Core International

Core International, Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryComputer hardware and Computer software
Founded1979 Incorporated 1981 in Florida, United States
FounderHal Prewitt
HeadquartersOriginally Boca Raton, Florida
Key people
  • After sale:
  • Dr. Susumu Yoshida
  • Hajime Unoki
  • Yoshio Ishigaki
Products
Total assetsUnknown
Websitewww.sony.com

CORE International, Inc., commonly referred to as Core,[1] was a multinational computer and technology corporation headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida.

The company was founded in 1979[2] by Hal Prewitt as a technology firm to develop, market and support computer-related products and services. They were known for supporting IBM's first business microcomputers such as the 5100, 5110 and 5120. With the introduction of the IBM PC and PC AT, the company provided an extensive line of disk drives, backup and personal computer products. Core remained a private company solely owned by Prewitt until 1993[3] when purchased[4] by Aiwa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony.

History

1975–1980: Founding

Core was founded by Prewitt to sell and program minicomputers, assemble microcomputers, attach computer peripherals, and integrate them into business computer systems.

It was marketed as an association and structured as a for-profit organization, specifically for users of the IBM 5100 Series and IBM System/23.[5] The objective was to sell by mail-order computer supplies, pre-developed (off-the-shelf) programs and hardware maintenance service. Supplies included printer ribbons, paper, diskettes and tape cartridges. Software ranged from simple mortgage interest calculators, word processing, games and utilities to advanced payroll, accounting and industry specific applications.

The company was successful at attracting users of the IBM 5100 Series as IBM sales representatives referred their customers to the organization.[2]

1981–1983: Hard disk drives, LAN and PC for IBM 5100 series

In September 1982, Core announced the availability of the first hard disk drives[6] and local area network (LAN)[7] for the IBM 5100 Series. IBM systems as sold previously were storage limited and without a network option; the 5100 had tape with the 5110 and 5120 restricted to 1.2 MB floppy disks. Core drives were available starting at 10 MB and increased up to 160 MB in removable and fixed configurations.

CoreNet, the LAN built into each Core storage system, allowed interconnection of up to eight IBM 5100 Series systems, providing the ability to share storage and data. This configuration pre-dated LANs of the period for the IBM PC and compatibles.

In 1983, Core introduced two major solutions as IBM was withdrawing from marketing the IBM 5100 series. First, software called PC51 allowed 5100 series computer programs written in BASIC to run unmodified on the IBM PC and compatibles under MS-DOS. Second, a LAN card for the IBM PC and compatibles that provided connection to the IBM 5100 Series network. These solutions allowed IBM 5110/5120 series users to add new technology and increase productivity while retaining their investment in equipment and software.

1984–1986: Educating the marketplace, IBM VAD, hard disk drives, PC and backup

In 1984, Core expanded its product focus and entered the personal computer (PC) marketplace. The company's first product introduced the year before, called PC-51, was a completely new operating system (and language) for the IBM PC and compatibles. It enabled a PC to function like an IBM 5110/5120 system, demonstrating the company's strong software development capabilities. Not only did this allow users to continue using the application software they had already developed, but it increased processing speed by a factor of two to ten times, and reduced maintenance cost up to 90%.

This new product opened up an unexplored marketplace for CORE by allowing the company to become an IBM value-added dealer (VAD) and sell both the IBM PC and CORE products individually and as a combined package. IBM authorized and promoted this relationship because it provided an upgrade path for their customers that was previously unavailable. As a result of the early development effort for the IBM 5100 series, CORE released its own family of high-performance hard disk drives called the ATplus Series,[8] with better capacity, reliability and performance than IBM's drives.

A few weeks after the introduction of the new IBM AT in August 1984, CORE discovered problems in the factory-issued hard disk drive. As the media and marketplace learned of IBM's disk problems, CORE was in a unique position to capitalize on an opportunity without any significant competition. For more than six months, the IBM AT model with the CMI was in short supply.[9] Delays were attributed to lack of drives, technical problems with the machine and other issues.

Core desired a major partner and selected Control Data Corporation (CDC) to assist with the introduction of the drives for the PC marketplace. The announcement[10][11] was made in February 1985.

Purchasers of the IBM AT reported some dealers[12][13] were installing inferior drives into the computer without disclosing this fact. Core developed the DiskP program, later replaced by the COREtest[14] (DOS based), to identify sub-standard products by providing a visual demonstration of the speed and comparative measurements of hard disk drives and controllers. Many computer publications,[15][16] hardware manufacturers, distributors, dealers[17] and independent evaluation firms[18] relied on COREtest for product comparison, which made COREtest the industry standard[19] and most often quoted benchmark.

References

  1. ^ "CORE". Registered Trademark. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Hal Prewitt; a computer whiz kid challenges the big boys". Florida Trend. August 1, 1987. Archived from the original on November 6, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  3. ^ "Japanese Firm Invests Heavily In Boca's Core". Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  4. ^ "Aiwa Co Ltd(Sony Corp) acquires Core International". Thomson Financial Mergers & Acquisitions. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  5. ^ "Join Core circa 1980" (PDF). Core. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
  6. ^ "Save IBM 5110/20's from junk yards of the world" (PDF). Core. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
  7. ^ "September 1982 Core Newsletter" (PDF). Core. Retrieved April 14, 2010.
  8. ^ "ATplus" (PDF). Core. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
  9. ^ Waiting for the AT Train. InfoWorld. January 28, 1985. Retrieved April 14, 2010.
  10. ^ "Core, Control Data Offer AT Disk-Upgrade Kits" (PDF). Core. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
  11. ^ "IBM VAD Sells own drives" (PDF). Core. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
  12. ^ Dealers Pawn Off Inferior Drives. InfoWorld. March 10, 1986. Retrieved April 14, 2010.
  13. ^ Substandard Components Still Surfacing. InfoWorld. March 31, 1986. Retrieved April 14, 2010.
  14. ^ "Useful DOS Software". Joe Forster. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  15. ^ Equity II Competes as a low-priced clone. InfoWorld. June 9, 1986. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  16. ^ "Buying Computer Hardware" (PDF). Patsula Media. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  17. ^ Borrett, Lloyd. ""Megabyte Tarnish," PC Australia, September 1985; url accessed March 8, 2010
  18. ^ "Patent 5295247". United States Patent Office. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  19. ^ A User's View. InfoWorld. June 11, 1990. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.