American Computer and Peripheral: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|American computer company}}

{{Infobox company

| name = American Computer &and Peripheral, Inc.

| image = American Computer and Peripheral Former Headquarters Santa Ana 2022 crop.JPG

| image_caption = Former headquarters in [[Santa Ana, California]]

| logo = File:American Computer and Peripheral logoInc.pngsvg

| logo_size = 250px

| type = [[Privately held company|Private]]

| industry = Computer

| founded = {{Start date and age|1985|04}} in Santa Ana, California, United States

| founder = Alan LueLau

| defunct = {{End date and age|1990|02}}

| products = {{Unbulleted list|American XTSR|American 286|386 Translator|386 Turbo}}

}}

'''American Computer &and Peripheral, Inc.''' ('''AC&P'''), also written as '''American Computer and& Peripheral''', was an American computer company based in [[Santa Ana, California|Santa Ana]], California. The company was founded in 1985 by Alan LueLau and released several expansion boards for the [[IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]] as well as a few [[IBM PC compatible|PC clones]] before going bankrupt in December 1989. Obscure in its own time,{{sfnm|1a1=Amirrezvani|1a2=Rosenbaum|1a3=Trivette|1y=1986|1p=92|2a1=Shackelford|2y=1986|p=12C}} the company's 386 Translator was the first plug-in board for [[Intel]]'s newly released [[i386|80386]] processor and the first mass-market computing device to offer consumers a means of using the 386 in July 1986.{{sfnm|1a1=Amirrezvani|1a2=Rosenbaum|1a3=Trivette|1y=1986|1p=92|2a1=Chabal|2a2=Ranney|2y=1986|2p=8}}

==History==

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| footer = Various AC&P PC clones; from top to bottom: the American 88, the American 286, and the American 286-A

}}

American Computer and Peripheral was founded in Santa Ana in April 1985 by Alan LueLau.{{sfnm|1a1=Pugila|1y=1987b|1p=20|2a1=OpenCorporates|2y=n.d.}} Among the company's first offerings were a duo of [[IBM PC compatible|IBM PC clones]]: the American XTSR and the American 286. These clones were introduced in May 1986 and were clones of IBM's [[IBM Personal Computer XT|PC XT]] and [[IBM Personal Computer/AT|PC/AT]], respectively. The clock speed of the XTSR's [[Intel 8088]] microprocessor was selectable, allowing users to change it from 4.77 MHz to 7.37 MHz.{{sfn|Staff writer|1986a|p=125}} The module that allowed this selection of clock speeds was later sold separately as the American Turbo.{{sfn|Davis|1986|p=125}}{{efn|A version of the XTSR with the module removed, which limited the clock speed to 4.77 MHz, was sold as the American 88 ({{harvnb|Staff writer|1986b|p=124}})}} The American 286 featured a motherboard in the [[Baby AT]] form factor with five expansion slots house in the same case as the American XTSR.{{sfnm|1a1=American Computer and Peripheral|1y=1986a|1p=2|2a1=Staff writer|2y=1986a|2p=125}} AC&P later introduced the American 286-A, an AT clone with a full-sized AT motherboard, featuring eight expansion slots.{{sfn|American Computer and Peripheral|1986b|p=2}} AC&P hired Chi Yeung, previously a designer for [[Eagle Computer]] before the company went out of business in 1986, to design the 286-A.{{sfn|Obregón|1986|p=38}} Both it and the regular 286 ran the [[Intel 80286]], with clock speeds selectable from 6 MHz to 8 MHz.{{sfnm|1a1=American Computer and Peripheral|1y=1986a|1p=2|2a1=American Computer and Peripheral|2y=1986b|2p=2}} In June 1986, the company released the Abovefunction [[multifunction board]] that allows the PC, PC XT and compatibles to address up to 2 MB of RAM, as well as adding ports for joysticks and serial and peripheral devices.{{sfn|Staff writer|1986b|p=124}} A year later, the company introduced the American 386-16, an [[i386]]-based desktop computer that touted superiority over other 386 clones due to its use of zero-wait states when accessing video and making system calls to the BIOS for peripheral access.{{sfn|Pugila|1987b|p=20}} By the end of 1985, American achieved sales of US$7.5 million (equivalent to US${{inflation|value=7.5|start_year=1985|index=US|r=2}} million in {{Inflation/year|US}}).{{sfn|Breidenbach|1986|p=74}}

