allow keyboard mapping to do so.