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Pronto Computers
Pronto Computers, Inc., was an American computer company based in Torrance, California, active from 1983 to 1987. During its brief existence, the company released a duo of IBM PC compatible computer systems and a family of high-spec graphics cards. Pronto's first product, the System 16, was widely lauded for its graphical prowess and industrial design; in 1983, '' I.D.'' magazine named it the best-designed product in the field of instrumentation and equipment. The System 16 was followed up with the Pronto Transportable Solution, a portable computer. Both it and the Pronto 16 ran the Intel 80186, a microprocessor seldom used in IBM PC compatibles. Pronto Computers went bankrupt in 1987, shortly after Black Monday. History Pronto Computers was incorporated in Torrance, California, in March 1983. Its founding members were Henry Gasbarro, CEO; Skip Hansen, vice president of engineering and sales; Doris V. Kaplan, comptroller; and Judy Anthony, head of product marketing. According to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torrance, California
Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan area. A small section of the city, , abuts the Pacific Ocean. Torrance has a moderate year-round climate with average rainfall of per year.City of Torrance Website: About Torrance () Retrieved April 7, 2009 Torrance was incorporated in 1921, and at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census had a population of 147,067 residents. Torrance has a beachfront and 30 parks located around the city. It is also the birthplace of the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO). History Pre-colonial era For tho ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IBM Personal Computer XT
The IBM Personal Computer XT (model 5160, often shortened to PC/XT) is the second computer in the IBM Personal Computer line, released on March 8, 1983. Except for the addition of a built-in Hard disk drive, hard drive and extra expansion slots, it is very similar to the original IBM PC model 5150 from 1981. Name IBM did not specify an expanded form of "XT" on the machine, press releases, brochures or documentation, but some publications expanded the term as "''eXtended Technology''" or just "''eXTended''". Features The XT was regarded as an incremental improvement over the PC and a disappointment compared to the next-generation successor that some had anticipated. Compared to the original IBM PC, the XT has the following major differences: * The number of expansion slots was increased from five to eight * Base RAM was increased to at least 128 KB * 2x32KB ROM ICs replace the previous 5x8KB ROM ICs * A 10 MB hard drive was included on most sub-models, with a disk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Companies Disestablished In 1987
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label that was previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Initial Public Offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment banks, who also arrange for the shares to be listed on one or more stock exchanges. Through this process, colloquially known as ''floating'', or ''going public'', a privately held company is transformed into a public company. Initial public offerings can be used to raise new equity capital for companies, to monetize the investments of private shareholders such as company founders or private equity investors, and to enable easy trading of existing holdings or future capital raising by becoming publicly traded. After the IPO, shares are traded freely in the open market at what is known as the free float. Stock exchanges stipulate a minimum free float both in absolute terms (the total value as determined by the share price multiplied ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IBM RT PC
The IBM RT PC (RISC Technology Personal Computer) is a family of workstation computers from IBM introduced in 1986. These were the first commercial computers from IBM that were based on a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) architecture. The RT PC uses IBM's proprietary ROMP microprocessor, which commercialized technologies pioneered by IBM Research's 801 experimental minicomputer (the 801 was the first RISC). The RT PC runs three operating systems: AIX, the Academic Operating System (AOS), and Pick. The RT PC's specifications were regarded as "less than impressive" compared to contemporary workstations by its competitors in that particular market, although the product was deemed deserving of "a healthy amount of respect", particularly with the prospect of IBM as "a serious competitor" who, despite having a product whose performance was an estimated 18 months behind other vendors, would potentially be able to catch up quickly by applying the company's renowned technologi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IBM Personal Computer/AT
The IBM Personal Computer AT (model 5170, abbreviated as IBM AT or PC/AT) was released in 1984 as the fourth model in the IBM Personal Computer line, following the IBM PC/XT and its IBM Portable PC variant. It was designed around the Intel 80286 microprocessor. Name IBM did not specify an expanded form of ''AT'' on the machine, press releases, brochures or documentation, but some sources expand the term as ''Advanced Technology'', including at least one internal IBM document. History IBM's 1984 introduction of the AT was seen as an unusual move for the company, which typically waited for competitors to release new products before producing its own models. At $4,000–6,000, it was only slightly more expensive than considerably slower IBM models. The announcement surprised rival executives, who admitted that matching IBM's prices would be difficult. No major competitor showed a comparable computer at COMDEX Las Vegas that year. Features The AT is IBM PC compatible, wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computer-aided Design
Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve communications through documentation, and to create a database for manufacturing. Designs made through CAD software help protect products and inventions when used in patent applications. CAD output is often in the form of electronic files for print, machining, or other manufacturing operations. The terms computer-aided drafting (CAD) and computer-aided design and drafting (CADD) are also used. Its use in designing electronic systems is known as ''electronic design automation'' (''EDA''). In mechanical design it is known as ''mechanical design automation'' (''MDA''), which includes the process of creating a technical drawing with the use of computer software. CAD software for mechanical design uses either vector-based graphics to depict t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Industry Standard Architecture
Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) is the 16-bit internal bus (computing), bus of IBM PC/AT and similar computers based on the Intel 80286 and its immediate successors during the 1980s. The bus was (largely) backward compatible with the 8-bit bus of the 8088-based IBM PC, including the IBM PC/XT as well as IBM PC compatibles. Originally referred to as the PC bus (8-bit) or AT bus (16-bit), it was also termed ''I/O Channel'' by IBM. The ISA term was coined as a retronym by IBM PC clone manufacturers in the late 1980s or early 1990s as a reaction to IBM attempts to replace the AT bus with its new and incompatible Micro Channel architecture. The 16-bit ISA bus was also used with 32-bit processors for several years. An attempt to extend it to 32 bits, called Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA), was not very successful, however. Later buses such as VESA Local Bus and Peripheral Component Interconnect, PCI were used instead, often along with ISA slots on the same mainbo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erasable Programmable Read-only Memory
An EPROM (rarely EROM), or erasable programmable read-only memory, is a type of programmable read-only memory (PROM) integrated circuit, chip that retains its data when its power supply is switched off. Computer memory that can retrieve stored data after a power supply has been turned off and back on is called non-volatile. It is an array of floating-gate transistors individually programmed by an electronic device that supplies higher voltages than those normally used in digital circuits. Once programmed, an EPROM can be erased by exposing it to strong ultraviolet (UV) light source (such as from a mercury-vapor lamp). EPROMs are easily recognizable by the transparent fused quartz (or on later models' resin) window on the top of the package, through which the silicon chip is visible, and which permits exposure to ultraviolet light during erasing. It was invented by Dov Frohman in 1971. Operation Development of the EPROM memory cell (computing), memory cell started with investi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cathode-ray Tube
A cathode-ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing one or more electron guns, which emit electron beams that are manipulated to display images on a phosphorescent screen. The images may represent electrical waveforms on an oscilloscope, a Film frame, frame of video on an Analog television, analog television set (TV), Digital imaging, digital raster graphics on a computer monitor, or other phenomena like radar targets. A CRT in a TV is commonly called a picture tube. CRTs have also been Williams tube, used as memory devices, in which case the screen is not intended to be visible to an observer. The term ''cathode ray'' was used to describe electron beams when they were first discovered, before it was understood that what was emitted from the cathode was a beam of electrons. In CRT TVs and computer monitors, the entire front area of the tube is scanned repeatedly and systematically in a fixed pattern called a raster scan, raster. In color devices, an image is produced by con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Planar (computer Graphics)
In computer graphics, planar is the method of arranging pixel data into several '' bitplanes'' of RAM. Each bit in a bitplane is related to one pixel on the screen. Unlike packed, high color, or true color graphics, the whole dataset for an individual pixel is not in one specific location in RAM, but spread across the bitplanes that make up the display. Planar arrangement determines how pixel data is laid out in memory, not how the data for a pixel is interpreted; pixel data in a planar arrangement could encode either indexed or direct color. This scheme originated in the early days of computer graphics. The memory chips of this era can not supply data fast enough on their own to generate a picture on a TV screen or monitor from a large framebuffer. By splitting the data up into multiple planes, each plane can be stored on a separate memory chip. These chips can then be read in parallel at a slower rate, allowing graphical display on modest hardware, like game consoles of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
