Historical context (by Z. Stachniak) In 1967, Stephen Dorsey founded Automatic Electronic Systems (AES) in Montreal to develop electronic devices for industrial remote-control applications. Over the six years, AES developed, among other products, its own minicomputers (the AES-80 and AES-80C) and the world’s first all-in-one programmable word processor — the AES-90. Until the mid-1980s, digital word processors remained the company's main line of business, sold around the world. In the 1960s, office document-writing equipment was still dominated by various types of typewriters, ranging from purely mechanical to electric models, including those with digital storage for recording typed text, such as the best-selling IBM MT/ST (Magnetic Tape/Selectric Typewriter), which recorded edited documents on magnetic tape. These devices lacked displays and offered only limited word-processing functionality. None of them could be upgraded to newer versions; they could only be replaced with more advanced models as they became available. It all changed in the early 1970s, when several companies introduced dedicated text-editing equipment with displays for on-screen document editing and external storage. In 1972, Linolex Systems introduced its Model A while Lexitron offered the Videotype 911. In the following year, AES released its AES-90 Word Processor, and Vydec began selling its Vydec Text Processor. Although all these systems provided on-screen editing and external storage, several unique features of the AES-90 set new trends in the design of cost-effective text editing equipment. The most important of these was the AES-90 architecture and its software upgradability. The AES-90 was a standalone system that featured a CRT display, a keyboard, and two 8-inch floppy disk drives connected to a central processor. However, unlike the “hard-wired” solutions used in other early on-screen text-editing systems, the AES-90 processor was built around a general-purpose minicomputer (the AES-90C) running dedicated text-editing software. This design allowed for software updates, bug fixes, and adaptation to changing requirements without the need to purchase a new processor and discard the outdated one. For this reason, the ACS-90 was promoted as a programmable word processor and “a giant step into a new era of cost-effective written communication.” Within a few years, the office equipment market was flooded with similar video-screen text-editing products from companies worldwide—the Toshiba JW-10 Japanese Language Word Processor, announced in 1978, is one notable example—revolutionizing office operations. Although orders for AES-90 processors were piling up, AES faced significant difficulties with cash flow and attracting investor interest. Ultimately, the company came under the control of Innocan Investments Ltd., a Canadian financial organization specializing in venture capital for new and expanding firms, particularly those in high-technology industries. The Canadian Development Corporation owned 40% of Innocan, while other shareholders included the Air Canada Pension Fund, the Bank of Nova Scotia, and several well-established investment groups. Difficult relationship with AES financial backers led Dorsey to leave the company in 1975. Walter F. Steel, previously hired by Innocan as CEO, became AES’s new president. The company also adopted a new name: AES Data Limited. In 1975, the AES manufacturing plant in Montreal employed 135 people. That year, the plant delivered over 300 AES-90 units, bringing the total number of installations in Canada to more than 400. The company also operated branches in Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, Toronto, and St. Albans, Vermont. In 1976, AES signed an agreement with Lanier Business Products to sell and service AES word processors in the U.S., with Lanier becoming a minority shareholder in the company. AES also partnered with the Swedish office electronics distributor Scribona to distribute a multilingual variant of the ACS-90 designed for Western Europe. This European model featured character sets and keyboards supporting eight languages: English, French, German, Swedish, Swiss-French, Italian, Dutch, and Danish-Norwegian. That same year, the company reached a new financial milestone, achieving sales of over $1 million per month. By 1978, AES operated four plants in Montreal, a manufacturing and research facility in Mississauga, Ontario, and sales and service offices across Canada, employing more than a thousand people. AES also established similar sales, service, and software support groups in Europe. In August 1978, the Canadian Development Corporation (CDC) purchased AES as well as Wordplex Corporation of California, which was subsequently merged into AES (Wordplex continued to operate as a division of AES until 1981, when CDC established it as a separate operating company). Headquartered in Toronto, the CDC was created and partially owned by the Canadian federal government, with a mandate to expand investment opportunities for Canadian-controlled companies through both public and private funding. Despite intense market competition, AES maintained strong positions in the North American and European markets, with rapid sales growth and dominance of the Canadian word-processing equipment market continuing until the early 1980s. The new AES C-20 series, introduced in late 1979, offered a sophisticated line of word-processing equipment and software. The decline of AES began in 1982. With Lanier losing interest in AES, CDC secured a new U.S. distribution channel by acquiring a majority stake in the successful American photocopier manufacturer Savin. However, intense competition in the office automation market from major companies such as AT&T, DEC, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Olivetti, Wang, and Xerox, combined with a shift toward using microcomputers for text editing, and Savin’s own financial difficulties, led to a decline in AES product sales. The percentage of AES units installed in Canada dropped from 33% in 1981 to 19% in 1983. AES was also falling increasingly behind in both technology and marketing. Despite the introduction of several new products in the mid-1980s, including the AES-7100 stand alone word processor, the AES-286 personal computer, as well as the AES 7200, 7300, 7400, and 7500 series of multiuser systems, AES was also falling increasingly behind in both technology and marketing. Poor operating results at AES Data and Savin continued in the following years. In early 1987, dissatisfied with AES's performance, CDC announced that it was selling both AES Data and Savin. In September of that year, AES was acquired by Kinburn Technology Corporation, which already owned another office information systems subsidiary, XIOS Systems Corp. Shortly thereafter, Kinburn merged AES with XIOS to form XIOS Systems Corporation Europe. The merger, followed by the closure of XIOS in 1990, effectively brought an end to AES — the company that had helped pioneer cutting-edge text-editing technology. The entire industry of dedicated text-editing hardware collapsed soon after, under pressure from the rapidly growing office automation personal computer market, which offered multifunctional solutions for office operations, from advanced text-editing software, electronic spreadsheets and mail to financial and actuarial packages, databases, and administration software. The AES 7300 Distributed Office System In 1984, aiming to shift its business focus from being solely a supplier of word processing equipment to a broader office systems provider, AES introduced the AES 7300 Distributed Office System. This network-oriented, multiuser office solution offered seamless integration of data and word processing. The AES 7300 enabled its workstations and remore terminals (such as the AES 7304) to connect with other AES products, corporate mainframe computers, and peripherals, allowing users to access and process (e.g., edit) local and remote data. It was built on a star-configured LAN, named "AESNET." The AESOP software extended AES's full range of information processing capabilities to data stored on IBM systems, including the IBM PC. Technical specifications of the AES 7304 remote terminal CPU: Intel 8048AH, 8-bit display: tilt-and-swivel, mounted on top, 12.5 inch; keyboard: AES Data, Model LP; 57-key QWERTY style; 15-key editor function keypad; 11 optional function keys; ports: parallel I/O port controlled by Intel P8243, LANB connector; power supply: Delta Electronics DPS-40BP; SERIAL I/O CONTROLLER: Intersil IM6402IPL. Museum holdings AES 7304, Model 108 B, serial numvber 042508; AES Data keyboard, Model LP, serial number 548989.
