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Columbia Data Products
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{{short description|Company}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox company | name = Columbia Data Products, Inc. | logo = Columbia Data Products logo 2013.png | logo_caption = Logo used since 2013 | type = Private | foundation = {{Start date and age|1976}} | founder = William Diaz | hq_location_city = [[Altamonte Springs, Florida]] | hq_location_country = [[United States]] | key_people = | num_employees = | industry = [[Data security]] | area_served = | products = | market cap = | title = | revenue = | assets = | operating_income = | net_income = | equity = | homepage = {{URL|www.cdpi.com}} }} '''Columbia Data Products, Inc.''' ('''CDP''') is a company which produced the first legally reverse-engineered [[IBM PC compatible|IBM PC clones]], starting with the [[MPC 1600]] series in 1982. It faltered in that market after only a few years, and later reinvented itself as a [[Software development|software development company]]. ==History== === 1976–1986: As a hardware company === [[File:Columbia Data Products logo.svg|thumb|First logo of Columbia Data Products]] [[File:Columbia Data Products MPC 1600 edit.jpg|thumb|CDP's [[MPC 1600]] ''(pictured)'' from 1982 was the first commercially released [[IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]] clone.]] Columbia Data Products was founded by William Diaz<ref name=wp1983>{{cite news | last=Staff writer | date=December 5, 1983 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1983/12/05/columbia-data-ready-to-launch-its-first-public-stock-offering/7b8fd778-f21a-4783-ac79-acf87e253103/ | title= Columbia Data Ready to Launch Its First Public Stock Offering | newspaper=The Washington Post | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828110012/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1983/12/05/columbia-data-ready-to-launch-its-first-public-stock-offering/7b8fd778-f21a-4783-ac79-acf87e253103/ | archivedate=August 28, 2017}}</ref> in 1976 in [[Columbia, Maryland]]. In 1980, Columbia Data Products made some [[Zilog Z80|Z80]]-based computers, most notably their Commander 900 series, which had several models, some of which were [[multiprocessor]]s and had graphics capabilities.<ref name="Enterprise1980">{{cite book|title=Columbia MPUs Get Graphics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rO0QAcSJpQUC&pg=RA1-PA70|date=September 15, 1980|publisher=Computerworld|page=70|issn=0010-4841}}</ref> CDP introduced the [[MPC 1600]] "Multi Personal Computer", designed by David Howse,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=14Kfbrc6cbAC&pg=PA451 Aboard the Columbia], By Bill Machrone, Page 451, Jun 1983, PC Mag</ref> in June 1982. It was an exact functional copy of the [[IBM Personal Computer]] model 5150 except for the [[BIOS]] which was [[Clean room design|Clean room designed]]. [[IBM]] had published the [[Industry Standard Architecture|bus]] and BIOS specifications, wrongly assuming that this would not be enough to facilitate unlicensed copying of the design, but be enough to encourage the add-on market. CDP advertisements stated that the MPC "can use software and hardware originally intended for the IBM Personal Computer".<ref name="byte198210">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1982-10/1982_10_BYTE_07-10_Computers_in_Business#page/n81/mode/2up | title=Check The Chart Before You Choose Your New 16-Bit Computer System. | work=BYTE | date=October 1982 | accessdate=October 19, 2013 | author=Advertisement | pages=83}}</ref> The "Multi" in its name hinted to the fact that it could also run the multi-user operating system [[MP/M-86]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/03/13/science/personal-computers-rivals-stay-one-step-ahead-of-ibm-portable.html|title=PERSONAL COMPUTERS; RIVALS STAY ONE STEP AHEAD OF I.B.M. PORTABLE|work=The New York Times |date=March 13, 1984 |quote="Columbia Data Products (301-992- 3400) turns out another split-personality computer, appropriately named the Multi-Personal Computer. Using only the Intel 8088 microprocessor, it manifests its duality in an ability to run both I.B.M.