Core International, Inc
Encyclopedia
Core International, Inc. commonly known as Core, was a multinational computer
and technology
corporation head-quartered in Boca Raton
, Florida
, United States.
The company is now part of Sony
and no longer exists as stand-alone identity. Founded in 1979 by Hal Prewitt
as a technology firm to develop, market and support computer related products and services. They were best known for support of IBM's
first business microcomputer
s known 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 became very well known as a leading industry developer of disk array
and computer data storage.
Many of its products were the first of their kind, had no direct competition and were widely regarded for their superior performance and reliability. Users and the computer press raved about Core's products. Infoworld
described Core's ATplus "is built like a Sherman tank, offering exceptional performance and reliability." PC Magazine
called them "Workhorses of Performance Computing" and "High-quality construction..breaks the speed barrier for access times" and asked "Will other manufactures follow suit?"
Core was well known for their ingenious advertising and perhaps produced a few of the PC Industry's greatest promotions. The 1985 and 1986 rebate and recall Ad for IBM
PC AT hard disk drives. So successful and controversial, there was a rumor it was a topic at a IBM
board of directors
meeting. And the time where they gave away a FREE IBM
PC AT when purchasing one of Core's ATplus 72 MB drives.
Core remained a private company solely owned by Prewitt
until 1993 when purchased by Aiwa
, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony
.
using his business and personal computer
development experiences. This was the period during the creation of the first microcomputer
s, the launch of the Altair 8800
and founding of Microsoft
. He was selling and programming Minicomputers and assembling these microcomputer
s, attaching computer peripherals, programming and building them into business computer systems.
Core was created under a different business model
. Initially, 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
. The objective was to sell by mail-order computer supplies, pre-developed (off-the-shelf
) programs and hardware maintenance service. Supplies included printer ribbons
and paper
, diskettes
, tape cartridges
. Software ranged from simple mortgage interest calculations, word processing, games and utilities to advanced payroll, accounting and industry specific applications. Users wanted readily available, simple to install and support for software that was also low in cost. Core was able to fill this niche because IBM
had developed the machines with engineering and scientific applications in mind, while business programs such as construction, agriculture, and manufacturing were not generally available. Computer maintenance was an insurance program that provided on-site repairs and replacement parts, all provided by IBM service
but at a lower cost than available directly from IBM
.
The company was very successful attracting users of the IBM 5100 Series
as many IBM
Sales Representatives referred their customers to the organization. While Core grew, profits were used for the continuing development of computer data storage.
machines had a closed architecture, with most the design information unpublished and held secret. Computer systems of this design are extremely or most likely impossible to have the ability to swap components, obtain support from other vendors or upgrade to better configuration/another model unless that option is available from the original manufacturer. The limitations
make a customer dependent on one vendor for products and services for the software and hardware parts of the system.
Core sensed a opportunity to provide greater and faster computer data storage. After a five-year effort, in September 1982 they announced the availability of the first hard disk drives and local area network (LAN)
for the IBM 5100 Series
. IBM systems as sold 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 that would run allowed 5100 series computer programs written in BASIC to run unmodified on the IBM PC and compatibles under MS DOS. And 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.
Core's development of their storage systems, LAN and PC51 software was major technology
engineering
feat without rivals. Due to the complexity and the successful reverse engineering
of the systems, resulted in captive market
as they were the only organization able to provide an upgrade path for these IBM owners.
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 a upgrade path for their customers that was previous 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, 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 once again in a unique position to capitalize on an opportunity, without any significant competition. For more than six months the IBM AT the model with the CMI
was in short supply. Delays were attributed to lack of drives, technical problems with the machine or some other undisclosed issues.
Somewhat surprised by the opportunity and belief to be successful on a timely and international scale, 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 was made in February 1985 and generated a significant amount of press coverage.
Core discovered that a general lack of understanding existed among the news media
and users regarding technology of different computer and mass storage systems. Few understood the value of different systems to the end-user or how to rate the many choices in the marketplace. In response, Core began placing considerable emphasis on user education which resulted in a major contribution to computer industry. Directly from these efforts, the news media
, computer magazines
, product reviewers, dealers and computer manufactures started discussing, providing and promoting "Seek time", "Access time
", "transfer time" and how to value or understand hard disk drives importance in a computer system. The company believed the more end-users learned about computers and the engineering behind Core products, the less these users wanted any other product.