computer hardware: display video terminal
Historical Context: In the 1950s, the operators of mainframe computers used dedicated consoles, hardcopy terminals (such as teletypes and modified electric typewriters), and a variety of cathode ray tube (CRT) displays to run and control data processing tasks. Computer consoles typically featured rows of switches and associated lights that allowed operators to run and control the execution of programs, analyze data stored in memory, and to control other hardware interfaced with computers. Hardcopy terminals were used to print on roles of paper information such as operator's commands, computer responses, and other console messages. Finally, CRTs were used to displaying information (e.g. memory contents) in a rudimentary graphical form. The "glass teletype" that appeared in the mid-1960s was the first attempt at providing a single device allowing computer operators to run their systems having all the essential control and data processing information displayed on a screen. However, it was not until the early 1970s, when the first "dumb" video display terminals, featuring limited editing capabilities, were introduced (one of the earliest such terminals was the 7700A Interactive Display Terminal introduced by Lear Siegler Inc. in 1973). All these terminals shared the same basic keyboard-display-interface design: each featured a keyboard, a CRT screen that could display full sets of alphanumeric characters, and each had the capability to send and receive data via communication lines to a remote host computer. By the mid-1970s, video terminals became the most effective human-computer interface devices and they remain so until the mid-1980s, when they were displaced by microcomputers that could be interfaced with mainframes and minicomputers to perform terminal jobs in addition to microcomputing tasks, when PC monitors had become a common occurrence worldwide. In Canada, the design and manufacturing of computer display terminals began in the early 1970s. Comterm Inc. (Montreal), Cybernex Ltd. (Ottawa), Electrohome (Kitchener), Lektromedia (Pointe Claire), NORPAK (Kanata), TIL Systems Ltd (Toronto), and Volker-Craig (Waterloo) were some of the pioneering companies. Cybernex Ltd. was an Ottawa-based manufacturer of video terminals, co-founded in 1974 by James Gadzala, Colin Turner, Bruce Douglas, and David Londry. The company's first product was the D1600 digitizing video terminal for the aero photogrammetry industry. In the following years, the company introduced a broad line of display terminals including the LTL Series (1975), LGR Series (1976), TH Series (1977), MDL-100 Series (1978), XL-80 Series (1980) as well as RB, RG, RH, SA, and XM Series. The terminals offered emulation of several popular terminal models from vendors such as Adds, Basic Four, Burroughs, Data General, Digital Equipment Corp., Hewlett-Packard, Hezeltine, Honeywell, IBM, and Lear Siegler. Initially, the company's main clients were large Canadian corporations (including Bell Canada) and government departments. In 1982, Cybernex entered the US market. In addition to its video display terminals, the company also manufactured the LC3 microcomputer for a range of applications including software development, industrial controllers, and systems for dedicated applications. The computer was built around the Motorola 6809 microprocessor and was offered with the Cymon operating system and Cybol programming language also developed by Cybernex. Cybernex introduced its second generation of microprocessor-based highly successful video display terminals--the XL Series--in 1980. In their basic configuration, the XL terminals offered 12 inch green screens which could display 24 lines of 80 characters, and 82-key QWERTY-style detachable keyboard featuring a numeric keypad. The displays' hardware was controlled by the Motorola 6800 8-bit microprocessor. Options included white or amber screen with the 25th status line as well as an advanced keyboard featuring 107 keys including two rows of function keys. The museum has an XL-8025 terminal, serial number 81024539, with an 82-key keyboard. Note: the label attached to the bottom of the terminal has a handwritten model number XLGR-1 while the terminal's printed circuit board has XL-8025 etched on it.
hardware: photographs and digital images
Photographs of hardware manufactured by Dynalogic Coproration and scans of images from Dynalogic promotional brochures. The images are of (left to right, top to bottom): Dynalogic Microcomputer System promotional brochure (c. 1976-77), Dynalogic DMS-8 microcomputer (c. 1976-1980), Dynalogic 4002B Dual Drive Unit (c. 1973-1980), Dynalogic Hyperion promotional photograph, 1984, Dynalogic Hyperion promotional brochure (front cover), 1984, Dynalogic Hyperion EX chassis, 1984.