-oriented software and software requiring an operating system called MP/M-86." |last1=Sandberg-Diment |first1=Erik }}</ref> The MPC was the first [[IBM PC compatible|IBM PC clone]] and was actually superior to the IBM original. It came with 128 [[kilobyte|KB]] [[RAM]] standard, compared to the IBM's 64 KB maximum. The MPC had eight PC [[expansion card|expansion slots]], with one filled by its video card. Its [[floppy disk]] drive interface was built into the motherboard. The IBM PC, in contrast, had only five expansion slots, with the video card and floppy disk controller taking two of them. The MPC also included two floppy disk drives, one parallel and two serial ports, which were all optional on the original IBM PC. The MPC was followed up with a portable PC, the 32 pound (15 kg) "luggable" '''Columbia VP''' in 1983. In May 1983, [[Future Computing]] ranked Columbia and [[Compaq]] computers as "Best" in the category of "Operationally Compatible", its highest tier of PC compatibility.<ref name="ward198311">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1983-11/1983_11_BYTE_08-11_Inside_the_IBM_PC#page/n249/mode/2up | title=Levels of PC Compatibility | work=BYTE | date=November 1983 | accessdate=March 19, 2016 | author=Ward, Ronnie | pages=248–249}}</ref> ''[[PC Magazine]]'' in June 1983 criticized the MPC's documentation, but reported that it had very good hardware and software compatibility with the IBM PC.<ref name="sandler198306">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=14Kfbrc6cbAC&pg=PA447 | title=Columbia: Call It A "Work-Alike". | work=PC Magazine | date=June 1983 | accessdate=October 21, 2013 | author=Sandler, Corey | pages=447}}</ref> ''[[Byte (magazine)|BYTE]]'' in November 1984 approved of the portable MPC-VP's PC compatibility, reporting that it ran ''[[Microsoft Flight Simulator]]'', [[WordStar]], [[Lotus 1-2-3]], [[DBase|dBASE II]], and other popular applications without problems. It concluded that the computer was "one of the best overall bargains on the market today".<ref name="callamaras198411">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1984-11/1984_11_BYTE_09-12_New_Chips#page/n273/mode/2up | title=The Columbia Multipersonal Computer-VP | work=BYTE | date=November 1984 | accessdate=October 23, 2013 | author=Callamaras, Peter V. | pages=276}}</ref> The success of the MPC and its successors built CDP revenue from US$9.4 million in 1982 to US$56 million in 1983, with an [[Initial public offering|IPO]] at US$11 in January 1983.<ref>''New York Times'', February 16, 1984</ref> In February 1984, IBM announced the introduction of their [[IBM Portable Personal Computer|first portable PC]], thus putting pressure on its competitors in this niche as well, which besides CDP already included Compaq as the market leader in this segment, as well as [[Kaypro]], [[TeleVideo]] Corporation, and [[Eagle Computer]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/17/business/portable-introduced-by-ibm.html PORTABLE INTRODUCED BY I.B.M.]</ref><ref>"IBM Will Sell Portable Version of its PC Model", ''Wall Street Journal'', February 17, 1984.</ref> Columbia also released upgraded desktop models in order to compete with the [[IBM Personal Computer XT|IBM PC XT]]. Their '''MPC 1600-4''', briefly reviewed in ''PC Magazine'' of April 1984, was found a worthy competitor of the XT and without major compatibility problems, even though its hard drive controller was quite different from IBM XT's, being based on a Z80 microprocessor with 64 KB of RAM emulating the [[Application-specific_integrated_circuit|ASIC]] used by IBM.<ref>{{cite book|title=Columbia MPC 1600-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e-gI2W-3JwkC&pg=PA122|date=April 3, 1984|publisher=PC Magazine|page=122|issn=0888-8507}}</ref> In May 1984, Richard T. Gralton, formerly a vice-chairman of [[Savin (photocopiers)|Savin Corporation]], became the president and chief operating officer of CDP.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gilpin |first=Kenneth N. |date=May 10, 1984 |title=BUSINESS PEOPLE; ; Columbia Data Lures Key Officer From Savin |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/10/business/business-people-columbia-data-lures-key-officer-from-savin.html |access-date=February 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The competition in the PC market became more intense in June–July 1984 with several companies, including IBM, announcing price cuts, and with [[AT&T Corporation|AT&T]] entering the PC market as well.