Documation

{{short description|American computer hardware manufacturer}}

Documation was an American Stock Exchange-listed computer hardware manufacturer{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times

|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/06/05/archives/companies-list-earnings.html

|title=Companies List Earnings |date=June 5, 1979}} founded in 1969{{cite news |newspaper=Orlando Sentinel |date=August 10, 1987

|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1987/08/10/storagetek-cruising-now-palm-bay-workers-celebrate-future/

|title=Storagetek Cruising Now Palm Bay Workers Celebrate Future

|author=Catherine Hinman}} in Melbourne, Florida that went public in 1976.{{cite news

|newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 3, 1976

|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/09/03/archives/market-place-new-offerings-not-doing-well.html

|title=Market Place |author=John H. Allan}} They made (punched card) card readers

used in some American elections 3 decades later. They also produced Impact Line printers.{{cite news

|newspaper=Computerworld

|date=July 16, 1979 |title=New IMPACT 3800 Line Printer, World's Fastest

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oX2Qc-GVSAYC}}

In late 1980,{{cite web |date=September 15, 1980 |page=71 |website=Computerworld

|title=STC plans Documation acquisition

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rO0QAcSJpQUC}} Storage Technology Corporation (STC) acquired Documation, which was subsequently spun off, and those companies which subdivided from it, most of which use Documation-like names, no longer manufacture computer peripherals.

Documation was described as "a financially troubled printer manufacturer."

File:Documation card reader.JPGs at 600 cards per minute.]]

IMPACT Line printers

Documation's IMPACT 3000, named for its 3,000 lines per minute rating,{{cite web |date=June 5, 1978 |page=135

|title=Documation IMPACT 3000 Line Printer

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ICoe1vr9x3kC}} was followed a year later by the 3,800 LPM IMPACT 3800.

A 5,000 lines per minute printer was introduced in 1986,{{cite news

|newspaper=The Orlando Sentinel

|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1986/03/31/new-impact-printer-may-be-stroke-of-luck-documation-hangs-hopes-on-computer-product/

|title=New Impact Printer May Be Stroke Of Luck Documation Hangs Hopes On Computer Product

|date=March 31, 1986 |author=Catherine Hinman}} by which time the company was operating under the name StorageTek Printer Corp. Like earlier impact printer models, it is manufactured in Florida. At the time of the Series 5000's introduction, the company said that "impact printers dominate 85 percent of the market."

The company's laser printers are rebadged from Siemens.

=Documation's Burroughs-rebadged printers=

Four Documation printers, rebadged by Burroughs as DOC 2000B, DOC 1800B, DOC 1500B and DOC 1250B were introduced in 1978.{{cite news |newspaper=Computerworld

|date=March 27, 1978

|url=https://archive.org/stream/computerworld1213unse/computerworld1213unse_djvu.txt

|title=Burroughs Users Gain Printers }}

Per their names, they were rated at "2,000-, 1,800-, 1,500- and 1,250" lines per minute, when using 48 character ASCII.

Card readers

Among the card readers{{cite magazine |magazine=Computerworld

|date=December 13, 1972 |page=53

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ez54bDCuJgC

|title=Documation Card Readers}}{{cite web |publisher=Computerworld

|date=July 30, 1979 |page=58 |title=Preparing for the 1980s

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=erK4_MHuqP8C}} made by Documation for minicomputers in the 1970s were:

  • M-200 card reader, 300 cards/minute[http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/documation/M200_TechMan_Jan72.pdf Documation M-200 Card Reader Manual, 1972] also sold by DEC as the CR-11 card reader for the PDP-11[https://www.flickr.com/photos/paleoferrosaurus/2665692757 Documation M-200 photo]{{cite web

|title=Full text of "documation :: Documation M-200 Card Reader

|url=https://archive.org/stream/bitsavers_documationeaderTechnicalManualJan1972_16551957/Documation_M-200_Card_Reader_Technical_Manual_Jan1972_djvu.txt}}

  • M-600 card reader, 600 cards/minute, also sold by HP as 2892A and 2893A {{cite web

|url=http://www.hpmuseum.net/display_item.php?hw=281 |title=2892A Card Reader

|website=HPmuseum.net |access-date=2017-09-11}}

  • M-1000-L card reader 1,000 cards/minute[http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/Documation/ Documation M1000L Card Reader] {{webarchive

|url=https://archive.today/20120721071530/http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/Documation/

|date=2012-07-21 }}

Their card readers have been used in elections,(2006 elections, Arizona) {{cite web

|title=Certified Voting Equipment Before 2006 - Arizona Secretary of State

|date=Dec 7, 2005

|quote="Ballot counting equipment ... Documation card reader

|url=https://azsos.gov/sites/default/files/certified_voting_equipment_rev_20051207.pdf}}{{cite news |newspaper=SEmissourian.com (Southeast Missourian)

|date=August 8, 2002 |author=Bob Miller

|url=https://www.SEmissourian.com/story/84288.html

|title=Ballot machinery malfunction won't alter Cape County vote}} including the 2000 "Chads" election in Florida.{{cite web

|url=https://midimagic.sgc-hosting.com/elecchad.htm

|quote=several counties used ... Documation card reader

|title=Dimpled and Pregnant Chad are not votes}}

End-user market

In late 1977 Documation successfully{{cite news |newspaper=Computerworld

|date=December 19, 1977 |page=52w

|title=Documation Pleased With Its Decision to Supply

|url=https://archive.org/stream/computerworld1151unse/computerworld1151unse_djvu.txt

|quote=receiving about half its revenues from end-user business

|author=Molly Upton}} entered the end-user market. They initially focused on selling card readers to end-users; their model 6501 is IBM-compatible.name also resembles that of IBM 2501 Card Reader

They subsequently added line printers to the equipment they sold to end-users.

{{Anchors|Documation Inc}}Storage Technology Corporation and thereafter

By 1992, the name Documation was no longer affiliated with Storage Technology Corporation in the US, but the latter still owned two Documation-named subsidiaries, one in France and the other in UK.{{cite web |url=http://www.company-histories.com/STORAGE-TECHNOLOGY-CORPORATION-Company-History.htm

|title=Storage Technology Corporation}}

References

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