Historical context (by Z. Stachniak) In 1967, Stephen Dorsey founded Automatic Electronic Systems (AES) in Montreal to develop electronic devices for industrial remote-control applications. Over the six years, AES developed, among other products, its own minicomputers (the AES-80 and AES-80C) and the world’s first all-in-one programmable word processor — the AES-90. Until the mid-1980s, digital word processors remained the company's main line of business, sold around the world. In the 1960s, office document-writing equipment was still dominated by various types of typewriters, ranging from purely mechanical to electric models, including those with digital storage for recording typed text, such as the best-selling IBM MT/ST (Magnetic Tape/Selectric Typewriter), which recorded edited documents on magnetic tape. These devices lacked displays and offered only limited word-processing functionality. None of them could be upgraded to newer versions; they could only be replaced with more advanced models as they became available. It all changed in the early 1970s, when several companies introduced dedicated text-editing equipment with displays for on-screen document editing and external storage. In 1972, Linolex Systems introduced its Model A while Lexitron offered the Videotype 911. In the following year, AES released its AES-90 Word Processor, and Vydec began selling its Vydec Text Processor. Although all these systems provided on-screen editing and external storage, several unique features of the AES-90 set new trends in the design of cost-effective text editing equipment. The most important of these was the AES-90 architecture and its software upgradability. The AES-90 was a standalone system that featured a CRT display, a keyboard, and two 8-inch floppy disk drives connected to a central processor. However, unlike the “hard-wired” solutions used in other early on-screen text-editing systems, the AES-90 processor was built around a general-purpose minicomputer (the AES-90C) running dedicated text-editing software. This design allowed for software updates, bug fixes, and adaptation to changing requirements without the need to purchase a new processor and discard the outdated one. For this reason, the AES-90 was promoted as a programmable word processor and “a giant step into a new era of cost-effective written communication.” Within a few years, the office equipment market was flooded with similar video-screen text-editing products from companies worldwide—the Toshiba JW-10 Japanese Language Word Processor, announced in 1978, is one notable example—revolutionizing office operations. Although orders for AES-90 processors were piling up, AES faced significant difficulties with cash flow and attracting investor interest. Ultimately, the company came under the control of Innocan Investments Ltd., a Canadian financial organization specializing in venture capital for new and expanding firms, particularly those in high-technology industries. The Canadian Development Corporation owned 40% of Innocan, while other shareholders included the Air Canada Pension Fund, the Bank of Nova Scotia, and several well-established investment groups. Difficult relationship with AES financial backers led Dorsey to leave the company in 1975. Walter F. Steel, previously hired by Innocan as CEO, became AES’s new president. The company also adopted a new name: AES Data Limited. In 1975, the AES manufacturing plant in Montreal employed 135 people. That year, the plant delivered over 300 AES-90 units, bringing the total number of installations in Canada to more than 400. The company also operated branches in Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, Toronto, and St. Albans, Vermont. In 1976, AES signed an agreement with Lanier Business Products to sell and service AES word processors in the U.S., with Lanier becoming a minority shareholder in the company. AES also partnered with the Swedish office electronics distributor Scribona to distribute a multilingual variant of the ACS-90 designed for Western Europe. This European model featured character sets and keyboards supporting eight languages: English, French, German, Swedish, Swiss-French, Italian, Dutch, and Danish-Norwegian. That same year, the company reached a new financial milestone, achieving sales of over $1 million per month. By 1978, AES operated four plants in Montreal, a manufacturing and research facility in Mississauga, Ontario, and sales and service offices across Canada, employing more than a thousand people. AES also established similar sales, service, and software support groups in Europe. In August 1978, the Canadian Development Corporation (CDC) purchased AES as well as Wordplex Corporation of California, which was subsequently merged into AES (Wordplex continued to operate as a division of AES until 1981, when CDC established it as a separate operating company). Headquartered in Toronto, the CDC was created and partially owned by the Canadian federal government, with a mandate to expand investment opportunities for Canadian-controlled companies through both public and private funding. Despite intense market competition, AES maintained strong positions in the North American and European markets, with rapid sales growth and dominance of the Canadian word-processing equipment market continuing until the early 1980s. The new AES C-20 series, introduced in late 1979, offered a sophisticated line of word-processing equipment and software. The decline of AES began in 1982. With Lanier losing interest in AES, CDC secured a new U.S. distribution channel by acquiring a majority stake in the successful American photocopier manufacturer Savin. However, intense competition in the office automation market from major companies such as AT&T, DEC, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Olivetti, Wang, and Xerox, combined with a shift toward using microcomputers for text editing, and Savin’s own financial difficulties, led to a decline in AES product sales. The percentage of AES units installed in Canada dropped from 33% in 1981 to 19% in 1983. Despite the introduction of several new products in the mid-1980s, including the AES-7100 stand alone word processor, the AES-286 personal computer, as well as the AES 7200, 7300, 7400, and 7500 series of multiuser systems, AES was also falling increasingly behind in both technology and marketing. Poor operating results at AES Data and Savin continued in the following years. In early 1987, dissatisfied with AES's performance, CDC announced that it was selling both AES Data and Savin. In September of that year, AES was acquired by Kinburn Technology Corporation, which already owned another office information systems subsidiary, XIOS Systems Corp. Shortly thereafter, Kinburn merged AES with XIOS to form XIOS Systems Corporation Europe. The merger, followed by the closure of XIOS in 1990, effectively brought an end to AES — the company that had helped pioneer cutting-edge text-editing technology. The entire industry of dedicated text-editing hardware collapsed soon after, under pressure from the rapidly growing office automation personal computer market, which offered multifunctional solutions for office operations, from advanced text-editing software, electronic spreadsheets and mail to financial and actuarial packages, databases, and administration software. The AES Plus Text Editor The AES Plus was released in 1977. It was the word processor that established AES as the leader in stand-alone desktop word processing systems. Distributed in the US under the name Lanier No Problem, it became a bestseller on the American market. One of these Lanier text editors is displayed in the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum in Atlanta, Georgia. While the AES-90’s CPU was based on bit-slice technology, using two SN74181N 4-bit chips and occupying three circuit boards, the AES Plus was built around the Intel 8080A microprocessor. In addition to its dedicated text editing software, it could be operated under CP/M and Xenix operationg systems. In the subsequent years, the AES Plus was followed by the AES Superplus, Multiplus, AlphaPlus, as well as the 7100-, 7200-, and 7300-series. Technical specifications CPU: National Semiconductor INS8080AN, 8 bit, 2MHz; ROM: 512 x 8-bit; RAM: 32K x 8-bit; 16 NEC μPD416 (16,384 x 1-bit) chips; Video Memory: 16K x 9-bit; display: 28 lines of up to 80 characters per line; 2240 characters including control lines (2080 without control lines); keyboard: standard 51-key QWERTY layout; 15-key editor function keypad; 5 optional function keys; external storage: two build in 5.25 inch Shugart SA400 discette drives (storage for 109.4 kilobytes of data per drive — approximately 69 pages of text); ports: printer port for Qume Sprint Micro 3 series printers. Software AES Plus Word Proccessor (3 program diskettes), AES Plus Training Software, Building Blocks, Repaginate, Financial Proofreading, Record Organization, Search and Replace. Museum holdings AES Plus, model 103B, serial number 388892, AES-Plus Maintenance & Service Manual, AES Data Ltd., 1977, AES Plus Operator Training and Reference Manual, AES Data Ltd., 1978, PLUS: Operator's Training and Regfference Manual, AES Data Ltd., July 1978, PLUS1: Financial Proofreading, Operator's Training and Regference Guide, AES Data Ltd., January 1979, PLUS2: Records Oragnization, Operator's Training and Regference Guide, AES Data Ltd., January 1979, PLUS3: Building Blocks, Operator's Training and Regference Guide, AES Data Ltd., January 1979, PLUS4: Financial Proofreading Operator's Training and Regference Guide, AES Data Ltd., January 1979, XENIX System V, Operating System User's Guide, Santa Cruz Operation, Inc., 1988, XENIX System V, Installation Guide, Santa Cruz Operation, Inc., 1988, 386 XENIX (5.25" floppy diskette), AES Software, North Star Corp. (5.25" floppy diskette).
