Compis
Encyclopedia
Compis Scandis (Norwegian
name) was a computer system designed and sold to schools beginning 1984. Since it was intended for educational use, it received the name Compis, which is short for COMPuter In School. The name can also be interpreted as a pun on the Scandinavian word kompis, meaning friend or pal. The development was started by Svenska Datorer in 1982 and was overtaken by TeleNova when the former went bankrupt. The computer was distributed by Esselte
and mostly marketed towards, and sold to, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish gymnasium-level
schools.
The computer was based on the Intel 80186
CPU
and with CP/M-86
as the operating system in ROM
(although it could also run MS-DOS
from disk). The computer had a wide selection of ports, including one for a light pen
. The Compis project was criticized from the start, and as the move to IBM PC
compatibility came it was left behind and finally cancelled in 1988 although it was in use well into the 1990s.
Notable applications being run on the Compis in an educational environment was:
Some schools had simple local area network
s of Scandis computers, where 10-20 machines shared one hard disk
of typically 10MB
capacity.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
name) was a computer system designed and sold to schools beginning 1984. Since it was intended for educational use, it received the name Compis, which is short for COMPuter In School. The name can also be interpreted as a pun on the Scandinavian word kompis, meaning friend or pal. The development was started by Svenska Datorer in 1982 and was overtaken by TeleNova when the former went bankrupt. The computer was distributed by Esselte
Esselte
Esselte is privately held company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, USA. It is a holding company, specializing in office products. It owns several companies, including Pendaflex, Leitz, Oxford, Xyron, Rapid, and an operating company also called Esselte....
and mostly marketed towards, and sold to, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish gymnasium-level
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
schools.
The computer was based on the Intel 80186
Intel 80186
The 80188 is a version with an 8-bit external data bus, instead of 16-bit. This makes it less expensive to connect to peripherals. The 80188 is otherwise very similar to the 80186. It has a throughput of 1 million instructions per second....
CPU
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
and with CP/M-86
CP/M-86
CP/M-86 was a version of the CP/M operating system that Digital Research made for the Intel 8086 and Intel 8088. The commands are those of CP/M-80. Executable files used the relocatable .CMD file format...
as the operating system in ROM
Read-only memory
Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
(although it could also run MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
from disk). The computer had a wide selection of ports, including one for a light pen
Light pen
A light pen is a computer input device in the form of a light-sensitive wand used in conjunction with a computer's CRT TV set or monitor. It allows the user to point to displayed objects, or draw on the screen, in a similar way to a touch screen but with greater positional accuracy...
. The Compis project was criticized from the start, and as the move to IBM PC
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
compatibility came it was left behind and finally cancelled in 1988 although it was in use well into the 1990s.
Notable applications being run on the Compis in an educational environment was:
- COMALCOMALCOMAL is a computer programming language developed in Denmark by Benedict Løfstedt and Børge R. Christensen in 1973.The "COMAL 80 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE REPORT" contains the formal definition of the language.- Design :...
interpreter - Turbo Pascal 3.0Turbo PascalTurbo Pascal is a software development system that includes a compiler and an integrated development environment for the Pascal programming language running on CP/M, CP/M-86, and DOS, developed by Borland under Philippe Kahn's leadership...
compiler, under the name Scandis-Pascal - WordStarWordStarWordStar is a word processor application, published by MicroPro International, originally written for the CP/M operating system but later ported to DOS, that enjoyed a dominant market share during the early to mid-1980s. Although Seymour I...
word processor - Harmony software: word processing, spreadsheet and database. The name was a pun on Lotus Symphony, the dominant productivity software at the time.
Some schools had simple local area network
Local area network
A local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...
s of Scandis computers, where 10-20 machines shared one hard disk
Hard disk
A hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
of typically 10MB
Megabyte
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
capacity.
External links
- Compis Info - A site dedicated to the Compis
- Telenova Compis - some documentation available here (page in Swedish).