Documation_Inc.

Documation

Documation

American computer hardware manufacturer

Documation was an American Stock Exchange-listed computer hardware manufacturer[1] founded in 1969[2] in Melbourne, Florida that went public in 1976.[3] They made (punched card) card readers used in some American elections 3 decades later.[4] They also produced Impact Line printers.[5]

In late 1980,[6] Storage Technology Corporation (STC) acquired Documation, which was subsequently spun off, and those companies which subdivided from it, most of which use Documation-like names, no longer manufacture computer peripherals.

Documation was described as "a financially troubled printer manufacturer."[6]

Picture of Documation M600, a machine that reads 80 column punched cards at 600 cards per minute.

IMPACT Line printers

Documation's IMPACT 3000, named for its 3,000 lines per minute rating,[7] was followed a year later by the 3,800 LPM IMPACT 3800.[5]

A 5,000 lines per minute printer was introduced in 1986,[8] by which time the company was operating under the name StorageTek Printer Corp.[2] Like earlier impact printer models, it is manufactured in Florida. At the time of the Series 5000's introduction, the company said that "impact printers dominate 85 percent of the market."

The company's laser printers are rebadged from Siemens.[2]

Documation's Burroughs-rebadged printers

Four Documation printers, rebadged by Burroughs as DOC 2000B, DOC 1800B, DOC 1500B and DOC 1250B were introduced in 1978.[9]

Per their names, they were rated at "2,000-, 1,800-, 1,500- and 1,250" lines per minute, when using 48 character ASCII.

Card readers

Among the card readers[10][11] made by Documation for minicomputers in the 1970s were:

  • M-200 card reader, 300 cards/minute[12] also sold by DEC as the CR-11 card reader for the PDP-11[13][14]
  • M-600 card reader, 600 cards/minute, also sold by HP as 2892A and 2893A [15]
  • M-1000-L card reader 1,000 cards/minute[16]

Their card readers have been used in elections,[4][17] including the 2000 "Chads" election in Florida.[18]

End-user market

In late 1977 Documation successfully[19] entered the end-user market. They initially focused on selling card readers to end-users; their model 6501 is IBM-compatible.[19][20]

They subsequently added line printers to the equipment they sold to end-users.

Storage Technology Corporation and thereafter

By 1992, the name Documation was no longer affiliated with Storage Technology Corporation in the US, but the latter still owned two Documation-named subsidiaries, one in France and the other in UK.[21]

References

  1. [1]
    "Companies List Earnings". The New York Times. June 5, 1979.
  2. [2]
    Catherine Hinman (August 10, 1987). "Storagetek Cruising Now Palm Bay Workers Celebrate Future". Orlando Sentinel.
  3. [3]
    John H. Allan (September 3, 1976). "Market Place". The New York Times.
  4. [4]
    (2006 elections, Arizona) "Certified Voting Equipment Before 2006 - Arizona Secretary of State" (PDF). Dec 7, 2005. "Ballot counting equipment ... Documation card reader
  5. [5]
    "New IMPACT 3800 Line Printer, World's Fastest". Computerworld. July 16, 1979.
  6. [6]
    "STC plans Documation acquisition". Computerworld. September 15, 1980. p. 71.
  7. [7]
    "Documation IMPACT 3000 Line Printer". June 5, 1978. p. 135.
  8. [8]
    Catherine Hinman (March 31, 1986). "New Impact Printer May Be Stroke Of Luck Documation Hangs Hopes On Computer Product". The Orlando Sentinel.
  9. [9]
    "Burroughs Users Gain Printers". Computerworld. March 27, 1978.
  10. [10]
    "Documation Card Readers". Computerworld. December 13, 1972. p. 53.
  11. [11]
    "Preparing for the 1980s". Computerworld. July 30, 1979. p. 58.
  12. [12]
    Documation M-200 Card Reader Manual, 1972
  13. [13]
    Documation M-200 photo
  14. [14]
    "Full text of "documation :: Documation M-200 Card Reader".
  15. [15]
    "2892A Card Reader". HPmuseum.net. Retrieved 2017-09-11.
  16. [16]
    Documation M1000L Card Reader Archived 2012-07-21 at archive.today
  17. [17]
    Bob Miller (August 8, 2002). "Ballot machinery malfunction won't alter Cape County vote". SEmissourian.com (Southeast Missourian).
  18. [18]
    "Dimpled and Pregnant Chad are not votes". several counties used ... Documation card reader
  19. [19]
    Molly Upton (December 19, 1977). "Documation Pleased With Its Decision to Supply". Computerworld. p. 52w. receiving about half its revenues from end-user business
  20. [20]
    name also resembles that of IBM 2501 Card Reader
  21. [21]
    "Storage Technology Corporation".
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