Historical context (by Z. Stachniak) In the early 1970s, the consumer electronics market was going through one of the hottest periods in its history. Advancements in microelectronics, especially in integrated circuit technologies, had made it possible to offer inexpensive desktop and, soon after, hand-held digital electronic calculators. In 1971, the promise of a calculator power at your finger tips (pledged by Bowmar Instrument, Cannon, and, soon after, by scores of other calculator manufacturers) was rapidly gaining social acceptance. It was the idea of a personal, inexpensive, powerful electronic calculating device for your own unrestricted use, always in your pocket, in your briefcase, or on your desk that made the pocket calculator one of the most desired electronic gadgets of the first half of the 1970s. Commodore Business Machines (founded in 1958 in Toronto) and Rapid Data Systems and Equipment Ltd. (incorporated in 1962 in Toronto) were the earliest Canadian companies that offered their own electronic desktop and pocket-sized calculators. Rapid Data's first calculator--the Rapidman 800--was introduced in February 1972 at the time when intense competition put immense pricing pressure to offer hand-held calculators for under $100 and the stores across North America were racing to be the first to sell them. In early 1972, to win the race, Alexander's--New York's iconic department store chain--ordered 20,000 Rapidman 800s to be sold at $99.99. In a short succession, the Rapidman 800 was followed by the 801 (introduced in 1973), 802, 804, 812, and 824 hand-helds. In his 2005 recollections written for York University Computer Museum, Henry Dasko--a former European Sales Manager at Rapid Data--describes the company's corporate history and his involvement with Rapid Data in the following way. "The year was 1971, late Spring. I had been in Canada for just over a year and was looking for a job. Ideally it would be something in exports. But most of Canada's exports were raw materials and commodities and I had no experience and no feel for that. Finally, I found an ad that seemed to give me a chance. An electronics company was looking for someone with languages. I applied and soon got a phone call. "You say you speak Russian," the voice said. "I do." "How many years did you study Russian?" "Fourteen." "OK, come for an interview." I did, to a modern, low building near the Toronto airport. "We make calculators," a well groomed, silver haired man told me. I had no idea what a calculator was. "A Soviet trade delegation is coming to see us. They would like to buy our technology. We are not going to sell it to them, but we will talk to them. Let’s see how well you do." I did well enough. The Russians left and I was told to return the following day. I had a low level job in the International Marketing Department. My boss was to be one Rick Denda, whom I hadn't met - he was travelling in Europe, but his silver Ferrari 330 and his white Mercedes sedan were sitting in the company lot. I liked him already. He returned soon and we got along fine. I familiarized myself with the product line and was told to gather as much information about competitive products as possible. Our most popular model was a pocket calculator named Rapidman 800. It had 8-digit [display] capacity and could perform four basic functions. Hang tab keys were molded into the case. Decimal point was fixed at 2. Individual LEDs were hand inserted into the PCB. It was difficult to align them, and they were almost always crooked. The unit was made on an electronics assembly line in London, Ontario. It sold for $100. Our biggest export market was in the US, where we had our own branch in Detroit. I had nothing to do with it. My responsibility was the secondary markets, where we dealt with export agents and distributors. We communicated via telex, which I learned to use. Selling was not a problem. We just could not get enough product. Everyone wanted it. Sometimes the requests were outrageous. "I am calling you from the cabinet of the president of Chile," Leslie Sebastian, a Hungarian expatriate yelled at me. "I want 100,000 calculators and I want them now. Every schoolchild in Chile is going to have his own machine. Chile will be the first in the world." Soon we had several competitors - American companies Texas Instruments and Bowmar, and the Japanese giant Sharp, which offered an elegant brushed aluminum box with large, glowing, diffused LEDs. There was also a Canadian competitor named Commodore. Its president was Jack Tramiel who, like me, was a Polish Jew. In Polish, his real name was Trzmiel, pronounced "Chmiel", which in Polish means "hornet". He was an Auschwitz survivor with a number tattooed on his forearm. A bear of a man. He started a typewriter service shop in the Polish area of Toronto. The president of our company, Clive Raymond, was very different. He was born in India, where his father was a British colonial officer. In Canada he ran an office equipment company named Roneo Vickers, which specialized in spirit duplicator machines. He was a portly, elegant man with commanding presence. I met our design engineers, who were responsible for technology development. Their names were Joe Kelly and Joe Tari and they both came from an academic background. Raymond gave them a long term contract and shares in Rapid Data. Soon our product line expanded. We added model 801 with a floating decimal point and a model 812 with 12-digit capacity and full memory. Rapidman 824 was one of the first to perform complex scientific calculations. We also made desktop calculators, powered by the mains. A 12-digits Rapidman 1212 and even more sophisticated Rapidman 1220, both using orange coloured gas discharge Panaplex displays we bought from Burroughs Corporation in New Jersey. We also made printing calculators, which recorded calculations on a paper ribbon. The printing heads came from Seiko Corporation in Japan. Most of our chips except for the small Rapidman 800 came from an aerospace company in California, named Rockwell International. Financing for our company came from the Eaton's Pension Fund, where Raymond knew people. Even though there weren't enough calculators to fill the orders, prices were plummeting. I understood it to be the rule in electronics. The same phenomenon had happened previously with transistor radios. I was doing well. Soon I was promoted to European Sales Manager and transferred to Shannon, Southern Ireland, where we had a distribution facility in a tax-free economic zone. But the company was not doing well. In printers, which were the most profitable product, we have fallen behind technology curve. Printing heads had a spinning roller, which in the first generation model emitted annoying buzz. Seiko subsequently developed a silent printer, but would only sell it to Japanese calculator makers. I understood then that it wasn't how many products you sold, but how much profit you made - a principle which stayed with me throughout my professional life. Rapid Data was losing money. Soon Rockwell and Eaton's demanded payments which we couldn't make. Even though we all worked very hard and the spirit of the company was fantastic, Rapid Data had to close down in the largest Canadian bankruptcy in Canadian history. We all lost our jobs. For me personally it was a very sad moment, but I have learned a lot and was confident of the future. I wasn't wrong - I had gained experience in electronics, and electronics was the name of the game. Within three months I had another job." Rapidman 800 features four functions (+, -, x, ÷), chain of mixed multiplication and division, constant calculations in all four functions, decimal system: two places, single key entry correction and cleaning, negative sign and overflow indication, power on indication, low battery indication. Hardware specification display: 8-digit LED display with constant, CPU: Mostek MK5010P, keyboard: 17-key including on/off and clear keys, indicators: negative sign, and overflow, power supply: 9V battery or AC adapter. Museum holdings Rapidman 800, serial number 385224 Operaing Instructions for your Rapidman 800 Calculator, Rapid Data, 1972.