===Upgrade devices===

In June 1986, AC&P released the 386 Translator.{{sfn|Rhein|1986|p=38}} This was a module that could be plugged into the pin-grid array socket reserved for the 80286 microprocessor on the motherboard of IBM's PC/AT or clones of the AT, in order to upgrade them to the newer 80386 by [[Intel]].{{sfn|Chabal|Ranney|1986|p=8}} This product allowed AC&P to beat [[Compaq]] by a slim margin in offering consumers the first means through which they could interact with the 386.{{sfn|Amirrezvani|Rosenbaum|Trivette|1986|p=92}} Compaq released the [[Compaq Deskpro 386|Deskpro 386]], the first PC clone that featured a 386—and which marked the first time a major component to the IBM PC standard was upgraded by a company outside IBM—in September 1986.{{sfn|Warner|1986|p=1}}{{efn|[[Advanced Logic Research]] had announced a PC clone with a 386 alongside AC&P's 386 Translator in the summer of 1986 ({{harvnb|Chabal|Ranney|1986|p=8}}). However, they were beaten to market by Compaq ({{harvnb|Warner|1986|p=1}}).}} The 386 Translator was designed by NDR, a electronics design firm located in [[Corona, California|Corona]], California.{{sfn|Rhein|1986|p=38}} Scheduled for release as soon as Intel started shipping the chip out to computer vendors like AC&P,{{sfn|Whitmore|1986|p=11}} which occurred in mid-July along with Intel shipping production samples of the 386 to consumers,{{sfn|Chabal|Ranney|1986|p=8}} AC&P launched the 386 Translator ahead of time in late June.{{sfn|Rhein|1986|p=38}}

Various companies such as [[Daisy Systems]] and [[Valid Logic Systems]] manufactured software development workstations equipped with the 386 microprocessor and running Intel's own assembler, compilers, and software utilities as early as December 1985, when pre-production batches of 386es were manufactured. However, these workstations were large, cumbersome to set up and expensive, costing several thousands of dollars.{{sfn|Goering|1985|pp=33–34}} The 386 Translator, by comparison, cost $895 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|895|1986|r=0|fmt=c}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}) with a 386 included or $395 (${{Inflation|US|395|1986|r=0|fmt=c}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}) without.{{sfn|Chabal|Ranney|1986|p=8}} In addition, existing ATs could be equipped with the 386 using AC&P's module, avoiding the need for a dedicated workstation. Counter-intuitive to the nature of an upgrade module, however, the 386 Translator ran an AT computer 10 percent {{em|slower}} than a stock computer with a 286. This was due to the module inserting [[wait state]]s in order for slower AT-grade memory chips to work with the faster 386. Aside from this performance penalty, the 386 Translator allowed software developers with ATs to get a head start on learning 386's new [[virtual 8086 mode]].{{sfn|Nelson|1988|p=68}} According to David Springer of NDR, the 386 Translator was also targeted at high-end users wanting to set up a [[file server]] on an AT-class machine.{{sfn|Rhein|1986|p=38}} Following the release of the 386 Translator, American projected sales of US$25 million (equivalent to US${{inflation|value=25|start_year=1986|index=US|r=2}} million in {{Inflation/year|US}}) and reportedly exhausted its storage facility in Santa Ana.{{sfn|Breidenbach|1986|p=74}}

[[File:American 386 Turbo.jpg|thumb|386 Turbo, showing ISA card with 386 and processor module connected via two ribbon cables]]