Purchasers of the IBM AT were reporting some dealers were installing inferior drives into the computer without disclosing the fact. To help buyers and for industry education, Core developed the DiskP program, later replaced by the COREtest, (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, hardware manufacturers, distributors, dealers and independent evaluation firms relied on COREtest for product comparison, which made COREtest the industry standard and most often quoted benchmark. As these programs were provide with out charge and freely available from BBS
, computer magazines and dealers, it is believed there was an installed base of over million copies worldwide promoting Core technology and education.
For more than two years, newspapers, magazines and computer publications ran stories on the IBM AT and Computer Memories Inc.(CMI)
hard disk drives problems. Core was usually discussed in these stories which provided the company with immense exposure and value.
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
corporation head-quartered in Boca Raton
Boca Raton, Florida
Boca Raton is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, USA, incorporated in May 1925. In the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 74,764; the 2006 population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 86,396. However, the majority of the people under the postal address of Boca Raton, about...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, United States.
The company is now part of Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
and no longer exists as stand-alone identity. Founded in 1979 by Hal Prewitt
Hal Prewitt
Hal Prewitt is a Race car driver and American businessman born in Hutchinson, Kansas, U.S. and resides in South Beach and Park City, Utah....
as a technology firm to develop, market and support computer related products and services. They were best known for support of IBM's
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
first business microcomputer
Microcomputer
A microcomputer is a computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit. They are physically small compared to mainframe and minicomputers...
s known as the 5100
IBM 5100
The IBM 5100 Portable Computer was a portable computer introduced in September 1975, six years before the IBM PC. It was the evolution of a prototype called the SCAMP that was developed at the IBM Palo Alto Scientific Center in 1973. In January 1978 IBM announced the IBM 5110, its larger cousin,...
, 5110
IBM 5110
The IBM 5110 Computing System was the successor of the IBM 5100 Portable Computer.Three variations of the IBM 5110 were built:* IBM 5110 Model 1 .* IBM 5110 Model 2 ....
and 5120
IBM 5120
The IBM 5120 Computing System was announced in February 1980 as the desktop follow-on to the IBM 5110 Computing System...
. With the introduction of the 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...
and PC AT, the company provided an extensive line of disk drives, backup
Backup
In information technology, a backup or the process of backing up is making copies of data which may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form is back up in two words, whereas the noun is backup....
and personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
products. Core became very well known as a leading industry developer of disk array
Disk array
A disk array is a disk storage system which contains multiple disk drives. It is differentiated from a disk enclosure, in that an array has cache memory and advanced functionality, like RAID and virtualization.Components of a typical disk array include:...
and computer data storage.
Many of its products were the first of their kind, had no direct competition and were widely regarded for their superior performance and reliability. Users and the computer press raved about Core's products. Infoworld
InfoWorld
InfoWorld is an information technology online media and events business operating under the umbrella of InfoWorld Media Group, a division of IDG...
described Core's ATplus "is built like a Sherman tank, offering exceptional performance and reliability." PC Magazine
PC Magazine
PC Magazine is a computer magazine published by Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009...
called them "Workhorses of Performance Computing" and "High-quality construction..breaks the speed barrier for access times" and asked "Will other manufactures follow suit?"
Core was well known for their ingenious advertising and perhaps produced a few of the PC Industry's greatest promotions. The 1985 and 1986 rebate and recall Ad for IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
PC AT hard disk drives. So successful and controversial, there was a rumor it was a topic at a IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
meeting. And the time where they gave away a FREE IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
PC AT when purchasing one of Core's ATplus 72 MB drives.
Core remained a private company solely owned by Prewitt
Hal Prewitt
Hal Prewitt is a Race car driver and American businessman born in Hutchinson, Kansas, U.S. and resides in South Beach and Park City, Utah....
until 1993 when purchased by Aiwa
Aiwa
was a Japanese consumer electronics company, founded in 1951.It produced audio and video equipment from the 1970s until the early 2000s.-History:The Aiwa Corporation slid towards bankruptcy until it was purchased by competitor Sony Corporation. As of October 1, 2002, Aiwa ceased to be a separate...
, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
.
1975–1980: Founding
The company was built on the early work of PrewittHal Prewitt
Hal Prewitt is a Race car driver and American businessman born in Hutchinson, Kansas, U.S. and resides in South Beach and Park City, Utah....
using his business and personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
development experiences. This was the period during the creation of the first microcomputer
Microcomputer
A microcomputer is a computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit. They are physically small compared to mainframe and minicomputers...
s, the launch of the Altair 8800
Altair 8800
The MITS Altair 8800 was a microcomputer design from 1975 based on the Intel 8080 CPU and sold by mail order through advertisements in Popular Electronics, Radio-Electronics and other hobbyist magazines. The designers hoped to sell only a few hundred build-it-yourself kits to hobbyists, and were...
and founding of Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
. He was selling and programming Minicomputers and assembling these microcomputer
Microcomputer
A microcomputer is a computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit. They are physically small compared to mainframe and minicomputers...
s, attaching computer peripherals, programming and building them into business computer systems.