Historical context Commodore International Ltd. (or Commodore) was one of the world's largest manufacturers of electronic hand-held calculators as well as home, educational, and business microcomputers. It was best known for its popular personal computers including the PET line of personal desktops as well as the VIC-20, Commodore 64, and the Amiga computers. It was founded on October 10, 1958 as Commodore Portable Typewriter Company Limited in Toronto, Ontario. Two years later, the company incorporated its Commodore Business Machines subsidiary in New York. In 1976, Commodore reorganized its corporate structure as Commodore International Ltd. and moved its financial headquarters to the Bahamas and the operations headquarters to Pennsylvania. The restructured company encompassed several entities world-wide including Commodore Business Machines Ltd., Canada. In 1947, the company's founder—Jack Tramiel—emigrated from Poland to the US. During his US army service (1948-51) he gained considerable experience in repairing office equipment which he turned into business in his civilian life, first in Bronx, New York, and later in Toronto, Canada, where he moved in 1955. His Toronto business was initially focused on repairs and selling licensed typewriters, adding machines, and other office equipment. Initially located at 2 Toronto Street, in the city's downtown core, a short distance from the IBM Toronto Downtown Office, the company relocated several times before establishing its headquarters in Scarborough, Ont. During the 1960s the scope of Commodore's business expanded to office furniture as well as to electric and eventually electronic calculators. The first Commodore-branded adding machine was the model C mechanical calculator manufactured by a Czechoslovakian company Nisa and sold by Commodore around 1960. The first exclusive Commodore adding machine—the 202—was announced in 1967. The following year, the company began to turn its focus toward electronic desktop and, soon after, hand-held calculators. Commodore entered the market of hand-held electronic calculators in late 1970s with its CBM 110 device. Within months, the company introduced what would become a popular series of Minuteman calculators. That series, in turn, was followed by the "SR" and "SF" line of scientific and financial hand-held calculators. By the mid-1970s, Commodore was selling a wide range of electronic calculators, becoming one of the largest American manufacturers of these devices. Commodore's entry into microcomputer market was, to a large degree, the result of fierce price war in the calculator market that started in late 1973, and the decision of Texas Instruments—one of the main suppliers of calculator chips—to enter the calculator market and to compete with its clients. To stay competitive and independent of third parties for the chips and displays that went into its products, Commodore purchased MOS Technology in 1976. With the acquisition came not only MOS integrated circuits (most notably the 6502 microprocessor) but also Chuck Peddle's—the 6502's chief designer's—considerable technical expertise and impeccable sense of changing trends in electronics market. While at MOS, he built the KIM-1 single-board computer that quickly became popular among computer hobbyists. Peddle urged Commodore not to underestimate the market potential for mass-manufactured microcomputers and his team got permission to go ahead with a project of designing a desktop computer around the 6502 processor. The all-in-one Commodore PET (or Personal Electronic Transactor) was introduced in 1977. It was successfully marked world-wide, which opened the door into the consumer electronics market for the company's next best sellers: the VIC-20 introduced in 1980, and the Commodore 64 unveiled in 1982. By 1983, in just 25 years, a small downtown Toronto typewriter sales and repair shop was transformed into one of the most revered personal computer companies in the world, shipping more units world-wide than any other computer company. However, the departure of Tramiel from Commodore in 1984 marked the beginning of the company's downfall. Commodore was loosing grounds to the IBM PC and Apple Macintosh platforms. The purchase of Amiga and the sales of its aging fleet of 8-bit computers sustained the company for a while but eventually, in 1994, Commodore began its liquidation. Commodore Plus/4 In 1984, Commodore followed its successful VIC-20 and C64 computers with a series of low cost Commodore 16, 116 and Plus/4 computers designed to compete with the entry-level home computers manufactured by scores of companies around the world. In the end, none of these new Commodore computers could match the success of the VIC-20 or the C64 and their production was soon discontinued. While the Commodore 16 and 116 were rudimentary home computers, the Plus/4 came with ROM-resident office software suite consisting of a word processor, a spreadsheet, a database, and a graphics program. Unfortunately, with the arrival of desktops offering a much richer and advanced applications (such as the Apple Macintosh and the IBM AT), the era of `computers-in-keyboard' was coming to an end. The Pus/4 was discontinued in 1985. Some of the Plus/4 computers were manufactured by Commodore Business Machines Ltd., Canada. Commodore Plus/4 specifications CPU: MOS Technology 7501/8501 at approx. 1.8 MHz, RAM: 64 KB, ROM: 64 KB (with built-in Commodore BASIC 3.5, a machine language monitor, a word processor, a spreadsheet, a database, and graphics program), video processor: MOS Technology TED (TED 7360) display in text mode: 40×25 characters; three text modes: standard, extended color, and multicolor, display graphics mode: 160x200 (multicolor) and 320×200 (hi-resolution) with 121 colors (16 primary colors, 8 luminance levels), sound: two tone sound generators, keyboard: QWERTY-style, simplified, 59-key with additional 4 programmable function keys and four cursor keys, ports: serial bus (IEEE-488, port for a disk drive or printer), cassette tape storage port, user port (RS-232 general purpose serial/parallel port), memory expansion port (for various types of cartridges), two game ports (for use with joysticks), audio/video port (to connect a monitor, peripherals: disk drives (e.g. Commodore 1541 floppy disk drive), cassette drives (e.g. Commodore 1531 Datassette), monitors (Commodore 1801 and 1802), modems (e.g. Commodore Modem 300), printers (e.g. Commodore MPS-802 printer), game controllers, mouse (e.g. Commodore 1351). Museum holdings Commodore Plus/4, serial nr. CA1043221, manufactured by Commodore Business Machines Ltd., Canada Commodore Plus/4 basic documentation.
