Dataproducts
Encyclopedia
Dataproducts Corporation was an early manufacturer of computer peripheral equipment.
Initially known as Data Products, the company was founded by Erwin Tomash in 1962 in order to take controlling interest of Telex
's Data Systems Division. The division was behind on a contract to deliver disk files to General Electric. Dataproducts was able to complete the product and deliver to GE and later Ferranti, ICL and RCA.
Sustained by the disk drive business and Informatics, Data Products began development of their first line printer
. Introduced in 1963, the 3300 was a 300 line per minute drum printer that used a moving coil actuator for the print hammer.
In 1966, core memory was added to the product line. With heightened sales and earnings, Data Products moved to a new site in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
in 1968. They started acquiring other businesses, including Staff Dynamics, a personnel agency and Uptime, a manufacturer of card reader
s. Graham Tyson replaced Tomash as CEO in 1971. The disk business was ailing in the face of increased competition and finally discontinued.
Dataproducts switched from drum to band technology in the late 1970s and added dot matrix printers along with a series of thermal printers sourced from Olivetti
. The telecommunications company Stelma was purchased and Data Card was formed to manufacture plastic card embossing equipment.
Daisy wheel printer
s were added to the line with a purchase of the business from Plessey
in 1978. A joint project with Exxon
yielded a series of solid ink
printers. Dataproducts used Toshiba
engines for their first laser printer
s in 1989.
Legal battles with Tektronix
and Apple over the solid ink patents drained resources and ended with Apple discontinuing their product and Tektronix paying royalties. By 1989, net income had dropped from a high of $27.7 million to $3.8 million, and Dataproducts fought off takeover attempts by a consortium. Dataproducts was purchased by Hitachi Koki Co. Ltd., a unit of Hitachi in 1990.
Dataproducts later used Fuji Xerox
engines for their Typhoon series of laser printers. The LZR1560/1580 was OEMed as the Apple LaserWriter Pro 810 in 1993. In 1998, the LZR 5200 continuous feed laser printer was announced.
The Dataproducts brand name was used until it was formed into Hitachi Koki Imaging Systems in 1999.
that was the first software product to have cumulative sales of $10 million and later $100 million. DataProducts spun Informatics off as a public corporation in 1968. Beginning in 1983, Sterling Software
made an unsolicited offer that became a takeover attempt and finally resulted in a merger in 1985.
Initially known as Data Products, the company was founded by Erwin Tomash in 1962 in order to take controlling interest of Telex
Telex Communications
Telex Communications, originally Telex Corporation, was a Burnsville, Minnesota-based manufacturer of hearing aids and audio equipment. Founded in 1936 as a maker of hearing aids, it entered the computer peripherals businesses in the 1960s. It became Telex Communications, a subsidiary of Telex Corp...
's Data Systems Division. The division was behind on a contract to deliver disk files to General Electric. Dataproducts was able to complete the product and deliver to GE and later Ferranti, ICL and RCA.
Sustained by the disk drive business and Informatics, Data Products began development of their first line printer
Line printer
The line printer is a form of high speed impact printer in which one line of type is printed at a time. They are mostly associated with the early days of computing, but the technology is still in use...
. Introduced in 1963, the 3300 was a 300 line per minute drum printer that used a moving coil actuator for the print hammer.
In 1966, core memory was added to the product line. With heightened sales and earnings, Data Products moved to a new site in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
Woodland Hills is a district in the city of Los Angeles, California.Woodland Hills is located in the southwestern area of the San Fernando Valley, east of Calabasas and west of Tarzana, with Warner Center in its northern section...
in 1968. They started acquiring other businesses, including Staff Dynamics, a personnel agency and Uptime, a manufacturer of card reader
Card reader
A card reader is a data input device that reads data from a card-shaped storage medium. Historically, paper or cardboard punched cards were used throughout the first several decades of the computer industry to store information and programs for computer system, and were read by punched card readers...
s. Graham Tyson replaced Tomash as CEO in 1971. The disk business was ailing in the face of increased competition and finally discontinued.
Dataproducts switched from drum to band technology in the late 1970s and added dot matrix printers along with a series of thermal printers sourced from Olivetti
Olivetti
Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, printers and other business machines.- Founding :The company was founded as a typewriter manufacturer in 1908 in Ivrea, near Turin, by Camillo Olivetti. The firm was mainly developed by his son Adriano Olivetti...
. The telecommunications company Stelma was purchased and Data Card was formed to manufacture plastic card embossing equipment.
Daisy wheel printer
Daisy wheel printer
Daisy wheel printers use an impact printing technology invented in 1969 by David S. Lee at Diablo Data Systems. It uses interchangeable pre-formed type elements, each with typically 96 glyphs, to generate high-quality output comparable to premium typewriters such as the IBM Selectric, but two to...
s were added to the line with a purchase of the business from Plessey
Plessey
The Plessey Company plc was a British-based international electronics, defence and telecommunications company. It originated in 1917, growing and diversifying into electronics. It expanded after the second world war by acquisition of companies and formed overseas companies...
in 1978. A joint project with Exxon
Exxon
Exxon is a chain of gas stations as well as a brand of motor fuel and related products by ExxonMobil. From 1972 to 1999, Exxon was the corporate name of the company previously known as Standard Oil Company of New Jersey or Jersey Standard....
yielded a series of solid ink
Solid ink
Solid ink is a technology used in computer printers and multifunction devices originally created by Tektronix in 1986. After Xerox acquired the Tektronix Color Printing and Imaging Division in 2000, the solid ink technology became part of the Xerox line of office printing and imaging products....
printers. Dataproducts used Toshiba
Toshiba
is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...
engines for their first laser printer
Laser printer
A laser printer is a common type of computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. As with digital photocopiers and multifunction printers , laser printers employ a xerographic printing process, but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced...
s in 1989.
