Leading Edge Products

Leading Edge was founded in 1980 by Thomas Shane and Michael Shane. At the outset, they were a PC peripherals company selling aftermarket products such as Elephant Memory Systems brand floppy disk media ("Elephant. Never forgets") and printer ribbons, and acting as the sole North American distributor/reseller of printers from the Japanese manufacturer C. Itoh, the most memorable being the popular low-end dot-matrix printer, "The Gorilla Banana". In 1984 the company sold the computer aftermarket product line and sales division to Dennison Computer Supplies, a division of Dennison Manufacturing. In 1984, they began to use Daewoo parts, and in 1989, they were acquired by Daewoo, as part of their recovery from Chapter 11 bankruptcy."Deal by Daewoo," New York Times, June 1, 1989, pg. D4 (Shane declared that the costs of a legal dispute with Mitsubishi led to its bankruptcy). In January 1990, Daewoo hired Al Agbay, a veteran executive from Panasonic to lead the company out of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. In the three years that followed, Agbay and his executive team repaid dealers approximately $16 million and increased annual revenues to over $250 million before a contract dispute severed Agbay and Daewoo's relationship. In October 1995, Daewoo sold the company to Manuhold Investment AG, a Swiss electronics company. Leading Edge had sold 185,000 of its PC clones in the United States in 1994, but in 1995 sales fell from 90,000 in the first half to almost none in the second half.Steve Lohr, "Frustrated users sue PC maker over busy signals on "help" line," New York Times, February 6, 1996, pg. D10 By 1997 the company was defunct.[http://weeklywire.com/ww/09-15-97/alibi_brave.html] David O. Dabney, "Power Down:Apple Buys Its Own Clones," Weeklywire.com, September 15, 1997, refers to " the now defunct Leading Edge PC clone company"

The first known computer to be produced by Leading Edge is the Model M, released in 1982. By 1986 it sold for $1695 (US) with a monitor and two floppy drives. It used an Intel 8088-2 processor, running at a maximum of 7.16 MHz on an 8 bit bus, compared to 6 MHz for the IBM PC-AT on a 16 bit bus. The 'M' stands for Mitsubishi, their parts provider.Peter H. Lewis, "Peripherals: Leading Edge: One name, two computers," New York Times, March 18, 1986, pg. C5

They began producing the Leading Edge Model D in June 1985, when they began to use Daewoo parts. That model was described as "the quality is good and the price is right." It was a Consumer Reports "Best Buy." It was IBM compatible, using the same Intel 8088 16 bit processor as the IBM PC, with two floppy disc drives, 256K of RAM, and an amber monitor. The machine sold for $1495 (US)."A thrifty and practical computer from Korea," New York Times, July 16, 1985, pg. C4 They sold 125,000 in the first 13 months, then reduced the price to $1295 (US).Nicholas D. Kristof, "Low-priced cars and electronics from South Korea flooding the U.S.," New York Times, August 31, 1986, pg. A1

When IBM started supplying 20 MB hard drives as standard for its newer PC-XT's, Leading Edge supplied a 30 meg hard drive standard.Eric Sandberg Diment, "Race for hard drive horsepower heats up," New York Times, September 9, 1986, pg. C4 They later released a Model D86 (an Intel 8086), Model D2 in 1988 with a 65 MB hard drive for $2495(US) and a 10 MHz processor (an Intel 80286)L.R. Shannon, "A powerful XT clone," New York Times, March 17, 1988, pg. C9 and Model D3 (an Intel 80386).

In 1993, Leading Edge marketed the WinPro Series of computers. These computers had then an i486 or Intel 80486 processors. The low end model had an i486 SX25 processor. The computers had a 3.5-inch floppy, a 5.25 in floppy, 170MB hard drive, with 4MB of RAM, which could be expanded to 20MB if needed. Windows 3.1 and MS-DOS 5.0 were the operating systems. The cost of a Leading Edge Computer ranged from $1299.99 to $2199.99 during this time.

In 1994, Leading Edge marketed the Wintower 486 Multimedia PC, with 66 MHz processor, 8 MB ram, 340 MB hard drive, 2 floppies, CD ROM, modem, sound card and monitor for a "street price" of $2600 (US).{{cite web|url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1563/is_n7_v12/ai_16175996 |title=Not on the cutting edge – Leading Edge Products' WinTower 486 multimedia PC – Hardware Review – Evaluation Home Office Computing – Find Articles |accessdate=2006-10-31 |url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060825075252/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1563/is_n7_v12/ai_16175996 |archivedate=2006-08-25 }} Angela Gunn, "Not on the cutting edge – Leading Edge Products' WinTower 486 multimedia PC – Hardware Review – Evaluation," Home Office Computing, July 1994. retrieved October 31, 2006

One of the programs offered on Leading Edge computers was the Leading Edge Word Processor, which PC in 1986 ranked tied for first place among corporate word processors for features and low price.{{Cite news |last=Lewis |first=Peter H. |date=January 7, 1986 |title=PERIPHERALS; PATH IN JUNGLE OF SOFTWARE FOR WRITING |language=en-US |pages=C7 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/07/science/peripherals-path-in-jungle-of-software-for-writing.html |access-date=2023-05-09 |issn=0362-4331}} It was described as easy to use, created automatic backup copies, and loaded in 256 K of RAM, described as a "large" amount.{{Citation needed|date=April 2012}} With the program in memory, both floppy drives were available for storage. It was introduced in 1983, and sold in 1984 for $100. (U.S.)"Word processing," New York Times, October 28, 1984, pg. AS 24. LEWP, as it was called, was a very easy to use word processor that had features that were bred into newer systems later. It automatically fixed transpositions on the run, a feature not seen in more sophisticated contemporary word processing programs.

In 1984, Leading Edge also released an innovative database application called Nutshell (developed by a company called Nashoba Systems and distributed by Leading Edge). Nutshell was an earlier form of a program later released as FileMaker and subsequently FileMaker Pro.

• [http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue86/007_1_IBM_Compatibles.php Compute! Issue 86, July 1987. IBM Compatibles – The Universe Expands] refers to Leading Edge as a "young and aggressive" company.

• {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991012152257/http://www.rainbowdatainc.com/files/_FileList.txt |date=October 12, 1999|title=Mirror of Leading Edge's old BBS}}

{{Daewoo Group}}

Category:Daewoo

Category:1980 establishments in Massachusetts

Category:1997 disestablishments in Massachusetts

Category:1989 mergers and acquisitions

Category:American companies established in 1980

Category:American companies disestablished in 1997

Category:Computer companies established in 1980

Category:Computer companies disestablished in 1997

Category:Defunct computer companies based in Massachusetts

Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States

Category:Defunct computer hardware companies

Category:Defunct computer systems companies

Category:IBM PC compatibles

Category:Electronics companies established in 1980

Category:Electronics companies disestablished in 1997