Datastorm Technologies

The death of Andrew Fluegelman, creator of PC-Talk, left a gap in the offerings of dial-up communications and terminal emulation software. Bruce Barkelew and Tom Smith, computer science students at the University of Missouri, formed PIL Software Systems in 1985 to develop ProComm. They distributed the program as shareware through bulletin board systems.

Based on the program's popularity, Barkelew and Smith founded Datastorm Technologies Inc. in 1986 to build a full-fledged company around the product. The founders chose Columbia, Missouri, as the company's headquarters because of the relatively low cost of living there to tap into the pool of programmers graduating from the University of Missouri's computer science department.{{cite news

| last = Sanford

| first = Robert

| title = Taking The Software World by STORM

| newspaper = St Louis Post Dispatch

| date = March 2, 1992

| url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SL&p_theme=sl&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB04D92C0221B9A&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

| accessdate =December 21, 2006}} Datastorm financed its growth by reinvesting its earnings instead of seeking outside investment. In 1992, they were ranked 376 in the Inc. 500.{{cite news

| last = Manglesdorf

| first = Martha E.

| title = Behind the Scenes

| journal = Inc.

| date = October 1, 1992

| url = http://www.inc.com/magazine/19921001/4333.html

| accessdate =December 21, 2006}}

The company produced a combination 16/32-bit Procomm Plus for Windows, which included an early web browser called Web Zeppelin. Procomm Plus for Windows supported the remote imaging protocol (RIP) graphic terminal language. This upgrade enabled the display of higher-resolution images than the ANSI escape codes that most bulletin board systems used at the time. In November 1993, the data transmission program reached the number one ranking on PC Magazine's list of top retail software.{{cite book |title=PC Magazine Top Retail Software Rankings |date=November 23, 1993 |edition=Network |issue=20 |volume=12 |page=31 |publisher=Ziff Davis, Inc. |url={{google books|WdVnweDXScAC|plainurl=y}}}}

In 1995, Datastorm sued Excalibur Communications over software infringement.{{cite news

|last=Aguilar

|first=Judge

|title=DATASTORM TECHNOLOGIES, INC., Plaintiff, v. EXCALIBUR COMMUNICATIONS, INC., Defendant.

|publisher=United States District Court, N.D. California

|date=June 7, 1995

|url=https://www.fastcase.com/Google/Start.aspx?C=0672eefd3ece56008b9a86e4c658f0d61323d1b443173a0d&D=d3ef26b8c9f79b2958965eae928b8de12f72f2768f59d96a

|accessdate=December 21, 2006

}}{{dead link|date=August 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Datastorm became the first company to sue a vendor for infringement of its software using the shareware model.

Datastorm grew through 40 consecutive profitable quarters, then was acquired by Quarterdeck in 1996 for over US$70 million.{{cite news

| title = News Briefs

| journal = Software Magazine

| date = May 1, 1996

| url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SMG/is_n5_v16/ai_18236431

| accessdate =December 21, 2006}} Quarterdeck was later purchased by Symantec. Support for the last release of Procomm, version 4.8, was discontinued in 2002.{{cite news

| title = Symantec Knowledge Base

| publisher = Symantec = February 28, 2002

| url = http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/support/release_details.jsp?pid=52436

| archive-url = https://archive.today/20130203175508/http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/support/release_details.jsp?pid=52436

| url-status = dead

| archive-date = February 3, 2013

| accessdate =September 24, 2007}}

• 1989: BYTE "Distinction" Award{{Cite magazine |date=January 1989 |title=The BYTE Awards |url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1989-01/1989_01_BYTE_14-01_PC_Communications_and_Annual_Awards_and_Digitizing_Tablets#page/n371/mode/2up |magazine=BYTE |page=327}}
• 1992: Dvorak PC Telecommunications Excellence Award{{cite web|url=http://www.citivu.com/dvorak/#1992 |url-status=dead |date=October 18, 1997 |first=John C. |last=Dvorak |authorlink=John C. Dvorak |title=Dvorak Awards for Excellence in Telecommunications |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306184406/http://www.citivu.com/dvorak/ |archivedate=March 6, 2014 }}
• 1997: Shareware Industry Awards Shareware Hall of Fame{{cite web

|url=http://www.sharewareindustryawards.com/halloffame.php

|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119143144/http://www.sharewareindustryawards.com/halloffame.php

|archivedate=November 19, 2008

|title=Shareware Industry Awards Hall of Fame

|first=Michael E. |last=Callahan

|year=1997

|publisher=Shareware Industry Awards Foundation}}

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Category:Defunct software companies of the United States

Category:Communication software

Category:Terminal emulators

Category:Companies based in Columbia, Missouri

Category:Software companies established in 1986

Category:Software companies disestablished in 1996

Category:1986 establishments in Missouri

Category:1996 disestablishments in Missouri