Core was created under a different business model
Business model
A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value...
. Initially, it was marketed as an association
Voluntary association
A voluntary association or union is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement as volunteers to form a body to accomplish a purpose.Strictly speaking, in many jurisdictions no formalities are necessary to start an association...
and structured as a for-profit organization specifically for users of the IBM 5100 Series
IBM 5110
The IBM 5110 Computing System was the successor of the IBM 5100 Portable Computer.Three variations of the IBM 5110 were built:* IBM 5110 Model 1 .* IBM 5110 Model 2 ....
and IBM System/23
IBM System/23
The System/23 Datamaster was announced by IBM in July 1981, only one month before the IBM PC. The Datamaster was an all-in-one computer with text-mode CRT display, keyboard, processor, memory, and two 8-inch floppy disk drives all contained in one cabinet. The processor was an 8-bit Intel 8085,...
. The objective was to sell by mail-order computer supplies, pre-developed (off-the-shelf
Commercial off-the-shelf
In the United States, Commercially available Off-The-Shelf is a Federal Acquisition Regulation term defining a nondevelopmental item of supply that is both commercial and sold in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace, and that can be procured or utilized under government contract...
) programs and hardware maintenance service. Supplies included printer ribbons
Dot matrix printer
A dot matrix printer or impact matrix printer is a type of computer printer with a print head that runs back and forth, or in an up and down motion, on the page and prints by impact, striking an ink-soaked cloth ribbon against the paper, much like the print mechanism on a typewriter...
and paper
Continuous stationery
Continuous stationery or Continuous form paper is paper which is designed for use with dot-matrix printers and line printers. Other names for continuous stationery include fan-fold paper, sprocket feed paper, burst paper, tractor-feed paper, and pin feed paper...
, diskettes
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
, tape cartridges
Magnetic tape data storage
Magnetic tape data storage uses digital recording on to magnetic tape to store digital information. Modern magnetic tape is most commonly packaged in cartridges and cassettes. The device that performs actual writing or reading of data is a tape drive...
. Software ranged from simple mortgage interest calculations, word processing, games and utilities to advanced payroll, accounting and industry specific applications. Users wanted readily available, simple to install and support for software that was also low in cost. Core was able to fill this niche because IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
had developed the machines with engineering and scientific applications in mind, while business programs such as construction, agriculture, and manufacturing were not generally available. Computer maintenance was an insurance program that provided on-site repairs and replacement parts, all provided by IBM service
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
but at a lower cost than available directly from IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
.
The company was very successful attracting users of the IBM 5100 Series
IBM 5110
The IBM 5110 Computing System was the successor of the IBM 5100 Portable Computer.Three variations of the IBM 5110 were built:* IBM 5110 Model 1 .* IBM 5110 Model 2 ....
as many IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
Sales Representatives referred their customers to the organization. While Core grew, profits were used for the continuing development of computer data storage.
1981–1983: Hard disk drives, LAN and PC for IBM 5100 series
These IBMIBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
machines had a closed architecture, with most the design information unpublished and held secret. Computer systems of this design are extremely or most likely impossible to have the ability to swap components, obtain support from other vendors or upgrade to better configuration/another model unless that option is available from the original manufacturer. The limitations
Vendor lock-in
In economics, vendor lock-in, also known as proprietary lock-in or customer lock-in, makes a customer dependent on a vendor for products and services, unable to use another vendor without substantial switching costs...
make a customer dependent on one vendor for products and services for the software and hardware parts of the system.
Core sensed a opportunity to provide greater and faster computer data storage. After a five-year effort, in September 1982 they announced the availability of the first hard disk drives and local area network (LAN)
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...
for the IBM 5100 Series
IBM 5110
The IBM 5110 Computing System was the successor of the IBM 5100 Portable Computer.Three variations of the IBM 5110 were built:* IBM 5110 Model 1 .* IBM 5110 Model 2 ....
