Editing General Computer Corporation

{{Short description|American hardware and software company}}
{{About|the printer company|the software company|Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe#Technology sector}}
{{distinguish|text=the [[GNU Compiler Collection]] (GCC) software}}
{{Infobox company
|name = General Computer Corporation
|logo = File:GCC Technologies logo.svg
|logo_caption = Company logo after a name change
|founders = Doug Macrae<br>John Tylko<br>Kevin Curran
|foundation = 1981<br>[[United States]]
|defunct = 2015
|fate = Disestablished
|location = [[New Bedford, Massachusetts|New Bedford]], [[Massachusetts]], [[United States]]
}}
'''General Computer Corporation''' (GCC), later '''GCC Technologies''', was an American hardware and software company formed in 1981 by Doug Macrae, John Tylko,<ref name="aurora_leadership">{{cite web
| url=http://www.aurora.aero/leadership/
| title=Leadership – Aurora
| website=Aurora Flight Sciences
| date=22 June 2016
| accessdate=22 June 2016
}}</ref> and Kevin Curran. The company began as a [[video game]] developer and  created the arcade games ''[[Ms. Pac-Man]]'' (1982) in-house for [[Midway Games|Bally MIDWAY]] and ''[[Food Fight (video game)|Food Fight]]'' (1983) as well as designing the hardware for the [[Atari 7800]] console and many of its games. In 1984 the company pivoted to developing home computer peripherals, such as the HyperDrive hard drive for the [[Macintosh 128K]], and printers. GCC was disestablished in 2015.

==History==

GCC started out making mod-kits for arcade video games. ''Super Missile Attack''  was sold as an enhancement board to [[Atari, Inc.]]'s ''[[Missile Command]]''. Atari sued, but ultimately dropped the suit and hired GCC to develop game (and stop making enhancement boards for Atari's games without permission).<ref name="atari_the_golden_years">{{cite web
| url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3766/atari_the_golden_years__a_.php?page=16
| title=Atari: The Golden Years -- A History, 1978-1981
| first=Steve
| last=Fulton
| website=Gamasutra
| date=21 August 2008
| access-date=22 June 2016
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303181631/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3766/atari_the_golden_years__a_.php?page=16
| archive-date=3 March 2016
}}</ref> They created an enhancement kit for ''[[Pac-Man]]'' called ''Crazy Otto'' which they sold to [[Midway Games|Midway]], who in turn sold it as the sequel ''[[Ms. Pac-Man]]'';<ref name="ultimate_history_of_video_games">{{cite book
| title=The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokémon--The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World
| first=Steven 
| last= Kent
| authorlink = Steven L. Kent
| date=2 October 2001
| publisher=Three Rivers Press
| isbn=978-0761536437}}</ref> they also developed ''[[Jr. Pac-Man]]'', that game's successor.

Under Atari, Inc., GCC made the original arcade games ''[[Food Fight (video game)|Food Fight]]'', ''[[Quantum (video game)|Quantum]]'', and the unreleased ''Nightmare''; developed the [[Atari 2600]] versions of ''Ms. Pac-Man'' and ''[[Centipede (video game)|Centipede]]''; produced over half of the [[Atari 5200]] cartridges; and developed the chip design for the [[Atari 7800]], plus the first round of cartridges for that system.

===Peripherals===
In 1984, the company changed direction to make peripherals for [[Macintosh]] computers: the HyperDrive (the Mac's first internal hard drive), the WideWriter 360 large format [[inkjet printer]], and the Personal Laser Printer (the first [[QuickDraw]] [[laser printer]]). Prior to closing, the company focused exclusively on laser printers.<ref name="gccprinters">{{cite news
| url=http://www.gccprinters.com/corporate/history.html
| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402192507/http://gccprinters.com/corporate/history.html
| title=History
| website=GCC Printers
| date=2004
| accessdate=22 June 2016
| archivedate=2 April 2015
}}</ref>

HyperDrive was unusual because the original Macintosh did not have any internal interfaces for hard disks.  It was attached directly to the [[CPU]], and ran about seven times faster than Apple's "Hard Disk 20", an external hard disk that attached to the floppy disk port.

The HyperDrive was considered an elite upgrade at the time, though it was hobbled by Apple's [[Macintosh File System]], which had been designed to manage 400K [[floppy disk]]s; as with other early Macintosh hard disks, the user had to segment the drive such that it appeared to be two or more partitions, called Drawers.

In June 1985 Apple announced that installing GCC peripherals would not violate its warranty prohibiting installing non-Apple components. GCC said that it had cultivated the relationship by providing products to Apple employees.{{r|watt19860127}} The second issue of ''[[MacTech]]'' magazine, in January 1985, included a letter that summed up the excitement:

{{quote|The BIG news is from a company called General Computer. They announced a Mac mod called HyperDrive, which is a [[RAM]] expansion to 512K, and the installation of a 10 meg hard disk with the controller INSIDE THE MACINTOSH. This allows direct booting from the hard disk, free [[modem]] port, no [[serial I/O]] to slow things down, and no external box to carry around. Price is $2,795 on a 128K machine or $2195 on a 512K machine. They do the installation or you can buy a kit from your dealer.}}

In 1986 GCC shipped the HyperDrive 2000, a 20MB internal hard disk that also includes a [[Motorola 68881]] [[floating-point unit]],<ref name="watt19860127">{{Cite magazine |last=Watt |first=Peggy |date=1986-01-27 |title=Mac Plus musters support |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=33QfOHT69aMC&pg=PA27#v=onepage&q&f=true |access-date=2025-05-29 |magazine=Computerworld |pages=27,29 |volume=XX |issue=4}}</ref> but the speed advantage of the HyperDrive had been negated on the new [[Macintosh Plus]] computers by Apple's inclusion of an external [[SCSI]] port.  General Computer responded with the "HyperDrive FX-20" external SCSI hard disk, but drowned in a sea of competitors that offered fast large hard disks.

General Computer changed its name to GCC Technologies and relocated to [[Burlington, Massachusetts]]. They continued to sell [[laser printer]]s until 2015, at which point the company was disestablished.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ma/133124241|title=GCC Technologies|work=OpenCorporates|accessdate=January 9, 2022}}</ref>

==Employees==
* [[Elizabeth Betty Ryan|Elizabeth (Betty) Ryan]]
* [[Lucy Gilbert]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080822120851/http://www.gccprinters.com/ GCC corporate homepage]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEBEDgpnD54 Video: "College Dreams- the story of General Computer" Play Value - ON Networks]

[[Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct computer hardware companies]]
[[Category:Defunct computer systems companies]]
[[Category:Computer printer companies]]
[[Category:Computer peripheral companies]]
[[Category:Defunct video game companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Video game development companies]]
[[Category:Computer companies established in 1981]]
[[Category:Computer companies disestablished in 2015]]
[[Category:Electronics companies established in 1981]]
[[Category:Electronics companies disestablished in 2015]]