Metaphor Computer Systems: Difference between revisions

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==History==

{{Expand section|date=February 2024}}

[[David Liddle]] and Donald Massaro founded Metaphor in 1982 after leaving [[Xerox PARC]].<ref name="LATimes">{{cite news|title='IBM Gets Stake in Metaphor to Enhance Its PCs'

|url=httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-19/business/-fi-1256_1_metaphor1256-systemstory.html|accessdateaccess-date= 28 February 2012|newspaper=LA Times|date=19 April 1988}}</ref> By 1987, the company had an annual revenue of $39.7 million.<ref name="LATimes"/> In 1991, [[IBM]], one of its primary customers, acquired the company outright.<ref>{{cite news|title='Metaphor Chief Hired By I.B.M.'

|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/13/business/business-people-metaphor-chief-hired-by-ibm.html?|accessdate= 28 February 2012|newspaper=New York Times|date=13 November 1991}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bass |first1=Thomas A. |title=Think Tanked |url=https://www.wired.com/1999/12/interval/#:~:text=Metaphor%20Computer |access-date=2 March 2025 |work=Wired Magazine |date=1 December 1999}}</ref>

===Patriot Partners===

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===Hardware===

Released in September 1984, the Metaphor workstation had infrared wireless input devices: keyboard, mouse, numeric pad, and five-function keypad. This was the first commercial appearance of a cordless input devices like mouse, etc. The input devices docked in the desktop workstation where they were recharged. Objects on the desktop and open applications had a uniform command set that could be controlled by the keypad which had Copy, Move, Delete, Options, and Size. The workstations were [[Motorola 68000]]-based, networked with [[Ethernet]], and contained 1 MB RAM.

The industrial design of the workstation was done by [[Mike Nuttall]] of Matrix Product Design. It won a gold medal from the IDSA. The workstation itself was engineered by James Yurchenco at David Kelley Design. Both Matrix and David Kelley Design were precursors of [[IDEO]].

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===Capsule===

The heart of the Metaphor DIS system was the Capsule. Basically, a capsule was a simplified BATCH program. Because Metaphor applications were built so they communicated with each other, they could be moved into a folder and automated in a "Capsule". (The name was taken from the mannedcrewed space capsules of the time.)<ref name=Metaphor.IWorld1993/>

The functionality of the Word Processor, Spreadsheet, and Data Retrieval tools were no better than their Microsoft Office counterparts (in fact, they had a smaller sub-set of features than Office). The primary advantage of Metaphor's system was the degree to which applications were linked together. Complex reiterative data-retrieval jobs were able to be created on-the-fly by a user with no programming knowledge.<ref name=Metaphor.IBM>{{cite web

|url=https://www.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?appname=skmwww%26htmlfid=897%252FENUS490-130%26infotype=AN%26subtype=CA%26mhsrc=ibmsearch_a%26mhq=examining

|title=NewMeet Datanew InterpreationGranite Systemmodels Courseswith vision and reasoning|website=[[IBM]] }}</ref> <!--- "Interpreation" (SIC!) -->

A user could visually drag fields from multiple databases into the Data Retrieval tool (which would generate its own SQL code based on the fields, links and criteria displayed) and send the output directly into a spreadsheet for sorting, calculations, and graphs. The report could then be sent into a pre-formatted Word Processing document, sent to the printer, and even e-mailed to a pre-designated distribution list. The whole process would repeat for each SKU, Region, Price Code, etc. without any human interaction.

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[[Category:Defunct computer systems companies]]

[[Category:Software companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area]]

[[Category:Software companies based in Mountain View, California]][[Category:Xerox spin-offs]]