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Informer Computer Terminals

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Informer Computer Terminals, Inc., originally Informer, Inc., and later Informer Computer Systems, Inc., was a privately held[1] American computer company active from 1971 to 2007. It manufactured data terminals that could communicate with mainframes and minicomputers, mainly those manufactured by IBM and Digital.[1] It was originally based in Los Angeles, California; in the early 1980s, it moved to Laguna Beach, California, and in the late 1980s, it moved to Garden Grove, California.

Informer Computer Systems, Inc.
Formerly
  • Informer, Inc.
  • Informer Computer Terminals, Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryComputers
Founded1971; 54 years ago (1971) in Los Angeles, California
FounderDonald Allen Domike
Defunct2007; 18 years ago (2007)
FateDissolution
ProductsComputer terminals (glass, teleprinters)

Corporate history

Informer, Inc. was co-founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1971 by Donald Allen Domike (1927–2017).[1][2] 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.[3] Informer in the mid-1970s appointed Bryon Cole as president of the company and Wilfred "Will" R. Little as vice president of marketing.[4] By 1981, Little replaced Cole as president.[5]: 391 

Informer in 1976 manufactured glass terminals with small CRTs as well as traditional keyboard-send-and-receive and receive-only teleprinters.[6][4] It achieved sales of US$1 million in fiscal year 1976, projecting a doubling of sales for the following year.[4] By 1981, the company had achieved yearly sales in excess of $10 million.[7] The company established ten branch offices in the United States by that year;[5] at some point in the mid-1980s, they also opened a Canadian subsidiary in Richmond, British Columbia.[6]

Its products in the early 1980s comprised not only glass terminals and teleprinters but also barcode readers and batch terminals. Informer's terminals were used for data entry, data monitoring, remote job entry, and software programming.[5] Following struggling sales in the mid-1980s, the company appointed Malcolm K. Green, formerly of Emulex as president and CEO.[1] Shortly after Green relocated the company's headquarters to Garden Grove, California.[8][9]

By the early 1990s the company had renamed itself to Informer Computer Systems, Inc. In 1994, the company spun off its local area and dial-up networking security software operations as Informer Data Security, Inc. Bradley Little was named president of the new company.[10] Beginning in the mid-1990s, the company began orienting their products toward state emergency services, manufacturing terminals and call-tracking systems for 9-1-1 call centers, though they still offered general-purpose terminals as well. Edward P. Dailey replaced Little as president and CEO around this time.[11] In 2000, the company employed 20 in Garden Grove.[12]

Informer went defunct in 2007.[13]

Products

References

  1. ^ a b c d Staff writer (December 11, 1986). "Orange County". Los Angeles Times. Times-Mirror Company: 3 – via ProQuest.
  2. ^ "Obituary for Donald Allen Domike". Halley-Olsen-Murphy Funerals and Cremations. January 28, 2017. Archived from the original on January 26, 2023.
  3. ^ Staff writer (October 27, 1976). "Computer Firm Moves Plant Here". Westchester-Ladera Observer: 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c Hebert, John P. (October 25, 1976). "Small CRT Maker Expects Big Growth". Computerworld. 10 (43). CW Communications: 47 – via the Internet Archive.
  5. ^ a b c Davis, George R., ed. (November 1980). "Data Communications Update Service". Data Communications. 9 (11). McGraw-Hill: 201–492 – via the Internet Archive.
  6. ^ a b Staff writer (August 13, 1985). "Investment approvals, acquisitions announced". The Globe and Mail. Bell Globemedia Publishing: B13 – via ProQuest.
  7. ^ Staff writer (May 6, 1981). "Firm commitments: Who's where in area business". The Redondo Reflex: 39 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Staff writer (June 22, 1986). "Brian D. Markham has been named president of Imperial Automation". Los Angeles Times. Times-Mirror Company: 2 – via ProQuest.
  9. ^ Ruiz, Frank (September 6, 1987). "Tech Bytes". The Tampa Tribune-Times: 6-E – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Staff writer (March 28, 1994). "New data-security developer emerges". Computer Reseller News. CMP Publications: 148 – via ProQuest.
  11. ^ Petska-Juliussen, Karen; Egil Juliussen (1996). The 9th Annual Computer Industry Almanac. Computer Industry Almanac. p. 124. ISBN 9780942107074 – via Google Books.
  12. ^ McMahon, Mary Louise; Norman Stahl; Jason Wall (2000). Southern California Job Source. Benjamin Scott Publishing. p. 326 – via the Internet Archive.
  13. ^ "Informer Computer Systems, Inc". OpenCorporates. n.d. Archived from the original on January 26, 2023.
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