Content deleted Content added
No edit summary |
|||
Line 15:
==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 | work=Los Angeles Times | publisher=Times-Mirror Company | page=3 | via=ProQuest}}</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 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 | work=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 | work=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 | work=Data Communications | publisher=McGraw-Hill | volume=9 | issue=11 | page=201–492 | via=the Internet Archive}}</ref>{{rp|391}}
Line 26 ⟶ 27:
==Notable 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-bps [[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 bays for mass storage, including [[floppy disk]]s and [[hard disk]]s. The 213PT has 1 MB of [[Random-access memory|RAM]] and an additional 4 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 | work=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 using an emulator. 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 | work=Link-Up | publisher= Information Today | volume=8 | issue=1 | page=29 | via=Gale}}</ref>
==References==
| |||