. IBM systems as sold were storage limited and without a network option; the 5100
IBM 5100
The IBM 5100 Portable Computer was a portable computer introduced in September 1975, six years before the IBM PC. It was the evolution of a prototype called the SCAMP that was developed at the IBM Palo Alto Scientific Center in 1973. In January 1978 IBM announced the IBM 5110, its larger cousin,...
had tape with the 5110
IBM 5110
The IBM 5110 Computing System was the successor of the IBM 5100 Portable Computer.Three variations of the IBM 5110 were built:* IBM 5110 Model 1 .* IBM 5110 Model 2 ....
and 5120
IBM 5120
The IBM 5120 Computing System was announced in February 1980 as the desktop follow-on to the IBM 5110 Computing System...
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
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...
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
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...
and compatibles
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
.
In 1983, Core introduced two major solutions as IBM was withdrawing from marketing the IBM 5100 series. First, software called PC51 that would run allowed 5100 series computer programs written in BASIC to run unmodified on the IBM PC and compatibles under MS DOS. And 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.
Core's development of their storage systems, LAN and PC51 software was major technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
feat without rivals. Due to the complexity and the successful reverse engineering
Reverse engineering
Reverse engineering is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object, or system through analysis of its structure, function, and operation...
of the systems, resulted in captive market
Captive market
Captive markets are markets where the potential consumers face a severely limited amount of competitive suppliers; their only choices are to purchase what is available or to make no purchase at all. Captive markets result in higher prices and less diversity for consumers...
as they were the only organization able to provide an upgrade path for these IBM owners.
1984–1986: Educating the Marketplace, IBM VAD, Hard Disk Drives, PC and Backup
In 1984, CORE expanded its product focus and entered the PCPersonal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
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
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...
and compatibles
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
. It enabled a PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
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
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
Value Added Dealer (VAD)
Value-added reseller
A value-added reseller is a company that adds features or services to an existing product, then resells it as an integrated product or complete "turn-key" solution...
and sell both the 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...
and CORE products individually and as a combined package. IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
authorized and promoted this relationship because it provided a upgrade path for their customers that was previous 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, 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 once again in a unique position to capitalize on an opportunity, without any significant competition. For more than six months the IBM AT the model with the CMI
Computer Memories Inc.
Computer Memories Inc. was a Chatsworth, California manufacturer of hard disks during the early 1980s. CMI made basic stepper motor-based drives, with low cost in mind....
was in short supply. Delays were attributed to lack of drives, technical problems with the machine or some other undisclosed issues.
Somewhat surprised by the opportunity and belief to be successful on a timely and international scale, Core desired a major partner and selected Control Data Corporation(CDC)
Control Data Corporation
Control Data Corporation was a supercomputer firm. For most of the 1960s, it built the fastest computers in the world by far, only losing that crown in the 1970s after Seymour Cray left the company to found Cray Research, Inc....
to assist with the introduction of the drives for the PC marketplace. The announcement was made in February 1985 and generated a significant amount of press coverage.
Core discovered that a general lack of understanding existed among the news media
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
and users regarding technology of different computer and mass storage systems. Few understood the value of different systems to the end-user or how to rate the many choices in the marketplace. In response, Core began placing considerable emphasis on user education which resulted in a major contribution to computer industry. Directly from these efforts, the news media
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
, computer magazines
Computer magazines
This is a list of magazines marketed primarily for computer and technology enthusiasts or users. The majority of these magazines cover general computer topics or several non-specific subject areas, however a few are also specialized to a certain area of computing and are listed separately.-General...
, product reviewers, dealers and computer manufactures started discussing, providing and promoting "Seek time", "Access time
Access time
Access time is the time delay or latency between a request to an electronic system, and the access being completed or the requested data returned....
", "transfer time" and how to value or understand hard disk drives importance in a computer system. The company believed the more end-users learned about computers and the engineering behind Core products, the less these users wanted any other product.
Purchasers of the IBM AT were reporting some dealers were installing inferior drives into the computer without disclosing the fact. To help buyers and for industry education, Core developed the DiskP program, later replaced by the COREtest, (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, hardware manufacturers, distributors, dealers and independent evaluation firms relied on COREtest for product comparison, which made COREtest the industry standard and most often quoted benchmark. As these programs were provide with out charge and freely available from BBS
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
, computer magazines and dealers, it is believed there was an installed base of over million copies worldwide promoting Core technology and education.
For more than two years, newspapers, magazines and computer publications ran stories on the IBM AT and Computer Memories Inc.(CMI)
Computer Memories Inc.
Computer Memories Inc. was a Chatsworth, California manufacturer of hard disks during the early 1980s. CMI made basic stepper motor-based drives, with low cost in mind....
hard disk drives problems. Core was usually discussed in these stories which provided the company with immense exposure and value.