Tecmar Inc. was an American manufacturer of

personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tech ...

enhancement products based in

Solon, Ohio Solon ( ) is a city in southeastern Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. A suburb of Cleveland, it is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. According to the 2020 census, the population of Solon was 24,262. The city has been recognized by '' ...

. The company was founded in 1974 by Martin Alpert, M.D., and Carolyn Alpert. The company's first products were computerized medical equipment; the company shortly after pivoted to

data acquisition Data acquisition is the process of sampling signals that measure real-world physical conditions and converting the resulting samples into digital numeric values that can be manipulated by a computer. Data acquisition systems, abbreviated by the acro ...

boards for the first generation of

microcomputer A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer having a central processing unit (CPU) made out of a microprocessor. The computer also includes memory and input/output (I/O) circuitry together mounted on a printed circuit board (P ...

s. Popular products included the Scientific Solutions LabMaster series of boards for S-100 and

Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

Scientific Solutions

In 1981, at the

COMDEX COMDEX (an abbreviation of COMputer Dealers' EXhibition) was a computer expo trade show held in the Las Vegas Valley of Nevada, United States, each November from 1979 to 2003. It was one of the largest computer trade shows in the world, usually ...

show, Tecmar introduced 20

expansion card In computing, an expansion card (also called an expansion board, adapter card, peripheral card or accessory card) is a printed circuit board that can be inserted into an electrical connector, or expansion slot (also referred to as a bus sl ...

s for the new

IBM Personal Computer The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a tea ...

(IBM PC) announced three months earlier. Using experience in developing scientific and industrial products for

Intel 8086 The 8086 (also called iAPX 86) is a 16-bit microprocessor chip designed by Intel between early 1976 and June 8, 1978, when it was released. The Intel 8088, released July 1, 1979, is a slightly modified chip with an external 8-bit data bus (allow ...

microcomputers, the company purchased two PCs on the first day and up to 50 employees worked on the peripherals; Tecmar's speed surprised even IBM. These products included the Scientific Solutions LabMaster, LabTender,

IEEE-488 IEEE 488 is a short-range digital communications 8-bit parallel multi-master interface bus specification developed by Hewlett-Packard as HP-IB (Hewlett-Packard Interface Bus). It subsequently became the subject of several standards, and ...

, BaseBoard, TimeMaster, GraphicsMaster, memory expansion boards, external

hard disk drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magn ...

s and

tape drive A tape drive is a data storage device that reads and writes data on a magnetic tape. Magnetic tape data storage is typically used for offline, archival data storage. Tape media generally has a favorable unit cost and a long archival stability. ...

s. In 1985, Tecmar incorporated Scientific Solutions Inc. and used this new company to design and distribute the data acquisition products. Their early achievements are now well known and expressed by their corporate saying: Scientific Solutions First in PC Data Acquisition. Scientific Solutions has been an independent company since 1995 and is still active .

Repositioning as a tape brand

In 1986, Tecmar was acquired by the technology holding company

Rexon Rexon Business Machines, later Rexon, Inc., was a manufacturer of small business computer systems founded by Ben C. Wang in 1978 in Culver City, California. It also became a major manufacturer of tape drives and related products. At its height, ...

. Martin Alpert stayed on the board of directors briefly before founding

Cumulus Corporation Cumulus Corporation (often shortened to Cumulus Corp.) was an American computer peripheral and system manufacturer active from 1987 to 1993. Based in Beachwood, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland) and started by Tecmar founder Martin Alpert, the compa ...

to market expansion cards for the

IBM PS/2 The Personal System/2 or PS/2 is IBM's second generation of personal computers. Released in 1987, it officially replaced the IBM PC, XT, AT, and PC Convertible in IBM's lineup. Many of the PS/2's innovations, such as the 16550 UART (serial p ...

. While Scientific Solutions continued to design and market scientific and multimedia products, Tecmar concentrated on data storage. In 1991, Rexon purchased two other tape drive manufacturers, WangTek and WangDAT to add to the Tecmar product line. Then in 1995, while Rexon was having financial difficulties, Tecmar was sold to

Legacy Storage Systems Mad Catz Global Limited (formerly Mad Catz Interactive, Inc.) is an American Chinese-based company that provides interactive entertainment products marketed under Mad Catz, GameShark (gaming products) and TRITTON (audio products). Mad Catz distr ...

and Scientific Solutions continued as an independent company focused on the original Tecmar product line of data acquisition equipment. Three years later, in 1998, Tecmar was sold to a new holding company, TTI Holdings of Longmont, Colorado, which positioned Tecmar as a comprehensive

magnetic tape data storage Magnetic-tape data storage is a system for storing digital information on magnetic tape using digital recording. Tape was an important medium for primary data storage in early computers, typically using large open reels of 7-track, later 9-tr ...

brand. This was reinforced in 1999 when

Iomega Iomega (later LenovoEMC) produced external, portable, and networked data storage products. Established in the 1980s in Roy, Utah, United States, Iomega sold more than 410 million digital storage drives and disks, including the Zip drive floppy ...

sold their

Ditto DITTO is a company that sells software that aids eyewear companies sell their products online using virtual fitting. Originally DITTO was a retailer that sold designer prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses. The company is based in San Francisco, ...

brand to Tecmar. At this time, Tecmar offered DAT,

QIC QIC may refer to: * QIC-United Evangelical Church (Qua Iboe Church), a Christian denomination in Nigeria * Quarter-inch cartridge, a magnetic tape data storage format * Queensland Investment Corporation, an investment fund operated by the state g ...

Travan Travan is an 8 mm magnetic tape cartridge design developed by the 3M company, used for the storage of data in computer backups and mass storage. Over time, subsequent versions of Travan cartridges and drives have been developed that provide gre ...

and Ditto magnetic tape technologies. In 2000,

Overland Data Overland Storage is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sphere 3D Corp. It has acquired Tandberg Data shortly before being acquired by Sphere 3D itself. The two subsidiaries were later rebranded under the common Overland-Tandberg brand. History It was ...

saw this and acquired Tecmar in an effort to complement its line of higher end tape products. As of 2007, Tecmar is a dormant corporation owned by Overland.

References

{{Reflist, colwidth=30em 1974 disestablishments in Ohio 2007 disestablishments in Ohio American companies established in 1974 American companies disestablished in 2007 Computer companies established in 1974 Computer companies disestablished in 2007 Computer storage companies Defunct companies based in Ohio Defunct computer companies of the United States Defunct computer hardware companies Technology companies established in 1974 Technology companies disestablished in 2007