Just three months after the release of the 386 Translator, in November, AC&P introduced the 386 Turbo expansion board. Like the Translator, the Turbo board allowed users to upgrade their existing PC/ATs with the 386 processor, this time with the promise of increased speed over the AT's 286 processor.{{sfn|Staff writer|1986c|p=16}} The Turbo 386 also advertised compatibility with AT clones, although only clones whose motherboards had a socket for the [[pin grid array]] package of the 286 were supported.{{sfn|Pugila|1987a|p=63}} The company touted a 400 percent increase in software performance and claimed that the Turbo could double the clock speeds of ATs running between 6 and 12 MHz.{{sfn|Staff writer|1986c|p=16}} The company later revised their claim to only double the clock speeds of 6 and 8 MHz 286s,{{sfn|Miller|1986|p=77}} as 386 processors at the time were not rated for 24 MHz.{{sfn|Satchell|1987b|p=56}} The 386 Turbo allowed users to switch the clock speed of the 386 on the fly, and it also included 1 MB of [[cache memory]].{{sfn|Staff writer|1986c|p=16}}

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==Reputation==

Despite the company's strong sales for a small computer hardware company,{{sfn|Breidenbach|1986|p=74}} AC&P's peripherals received mixed reviews throughout the company's short life. Stephen Satchell of ''[[InfoWorld]]'' found that the Turbo 386 failed to double the performance of ATs with 6 MHz 286 processors, as claimed by the company, instead only increasing performance by 83 percent. He felt that this was the product's biggest downfall, because 6 MHz ATs had the slowest clock speeds of the AT class, and thus users with these computers would have been the perfect market for the Turbo. Satchell contrasted the Turbo with Intel's Inboard, which increased performance of 6 MHz ATs by 250 percent,{{sfn|Satchell|1987b|p=56}} surmounting even the Turbo's boost on 8 MHz machines.{{sfn|Satchell|1987b|p=57}} Howard Marks of ''[[PC Magazine]]'' found the increased performance adequate on his AT but panned the lack of memory beyond the 1 MB used for cache; access to memory on the computer's [[motherboard]] above 1 MB would be bottlenecked by the AT's 16-bit data bus, negating the processing speed of the 386.{{sfn|Marks|1987|p=245}} Satchell praised the company's Abovefunction as a bargain, on the other hand.{{sfn|Satchell|1987a|p=60}}

The poor quality of the documentation provided with the company's products was a source of frequent criticism. Of the Turbo 386, Satchell wrote that its manual was "lacking in several key areas. Both the wording and the diagrams are unclear, and a user could easily damage the system board by removing the 286 chip as directed in the manual".{{sfn|Satchell|1988|p=48}} Marks found an error in the same manual: a [[Jumper (computing)|jumper]] on the board was factory-set to "slow mode" as stated in the manual, underclocking the 386 to be later configured for "fast mode" in a program provided with the Turbo 386. However Marks discovered that the Turbo 386 only worked on his PC AT with jumper configured for "fast mode"—the AT displayed nothing when he first turned it on with the Turbo 386 configured to "slow mode", leading him to believe that he had destroyed his computer.{{sfn|Marks|1987|p=245}} When the company released a [[computer mouse|mouse]] in 1987, Christopher Barr of ''PC Magazine'' found that it only worked with [[Mouse Systems]] drivers not included with the mouse, a trait not mentioned in its manual.{{sfn|Barr|1987|p=122}}

TheAC&P expected to file its [[initial public offering]] in 1987.{{sfn|Breidenbach|1986|p=74}} This was cancelled, however, the company remaining private for the rest of its existence. It declared bankruptcy in 1989, just four years after its incorporation.{{sfn|Staff writer|1989|p=C2}} It was suspended from the Franchise Tax Board of California in 1990.{{sfn|OpenCorporates|n.d.}}

==Notes==

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| url=https://archive.org/details/pcworld410unse/page/91/

| date=October 1986

| workjournal=PC World

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=4

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| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b4EFTpmTnFgC&pg=PA122

| date=August 1987

| workjournal=PC Magazine

| publisher=Ziff-Davis

| volume=6

Line 105 ⟶ 106:

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| via=Google Books

}}

* {{cite journal

| last=Breidenbach

| first=Susan

| title=American Deeply Cuts Prices on Its XT-, AT-Compatible Units

| url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A4297933/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=b73303c1

| date=July 7, 1986

| journal=Computer Retail News

| publisher=UBM LLC

| issue=160

| pages=74 ''et seq''

| via=Gale

}}

* {{cite journal

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| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ti8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1

| date=July 14, 1986

| workjournal=InfoWorld

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=8

Line 128 ⟶ 141:

| url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1987-08/page/n232/

| date=August 1987

| workjournal=Byte

| publisher=McGraw-Hill

| volume=8

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| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vcqI6sY2e-kC&pg=PA170

| date=September 16, 1986

| workjournal=PC Magazine

| publisher=Ziff-Davis

| volume=5

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| first=Richard

| title=Development Tools Support 80386 Applications

| url=https://wwwbooks.google.com/books/edition/Computer_Design/?id=60A-AQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsqq=%22Valid+Logic%22+80386+%22Daisy%22&printsec=frontcover

| date=December 1985

| workjournal=Computer Design

| publisher=PennWell Publishing

| volume=24

Line 170 ⟶ 183:

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jE2OlZ9PkrkC&pg=PA244

| date=October 27, 1987

| workjournal=PC Magazine

| publisher=Ziff-Davis

| volume=6

Line 184 ⟶ 197:

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rDwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA77

| date=November 10, 1986

| workjournal=InfoWorld

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=8

Line 197 ⟶ 210:

| first=Ross

| chapter=Programming on the 80386

| chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/drdobbstoolbooko0000unse/page/68/

| date=1988

| title=Dr. Dobb's Toolbook of 80286/80386 Programming

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| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3w7d7yrrWvoC&pg=PA38

| date=April 15, 1986

| workjournal=PC Magazine

| publisher=Ziff-Davis

| volume=5

Line 220 ⟶ 233:

| via=Google Books

}}

* {{cite journal | last=Pugila | first=Vincent | date=May 12, 1987 | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_eweek_1987-05-12_4_19/page/63/ | title=80386-Based Accelerator Card Boosts AT's Speed to 16MHz | workjournal=PC Week | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=4 | issue=19 | pagepages=63, 71–72 | via=the Internet Archive | ref={{sfnRef|Pugila|1987a}} }}

* {{cite journal | last=Pugila | first=Vincent | date=June 23, 1987 | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_eweek_1987-06-23_4_25/page/n11/ | title='386 PCs Broaden Users' Choice of Systems | workjournal=PC Week | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=4 | issue=25 | page=20 | via=the Internet Archive | ref={{sfnRef|Pugila|1987b}} }}

* {{cite journal | last=Rhein | first=Bob | date=August 11, 1986 | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_mis-week_1986-08-11_7_32/page/38/ | title=ACP Is Readying 2 Boards | workjournal=MIS Week | volume=7 | issue=32 | page=38 | publisher=Fairchild Publications | via=the Internet Archive}}

* {{cite journal

| ref={{sfnRef|Satchell|1987a}}

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| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xTAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA56

| date=January 12, 1987

| workjournal=InfoWorld

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=9

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| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xTAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA56

| date=June 15, 1987

| workjournal=InfoWorld

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=9

Line 259 ⟶ 272:

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ED8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA48

| date=January 11, 1988

| workjournal=InfoWorld

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=10

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| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zna2n1iKYH4C&pg=PA125

| date=May 12, 1986

| workjournal=Computerworld

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=XX

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| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Prl9-uRGaAgC&pg=PA124

| date=June 1986

| workjournal=Computerworld

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=XX

Line 313 ⟶ 326:

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jzwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA16

| date=November 3, 1986

| workjournal=InfoWorld

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=8

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* {{cite news

| author=Staff writer

| url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/272332713/

| title=Bankruptcies

| date=December 23, 1989

Line 329 ⟶ 342:

| page=C2

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| viaid={{ProQuest|272332713}}

}}

* {{cite journal

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| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aS8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1

| date=September 15, 1986

| workjournal=InfoWorld

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=8

Line 351 ⟶ 364:

| url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A4280128/GPS

| date=June 17, 1986

| workjournal=PCWeek

| publisher=Ziff-Davis

| volume=3

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

[[Category:Defunct computer hardware companies]]

[[Category:Defunct computer systems companies]]