The Pied Piper was designed in the early 1980s by Semi-Tech Microelectronics Corp. (STM) and advertised as a portable, low-cost, versatile business computer. It was sold with the Perfect Software package. The Pied Piper consisted of a CPU unit in plastic enclosure with a built-in keyboard and a single diskette drive. The computer had a keyboard cover which enhanced the computer's portability. It could use any standard TV set or a monitor as a display terminal. In 1983, the Pied Piper was shown at the NCC show in Anaheim, California and at the Fall Comdex show in Las Vegas. The computer operated under the CP/M 2.2 OS and was sold with software package from Perfect Software Inc. Optional software included MBASIC (Microsoft), dBase II (Ashton-Tate), WordStar (MicroPro International), and Multiplan (Microsoft). Hardware: CPU: Z80A CPU RAM: 64 Kbytes VRAM: 2 Kbytes ROM: 8 Kbytes display: text mode only (24 lines x 40 or 80 characters), 16 colors keyboard: QWERTY, 62 keys ports: serial RS232C port, parallel printer port, RF Modulator port, external diskette drive port diskette drive: 5.25 inch (164 Kbytes, formatted) expandability: expansion for two boards, optional external diskette drive, interface for hard drive The museum has a Pied Piper, model PPC 001, serial number 100983189 and the following software and documentation: Software and Documentation: PerfectWriter (with manual), Perfect Software (1983) PerfectSpeller (with manual), Perfect Software (1983) PerfectCalc (with manual), Perfect Software (1983) PerfectFiler (with manual), Perfect Software (1983) Modem Master (with Modem Communications Manual), Semi-Tech Microelectronics (1983) The computer was purchased on December 17th, 1983 at Gladstone Electronics -- one of the most popular computer stores in Toronto in the early 1980s.
Volker-Craig VC404 Video Display Terminal
Historical Context: In the 1950s, the operators of mainframe computers used dedicated consoles, hardcopy terminals (such as teletypes and modified electric typewriters), and a variety of cathode ray tube (CRT) displays to run and control data processing tasks. Computer consoles typically featured rows of switches and associated lights that allowed operators to run and control the execution of programs, analyze data stored in memory, and to control other hardware interfaced with computers. Hardcopy terminals were used to print on roles of paper information such as operator's commands, computer responses, and other console messages. Finally, CRTs were used to displaying information (e.g. memory contents) in a rudimentary graphical form. The "glass teletype" that appeared in the mid-1960s was the first attempt at providing a single device allowing computer operators to run their systems having all the essential control and data processing information displayed on a screen. However, it was not until the early 1970s, when the first "dumb" video display terminals, featuring limited editing capabilities, were introduced (one of the earliest such terminals was the 7700A Interactive Display Terminal introduced by Lear Siegler Inc. in 1973). All these terminals shared the same basic keyboard-display-interface design: each featured a keyboard, a CRT screen that could display full sets of alphanumeric characters, and each had the capability to send and receive data via communication lines to a remote host computer. By the mid-1970s, video terminals became the most effective human-computer interface devices and they remain so until the mid-1980s, when they were displaced by microcomputers that could be interfaced with mainframes and minicomputers to perform terminal jobs in addition to microcomputing tasks, when PC monitors had become a common occurrence worldwide. In Canada, the design and manufacturing of computer display terminals began in the early 1970s. Comterm Inc. (Montreal), Cybernex Ltd. (Ottawa), Electrohome (Kitchener), Lektromedia (Pointe Claire), NORPAK (Kanata), TIL Systems Ltd (Toronto), and Volker-Craig (Waterloo) were some of the pioneering companies. Volker-Craig Ltd. was a Canadian manufacturer of video display terminals, founded in 1973 by Michael C. Volker and Ronald G. Craig, both graduates from University of Waterloo. The company's early objective was to manufacture inexpensive video terminals. In a 2020 interview by Steven Forth for Ibbaka market blog, Volker recollects that "In those days... video displays were very, very expensive and being a student, I thought, this [video terminal manufacturing] needs to be done in a way that is economical for students." Volker's fourth-year engineering project to design an electronic circuitry for a video terminal that would allow the presentation of characters on the screen of a rudimentary television set was an entrepreneurial trigger. By the end of the 1970s, Volker-Craig was selling its terminals around the world through its offices and distributors in, among other countries, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UK, and US. In January 1982, Volker-Craig merged with five other companies to form NABU Manufacturing Ltd. with headquarters in Ottawa, and continued to develop video terminals. In 1984, as a result of NABU's restructuring, Volker-Craig became once again a fully independent company renamed as Volker-Craig Technologies Ltd. In 1978, Volker-Craig introduced its VC404 line of video display terminals including the VC404 standard terminal, the VC414 Editor -- a microprocessor-based display terminal, and the VC424 terminal that, in addition to all the standard features of the VC404 and VC414, offered an independent printer port and pooling capability. The VC404 technical specifications: display: 12" anti-glare, 24 lines, 80 characters per line, normal or revers video, character highlighting keyboard: detachable, QWERTY, upper/lower case characters, 16-key numeric key-pad and 6 function keys ports: serial EIA RS232C data rates: from 110 up to 19200 baud options: a bidirectional serial interface controlled from the remote computer or keyboard, parallel input port for bar code readers and other peripherals, APL and other character sets (French, German, and Swedish). The museum has a VC404 terminal (model number KB 05101 G1, serial number 01745-159) without documentation.
