Informer Computer Terminals: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|American computer company (1971–2007)}}

{{Use American English|date=February 2023}}

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{{Infobox company

| name=Informer Computer Systems, Inc.

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| products=[[Computer terminal]]s (glass, [[teleprinter]]s)

}}

'''Informer Computer Terminals, Inc.''', originally '''Informer, Inc.''', and later '''Informer Computer Systems, Inc.''', was a privately held<ref name=oc /> American computer company active from 1971 to 2007. It manufactured [[computer terminal|data terminal]]s that could communicate with [[mainframe computer|mainframe]]s and [[minicomputer]]s, mainly those manufactured by [[IBM]] and [[Digital Equipment Corporation|Digital]].<ref name=oc /> It was originally based in [[Los Angeles]], California; in the early 1980s, it moved to [[Laguna Beach, California|Laguna Beach]], and in the late 1980s, it moved to [[Garden Grove, California|Garden Grove]].

==Corporate history==

[[File:Informer 213 AE.jpg|thumb|Informer's 213AE terminal, released in 1991]]

Informer, Inc. was co-founded in [[Los Angeles]], California, in 1971 by Donald Allen Domike (1927–2017).<ref name=oc>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=December 11, 1986 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/292504864/ | title=Orange County | workjournal=Los Angeles Times | publisher=Times-Mirror Company | page=3 | viaid={{ProQuest|292504864}} }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | date=January 28, 2017 | url=https://www.halleyolsen.com/memorials/donald-domike/2831595/obituary.php | title=Obituary for Donald Allen Domike | publisher=Halley-Olsen-Murphy Funerals and Cremations | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230126175305/https://www.halleyolsen.com/memorials/donald-domike/2831595/obituary.php | archivedate=January 26, 2023}}</ref> Originally located in the far corner of [[West Los Angeles]], Informer moved to [[Westchester, Los Angeles]], in fall 1976, occupying a 20,000-square-foot{{convert|20000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} facility as their headquarters, manufacturing plant, and research and development laboratory.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=October 27, 1976 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117307797/computer-firm-moves-plant-here/ | title=Computer Firm Moves Plant Here | workjournal=Westchester-Ladera Observer | page=2 | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Informer in the mid-1970s appointed Bryon Cole as president of the company and Wilfred "Will" R. Little as vice president of marketing.<ref name=cw>{{cite journal | last=Hebert | first=John P. | date=October 25, 1976 | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_computerworld_1976-10-25_10_43/page/n64/ | title=Small CRT Maker Expects Big Growth | workjournal=Computerworld | publisher=CW Communications | volume=10 | issue=43 | page=47 | via=the Internet Archive}}</ref> By 1981, Little replaced Cole as president.<ref name=dc>{{cite journal | editor-last=Davis | editor-first=George R. | date=November 1980 | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_data-communications_1981_9_contents/page/n258/ | title=''Data Communications'' Update Service | workjournal=Data Communications | publisher=McGraw-Hill | volume=9 | issue=11 | pagepages=201–492 | via=the Internet Archive}}</ref>{{rp|391}}

Informer in 1976 manufactured [[computer terminal|glass terminal]]s with small [[Cathode-ray tube|CRT]]s as well as traditional [[keyboard send and receive|keyboard-send-and-receive]] and [[receive only|receive-only]] teleprinters.<ref name=can /><ref name=cw /> It achieved sales of US$1&nbsp;million in fiscal year 1976, projecting a doubling of sales for the following year.<ref name=cw /> By 1981, the company had achieved yearly sales in excess of $10&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=May 6, 1981 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117307769/firm-commitments-whos-where-in-area-bu/ | title=Firm commitments: Who's where in area business | workjournal=The Redondo Reflex | page=39 | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The company established ten branch offices in the United States by that year;<ref name=dc /> at some point in the mid-1980s, they also opened a Canadian subsidiary in [[Richmond, British Columbia]].<ref name=can>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=August 13, 1985 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/386283459/ | title=Investment approvals, acquisitions announced | workjournal=The Globe and Mail | publisher=Bell Globemedia Publishing | page=B13 | viaid={{ProQuest|386283459}} }}</ref>

Its products in the early 1980s comprised not only glass terminals and teleprinters but also [[barcode reader]]s and [[batch terminal]]s. Informer's terminals were used for data entry, data monitoring, [[remote job entry]], and software programming.<ref name=dc /> Following struggling sales in the mid-1980s, the company appointed Malcolm K. Green, formerly of [[Emulex]] as president and [[Chief executive officer|CEO]].<ref name=oc /> ShortlyGreen aftershortly Greenthereafter relocated the company's headquarters to [[Garden Grove, California]].<ref>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=June 22, 1986 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/292366889/ | title=Brian D. Markham has been named president of Imperial Automation | workjournal=Los Angeles Times | publisher=Times-Mirror Company | page=2 | viaid={{ProQuest|292366889}} }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Ruiz | first=Frank | date=September 6, 1987 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117297009/tech-bytes/ | title=Tech Bytes | workjournal=The Tampa Tribune-Times | page=6-E | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