<ref>{{cite book|title=Price Cut Pressure on Compatible Makers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yS4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA49|date=July 16, 1984|publisher=InfoWorld|pages=49|issn=0199-6649}}</ref> Besides CDP, other PC clone companies like Eagle were also having a hard time as a result. Discussing the perspectives of the smaller PC firms like CDP, Eagle, or [[Corona Data Systems]], one [[Morgan Stanley]] analyst was quoted in the June 9, 1984, issue of the ''[[New York Times]]'' saying "Some of them are operating at 5 percent pretax margins, and there is just no room for more price cuts."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sanger |first=David E. |date=June 9, 1984 |title=EAGLE'S BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/09/business/eagle-s-battle-for-survival.html |access-date=February 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> By August 1984 the CDP sales were faltering and CDP announced layoffs of 114 employees at its Maryland headquarters and 409 employees at a second factory in [[Gurabo, Puerto Rico]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 15, 1984 |title=Columbia Data |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/15/business/columbia-data.html |access-date=February 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> By April 1985 their stock had dropped to US$0.50 and was delisted.<ref>''Wall Street Journal'', April 26, 1985</ref> The company filed for [[Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 11]] protection in May 1985.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chapter 11 Filing (Published 1985) |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 7, 1985 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828232730/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/07/business/chapter-11-filing.html |archive-date=August 28, 2020 |url-status=live |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/07/business/chapter-11-filing.html}}</ref> === 1986–present: As a software company === {{pic|Columbia Data Products logo 1986.png|Logo used from 1986 to 2013}} The company was taken private in 1986 and continues to operate under that name. In 1987 CDP shifted emphasis from hardware to software.{{citation needed|date=February 2014}} They developed and licensed Small Computer System Interface ([[SCSI]]) software to [[Western Digital]] (WD), a supplier of [[Disk controller|hard drive controllers]]. In 1991, WD sold their SCSI business to [[Future Domain]], where it languished. CDP is now headquartered in [[Altamonte Springs, Florida]]. The company currently specializes in [[backup|data backup]]. == See also == * [[Altos Computer Systems]] * [[Compaq Portable]] * [[Hyperion (computer)]] * [[Seequa Chameleon]] == References == {{Reflist}} == Further reading == * {{cite book|author=Tony Webster|title=[[Microcomputer Buyer's Guide]]|year=1983|publisher=[[McGraw-Hill]]|isbn=978-0-07-068959-6|edition=2nd}} has a more complete company profile, including non-8086 products * {{cite book|title=Columbia Data Fights For Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5C4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA17|date=March 11, 1985|publisher=[[InfoWorld]]|pages=17–18|issn=0199-6649}} * {{cite book|title=Clone Maker Columbia Closes. Officers Resign From Bankrupt Company To Form Rival Computer Firm On Same Day|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CC8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA24|date=July 8, 1985|publisher=[[InfoWorld Media Group]]|pages=24–25|issn=0199-6649}} * {{cite book|title=Columbia Wins Court Round. Competitor Formed By Former Officers Appeals Injunction, Markets Its Own PC Compatible|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_S4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA18|date=August 19, 1985|publisher=InfoWorld|page=18|issn=0199-6649}} * {{cite book|title=Retailer tries to breathe new life into Columbia Data Products|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6dLTc6Wv3Y0C&pg=PA114|date=September 1, 1986|publisher=[[Computerworld]]|page=114, continues on p. 97|issn=0010-4841}} == External links == *[https://www.cdpi.com/ Columbia Data Products Inc.] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120709052440/http://www.cdp.com/history.shtml Archived company history] [[Category:1976 establishments in Florida]] [[Category:Computer companies of the United States]] [[Category:Computer hardware companies]] [[Category:Software companies of the United States]]
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