Legal battles with Tektronix
Tektronix
Tektronix, Inc. is an American company best known for its test and measurement equipment such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and video and mobile test protocol equipment. In November 2007, Tektronix became a subsidiary of Danaher Corporation....
and Apple over the solid ink patents drained resources and ended with Apple discontinuing their product and Tektronix paying royalties. By 1989, net income had dropped from a high of $27.7 million to $3.8 million, and Dataproducts fought off takeover attempts by a consortium. Dataproducts was purchased by Hitachi Koki Co. Ltd., a unit of Hitachi in 1990.
Dataproducts later used Fuji Xerox
Fuji Xerox
is a joint venture partnership between the Japanese photographic firm Fuji Photo Film Co. and the American document management company Xerox to develop, produce and sell xerographic and document-related products and services in the Asia-Pacific region...
engines for their Typhoon series of laser printers. The LZR1560/1580 was OEMed as the Apple LaserWriter Pro 810 in 1993. In 1998, the LZR 5200 continuous feed laser printer was announced.
The Dataproducts brand name was used until it was formed into Hitachi Koki Imaging Systems in 1999.
Informatics
When Dataproducts was first formed, Informatics was created as a subsidiary that did contract software work and was headed by Walter F. Bauer. In 1964, Informatics acquired Advanced Information Systems from Hughes Dynamics. The AIS file management system led to MARK IV, a fourth-generation programming languageFourth-generation programming language
A fourth-generation programming language is a programming language or programming environment designed with a specific purpose in mind, such as the development of commercial business software. In the history of computer science, the 4GL followed the 3GL in an upward trend toward higher...
that was the first software product to have cumulative sales of $10 million and later $100 million. DataProducts spun Informatics off as a public corporation in 1968. Beginning in 1983, Sterling Software
Sterling Software
Sterling Software was an American software company founded in Dallas, Texas in 1981 by Sterling Williams and brothers Sam and Charles Wyly. The company was acquired by Computer Associates International in 2000 in a stock-for-stock transaction worth $3.3 billion.Computer Associates sold Sterling...
made an unsolicited offer that became a takeover attempt and finally resulted in a merger in 1985.
External links
- Oral history interviews concerning the founding of Dataproducts, Charles Babbage InstituteCharles Babbage InstituteThe Charles Babbage Institute is a research center at the University of Minnesota specializing in the history of information technology, particularly the history since 1935 of digital computing, programming/software, and computer networking....
, University of Minnesota. Interviewees include Arnold J. Ryden, who purchased TelexTelexTelex may refer to:* Telex , , a communications network** Teleprinter, the device used on the above network* Telex , a Belgian pop group...
and did a spinoff of the data products division; Willis K. Drake, Erwin TomashErwin TomashErwin Tomash, is the co-founder of Dataproducts Corporation which specialized in computer technology, specifically printers. He is recognized for his early pioneering work with computer equipment peripherals, and is responsible for The Adelle and Erwin Tomash Fellowship in the History of...
, Chester Irwin Lappen, the co-founders of Dataproducts; and Adelle Tomash. - Oral history interview with Walter F. Bauer, Charles Babbage InstituteCharles Babbage InstituteThe Charles Babbage Institute is a research center at the University of Minnesota specializing in the history of information technology, particularly the history since 1935 of digital computing, programming/software, and computer networking....
, University of Minnesota. In 1962 Bauer, Werner Frank, Richard HillRichard HillRichard Hill may refer to:* Richard Hill , Bishop of London and Archdeacon of Lewes* Richard Hill , Catholic priest and martyr* Richard Hill , British contemporary composer...
, and Frank WagnerFrank WagnerFrank W. Wagner is an American politician. A Republican, he served in the Virginia House of Delegates 1992–2001, and was elected to the Senate of Virginia in a special election on December 19, 2000. He the 7th district in Virginia Beach.-Personal life:Wagner was born at a United States Air...
started Informatics General Corporation as a wholly owned subsidiary of Dataproducts. Bauer discusses the corporate structure, business strategies, and products of Informatics General. - Oral history interview with Sam Wyly, Charles Babbage InstituteCharles Babbage InstituteThe Charles Babbage Institute is a research center at the University of Minnesota specializing in the history of information technology, particularly the history since 1935 of digital computing, programming/software, and computer networking....
, University of Minnesota, by David Allison, December 6, 2002. Wyly discusses his formation of Sterling SoftwareSterling SoftwareSterling Software was an American software company founded in Dallas, Texas in 1981 by Sterling Williams and brothers Sam and Charles Wyly. The company was acquired by Computer Associates International in 2000 in a stock-for-stock transaction worth $3.3 billion.Computer Associates sold Sterling...
and its acquisition of Informatics. - Oral history interview with Adelle Tomash, Charles Babbage InstituteCharles Babbage InstituteThe Charles Babbage Institute is a research center at the University of Minnesota specializing in the history of information technology, particularly the history since 1935 of digital computing, programming/software, and computer networking....
, University of Minnesota.