hardware: desk-top digital electronic calculator
Historical context (by Z. Stachniak) In the early 1970s, the consumer electronics market was going through one of the hottest periods in its history. Advancements in microelectronics, especially in integrated circuit technologies, had made it possible to offer inexpensive desktop and, soon after, hand-held digital electronic calculators. In 1971, the promise of a calculator power at your finger tips (pledged by Bowmar Instrument, Cannon, and, soon after, by scores of other calculator manufacturers) was rapidly gaining social acceptance. It was the idea of a personal, inexpensive, powerful electronic calculating device for your own unrestricted use, always in your pocket, in your briefcase, or on your desk that made the pocket calculator one of the most desired electronic gadgets of the first half of the 1970s. Commodore Business Machines (founded in 1958 in Toronto) and Rapid Data Systems and Equipment Ltd. (incorporated in 1962 in Toronto) were the earliest Canadian companies that offered their own electronic desktop and pocket-sized calculators. Rapid Data's first calculator--the Rapidman 800--was introduced in February 1972 at the time when intense competition put immense pricing pressure to offer hand-held calculators for under $100 and the stores across North America were racing to be the first to sell them. In early 1972, to win the race, Alexander's--New York's iconic department store chain--ordered 20,000 Rapidman 800s to be sold at $99.99. In a short succession, the Rapidman 800 was followed by the 801, 802, 804, 812, (introduced in 1974(?)) and 824 hand-helds. In his 2005 recollections written for York University Computer Museum, Henry Dasko--a former European Sales Manager at Rapid Data--describes the company's corporate history and his involvement with Rapid Data in the following way. "The year was 1971, late Spring. I had been in Canada for just over a year and was looking for a job. Ideally it would be something in exports. But most of Canada's exports were raw materials and commodities and I had no experience and no feel for that. Finally, I found an ad that seemed to give me a chance. An electronics company was looking for someone with languages. I applied and soon got a phone call. "You say you speak Russian," the voice said. "I do." "How many years did you study Russian?" "Fourteen." "OK, come for an interview." I did, to a modern, low building near the Toronto airport. "We make calculators," a well groomed, silver haired man told me. I had no idea what a calculator was. "A Soviet trade delegation is coming to see us. They would like to buy our technology. We are not going to sell it to them, but we will talk to them. Let’s see how well you do." I did well enough. The Russians left and I was told to return the following day. I had a low level job in the International Marketing Department. My boss was to be one Rick Denda, whom I hadn't met - he was travelling in Europe, but his silver Ferrari 330 and his white Mercedes sedan were sitting in the company lot. I liked him already. He returned soon and we got along fine. I familiarized myself with the product line and was told to gather as much information about competitive products as possible. Our most popular model was a pocket calculator named Rapidman 800. It had 8-digit [display] capacity and could perform four basic functions. Hang tab keys were molded into the case. Decimal point was fixed at 2. Individual LEDs were hand inserted into the PCB. It was difficult to align them, and they were almost always crooked. The unit was made on an electronics assembly line in London, Ontario. It sold for $100. Our biggest export market was in the US, where we had our own branch in Detroit. I had nothing to do with it. My responsibility was the secondary markets, where we dealt with export agents and distributors. We communicated via telex, which I learned to use. Selling was not a problem. We just could not get enough product. Everyone wanted it. Sometimes the requests were outrageous. "I am calling you from the cabinet of the president of Chile," Leslie Sebastian, a Hungarian expatriate yelled at me. "I want 100,000 calculators and I want them now. Every schoolchild in Chile is going to have his own machine. Chile will be the first in the world." Soon we had several competitors - American companies Texas Instruments and Bowmar, and the Japanese giant Sharp, which offered an elegant brushed aluminum box with large, glowing, diffused LEDs. There was also a Canadian competitor named Commodore. Its president was Jack Tramiel who, like me, was a Polish Jew. In Polish, his real name was Trzmiel, pronounced "Chmiel", which in Polish means "hornet". He was an Auschwitz survivor with a number tattooed on his forearm. A bear of a man. He started a typewriter service shop in the Polish area of Toronto. The president of our company, Clive Raymond, was very different. He was born in India, where his father was a British colonial officer. In Canada he ran an office equipment company named Roneo Vickers, which specialized in spirit duplicator machines. He was a portly, elegant man with commanding presence. I met our design engineers, who were responsible for technology development. Their names were Joe Kelly and Joe Tari and they both came from an academic background. Raymond gave them a long term contract and shares in Rapid Data. Soon our product line expanded. We added model 801 with a floating decimal point and a model 812 with 12-digit capacity and full memory. Rapidman 824 was one of the first to perform complex scientific calculations. We also made desktop calculators, powered by the mains. A 12-digits Rapidman 1212 and even more sophisticated Rapidman 1220, both using orange coloured gas discharge Panaplex displays we bought from Burroughs Corporation in New Jersey. We also made printing calculators, which recorded calculations on a paper ribbon. The printing heads came from Seiko Corporation in Japan. Most of our chips except for the small Rapidman 800 came from an aerospace company in California, named Rockwell International. Financing for our company came from the Eaton's Pension Fund, where Raymond knew people. Even though there weren't enough calculators to fill the orders, prices were plummeting. I understood it to be the rule in electronics. The same phenomenon had happened previously with transistor radios. I was doing well. Soon I was promoted to European Sales Manager and transferred to Shannon, Southern Ireland, where we had a distribution facility in a tax-free economic zone. But the company was not doing well. In printers, which were the most profitable product, we have fallen behind technology curve. Printing heads had a spinning roller, which in the first generation model emitted annoying buzz. Seiko subsequently developed a silent printer, but would only sell it to Japanese calculator makers. I understood then that it wasn't how many products you sold, but how much profit you made - a principle which stayed with me throughout my professional life. Rapid Data was losing money. Soon Rockwell and Eaton's demanded payments which we couldn't make. Even though we all worked very hard and the spirit of the company was fantastic, Rapid Data had to close down in the largest Canadian bankruptcy in Canadian history. We all lost our jobs. For me personally it was a very sad moment, but I have learned a lot and was confident of the future. I wasn't wrong - I had gained experience in electronics, and electronics was the name of the game. Within three months I had another job." Rapidman 1212 features: 12 digit display, 4 functions (+, -, x, ÷), automatic percent calculations, full floating decimal system, decimal position selectable 0-5 places from keyboard, indicators: negative sign, overflow, and memory in use, 24-key keyboard with entry correction and percent, clearing, change, and exchang keys as well as memory addition/subtraction, memory recall, and clear memory keys. Hardware: 3 registers (1 numeric, 1 constant, and 1 memory) CPU: LSI single chip Museum holdings: The museum has a Rapidman 1212, serial number 26354.