By the early 1990s the company had renamed itself to Informer Computer Systems, Inc. In 1994, the company spun off its [[local area network|local area]] and [[Dial-up Internet access|dial-up]] networking security software operations as Informer Data Security, Inc. Bradley Little was named president of the new company.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=March 28, 1994 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/227497065/ | title=New data-security developer emerges | workjournal=Computer Reseller News | publisher=CMP Publications | page=148 | viaid={{ProQuest|227497065}} }}</ref> Beginning in the mid-1990s, the company began orienting their products toward state [[emergency service]]s, manufacturing terminals and call-tracking systems for [[Public-safety answering point|9-1-1 call center]]s, though they still offered general-purpose terminals as well. Edward P. Dailey replaced Little as president and CEO around this time.<ref>{{cite book | last=Petska-Juliussen | first=Karen | author2=Egil Juliussen | date=1996 | url=https://wwwbooks.google.com/books/edition/Computer_Industry_Almanac/?id=1oBTYBUsV0oC | title=The 9th Annual Computer Industry Almanac | publisher=Computer Industry Almanac | page=124 | isbn=9780942107074 | via=Google Books}}</ref> In 2000, the company employed 20 in Garden Grove.<ref>{{cite book | last=McMahon | first=Mary Louise | author2=Norman Stahl | author3=Jason Wall | date=2000 | url=https://archive.org/details/southerncaliforn0000unse_v5j3/page/326/ | title=Southern California Job Source | publisher=Benjamin Scott Publishing | page=326 | isbn=9781891926044 | via=the Internet Archive}}</ref>

Informer went defunct in 2007.<ref>{{cite web | date=n.d. | url=https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ca/0919656 | title=Informer Computer Systems, Inc. | publisher=OpenCorporates | archiveurl=httphttps://archive.today/2023.01.26-19363320230126193633/https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ca/0919656 | archivedate=January 26, 2023}}</ref>

==Notable products==

==Products==

In May 1990, the company unveiled the Informer 213PT, a portable terminal that also doubles as a [[IBM PC compatible|PC-compatible]] computer, complete with an [[Intel 80386SX|i386]] processor and [[DOS]] 3.3 in [[Read-only memory|ROM]].<ref name=pcw /> The 213PT contains a 9,600-bit/s [[ITU V.23|V.32]] modem that establishes connections with [[IBM mainframe]]s using the [[IBM 3270|3270 terminal]] protocol. Switching between terminal and PC modes is achieved via a single keystroke. In PC mode, the computer relies on a host server to provide DOS applications, as it lacks any [[Drive bay|drive bays]] for mass storage, including [[floppy disk]]s and [[hard disk]]s. The 213PT has 1&nbsp;MB of [[Random-access memory|RAM]] and an additional 4&nbsp;MB of [[RAM drive|RAM acting as a solid-state drive]]; the contents of the latter are kept preserved for up to a month when the unit is powered off through the use of an internal battery. The 213PT has an [[Electroluminescent display|active-matrix electroluminescent]] display, with a grid of pixels providing [[Enhanced Graphics Adapter|EGA]] resolution.<ref name=pcw>{{cite journal | last=Grossman | first=Evan O. | date=May 14, 1990 | url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A8446174/GPS?sid=wikipedia | title=Portable 3270 does double duty, converts to 386SX at a keystroke | journal=PC Week | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=7 | issue=19 | page=44 | via=Gale}}</ref> Informer followed this up in 1991 with the Informer 213AE, a cheaper [[Terminal emulator#Synchronous terminals|asynchronous terminal]] that used an emulator to convert [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[VT100]] protocol to 3270 protocol. The 213AE lacked the PC-compatible element of the 213PT but kept the electroluminescent display.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=January 1991 | url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A10359627/GPS?sid=wikipedia | title=Portable terminal links up to IBM mainframe | journal=Link-Up | publisher= Information Today | volume=8 | issue=1 | page=29 | via=Gale}}</ref>

{{empty section|date=January 2023}}

==References==

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==

* {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000816201719/informer911.com|title=Official website|date=August 16, 2000}}

[[Category:1971 establishments in California]]

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[[Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States]]

[[Category:Defunct computer hardware companies]]

[[Category:Defunct computer systems companies]]