Informer Computer Terminals
{{Short description|American computer company (1971–2007)}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox company
| name=Informer Computer Systems, Inc.
| image=Informer Computer Terminals Former Headquarters Garden Grove California 2021.jpg
| image_caption=Former headquarters in Garden Grove, California (pictured in 2021)
| former_name={{ubl|Informer, Inc.|Informer Computer Terminals, Inc.}}
| type=Private
| founded={{start date and age|1971}} in Los Angeles, California
| founder=Donald Allen Domike
| defunct={{end date and age|2007}}
| fate=Dissolution
| industry=Computers
| products=Computer terminals (glass, teleprinters)
}}
Informer Computer Terminals, Inc., originally Informer, Inc., and later Informer Computer Systems, Inc., was a privately held 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. It was originally based in Los Angeles, California; in the early 1980s, it moved to Laguna Beach, and in the late 1980s, to Garden Grove.
Corporate history
Informer, Inc. was co-founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1971 by Donald Allen Domike (1927–2017).{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=December 11, 1986 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/292504864/ | title=Orange County | journal=Los Angeles Times | page=3 | via=ProQuest}}{{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}} Originally located in the far corner of West Los Angeles, Informer moved to Westchester, Los Angeles, in fall 1976, occupying a {{convert|20000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} facility as their headquarters, manufacturing plant, and research and development laboratory.{{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 | journal=Westchester-Ladera Observer | page=2 | via=Newspapers.com}} Informer in the mid-1970s appointed Bryon Cole as president of the company and Wilfred "Will" R. Little as vice president of marketing.{{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 | journal=Computerworld | publisher=CW Communications | volume=10 | issue=43 | page=47 | via=the Internet Archive}} By 1981, Little replaced Cole as president.{{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 | journal=Data Communications | publisher=McGraw-Hill | volume=9 | issue=11 | pages=201–492 | via=the Internet Archive}}{{rp|391}}
Informer in 1976 manufactured glass terminals with small CRTs as well as traditional keyboard-send-and-receive and receive-only teleprinters. It achieved sales of US$1 million in fiscal year 1976, projecting a doubling of sales for the following year. By 1981, the company had achieved yearly sales in excess of $10 million.{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=May 6, 1981 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117307769/firm-commitments-whos-where-in-area-bu/ | title=Firm commitments: Who's where in area business | journal=The Redondo Reflex | page=39 | via=Newspapers.com}} The company established ten branch offices in the United States by that year; at some point in the mid-1980s, they also opened a Canadian subsidiary in Richmond, British Columbia.{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=August 13, 1985 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/386283459/ | title=Investment approvals, acquisitions announced | journal=The Globe and Mail | publisher=Bell Globemedia Publishing | page=B13 | via=ProQuest}}
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. Following struggling sales in the mid-1980s, the company appointed Malcolm K. Green, formerly of Emulex as president and CEO. Green shortly thereafter relocated the company's headquarters to Garden Grove, California.{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=June 22, 1986 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/292366889/ | title=Brian D. Markham has been named president of Imperial Automation | journal=Los Angeles Times | page=2 | via=ProQuest}}{{cite journal | last=Ruiz | first=Frank | date=September 6, 1987 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117297009/tech-bytes/ | title=Tech Bytes | journal=The Tampa Tribune-Times | page=6-E | via=Newspapers.com}}
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.{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=March 28, 1994 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/227497065/ | title=New data-security developer emerges | journal=Computer Reseller News | publisher=CMP Publications | page=148 | via=ProQuest}} 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.{{cite book | last=Petska-Juliussen | first=Karen | author2=Egil Juliussen | date=1996 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1oBTYBUsV0oC | title=The 9th Annual Computer Industry Almanac | publisher=Computer Industry Almanac | page=124 | isbn=9780942107074 | via=Google Books}} In 2000, the company employed 20 in Garden Grove.{{cite book | last=McMahon | first=Mary Louise | author2=Norman Stahl | author3=Jason Wall | date=2000 | url=https://archive.org/details/southerncaliforn0000unse_v5j3/page/326/ | title=Southern California Job Source | publisher=Benjamin Scott Publishing | page=326 | isbn=9781891926044 | via=the Internet Archive}}
Notable products
In May 1990, the company unveiled the Informer 213PT, a portable terminal that also doubles as a PC-compatible computer, complete with an i386 processor and DOS 3.3 in ROM. The 213PT contains a 9,600-bit/s V.32 modem that establishes connections with IBM mainframes using the 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 disks and hard disks. The 213PT has 1 MB of RAM and an additional 4 MB of 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 active-matrix electroluminescent display, with a grid of pixels providing EGA resolution.{{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 | journal=PC Week | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=7 | issue=19 | page=44 | via=Gale}} Informer followed this up in 1991 with the Informer 213AE, a cheaper asynchronous terminal that used an emulator to convert DEC VT100 protocol to 3270 protocol. The 213AE lacked the PC-compatible element of the 213PT but kept the electroluminescent display.{{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 | journal=Link-Up | publisher= Information Today | volume=8 | issue=1 | page=29 | via=Gale}}
References
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
External links
- {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000816201719/informer911.com|title=Official website|date=August 16, 2000}}
Category:1971 establishments in California
Category:2007 establishments in California
Category:American companies established in 1971
Category:American companies disestablished in 2007
Category:Computer companies established in 1971
Category:Computer companies established in 2007
Category:Defunct computer companies based in California
Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States