Rapid Data Systems and Equipment Ltd., Toronto, Canada
Historical Context (by Z. Stachniak) In the final two decades of the twentieth century, the personal computer industry experienced rapid technological advances that included, among other innovations, the development of high-performance input devices (such as game controllers) as well as sound and video cards. Array Technology Inc. (ATI, founded in 1985), Creative Technology (1981), Logitech International (1981), Matrox Graphics (1976), and NVIDIA (1993) are examples of leading manufacturers of such products. In Canada, several companies—besides ATI and Matrox—successfully designed and manufactured input devices and add-on cards for personal computers. One such company was Gravis Computer Peripherals Inc. (Gravis), founded in 1982 in Burnaby, British Columbia. In 1985, the company was renamed International Gravis Computer Technology Inc., and following its amalgamation with Abaton Resources Ltd. in 1987, it adopted the name Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Ltd. In 1997, Gravis was acquired by Kensington Computer Products Group, which incorporated the Gravis brand of entertainment gamepads and joysticks into its product line. The "Company Background" published on Gravis' ftp site in 1997, described the company's origins this way Gravis originated in 1979 from the passion for computer games shared by two childhood friends, Grant Russell and Dennis Scott-Jackson. They soon found that joysticks and paddles on the market did not provide a real arcade feel or precision, and they typically broke down within weeks of intensive game use. This started them on the quest to build a better joystick. Between 1985 and 1997, Gravis designed and manufactured several award-winning joysticks and gamepads for desktop computers produced by companies such as Amiga, Apple, Atari, Commodore, IBM, and Tandy. Its first product, the Gravis Analog Joystick, introduced in 1985, quickly became a popular choice among computer gamers. The Gravis PC GamePad, released in 1991, was equally successful and was adopted by numerous electronic entertainment companies, including Nintendo and Sega. Similar success followed with the Firebird programmable game controller, introduced in 1996. By 1996, the number of retail outlets carrying Gravis products exceeded 11,000 worldwide, making the company one of the world’s largest suppliers of computer joysticks and gamepads, according to reports such as those published by PC Data. Gravis UltraSound In 1992, the company entered the computer sound card market with the introduction of the UltraSound, a 16-bit, 32-voice card that delivered CD-quality sound for IBM and IBM-compatible personal computers. The board was powered by the Gravis GF1 chip, with the underlying technology licensed and later acquired from Forte Technologies. Gravis also licensed Recording Session for Windows from Midisoft Corporation, a music authoring application, which was bundled with the UltraSound card. This bundle enabled users to conveniently compose, record, play, and edit MIDI music on personal computers. Introducing the Gravis UltraSound product, Grant Russell, Advanced Gravis president, commented that "A large percentage of our sound card customers are Windows users anxious to experiment with music composition and MIDI. These customers are going to find our CD-quality sound and Midisoft's revolutionary software hard to beat, especially at the price." The UltraSound was built around wavetable synthesis technology. Unlike FM synthesis, which generates approximate, chip-produced sounds, wavetable synthesis uses a library of original instrument samples to create audio, playing it back in real time. This technology was particularly well-suited for music-oriented games and applications that required a MIDI sound module. Gravis UltraSound cards became especially popular within the demoscene, BBS-based underground art, and tracker music communities of the 1990s, which the company actively supported through event sponsorships and product donations. However, despite this strong support and the successful collaboration with Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) on the development of the next-generation sound chip—the AMD InterWave, announced in April 1995—sales of Gravis sound card products remained below expectations and were declining. Ultimately, fierce competition from companies such as Creative Technology (the manufacturer of the SoundBlaster family of sound cards), combined with technical and marketing challenges, forced the company to withdraw from the sound card market. Other Gravis sound products included: the UltraSound Max, an advanced UltraSound product featuring 16-bit recording and built-in CD-ROM interfaces (1994); the UltraSound ACE low cost wavetable upgrade sound card for owners of earlier FM-based sound cards (1995); the UltraSound Plug & Play card (1995); the UltraSound Plug & Play Pro card (1995). With the introduction of the Gravis UltraSound Plug & Play and Plug & Play Pro sound cards, the earlier models of the UltraSound and the MAX have been discontinued. Museun holdings UltraSound card, rev. 2.2., serial number K5830, UltraSound software, v2.06a (6 3.5" floppy diskettes).
Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Ltd.