Documation Explained

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. They also produced Impact Line printers.^[4]

In late 1980,^[5] 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."^[5]

IMPACT Line printers

Documation's IMPACT 3000, named for its 3,000 lines per minute rating,^[6] was followed a year later by the 3,800 LPM IMPACT 3800.^[4]

A 5,000 lines per minute printer was introduced in 1986,^[7] 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.^[8]

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^{[9] [10]} made by Documation for minicomputers in the 1970s were:

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

Their card readers have been used in elections,^{[16] [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]

External links

• French Wiki about a different Documation (a trade show organized by InfoPromotions)
• French trade show "Documation"'s Official website (same name but unrelated to this article's subject)

Notes and References

1. News: . Companies List Earnings . June 5, 1979.
2. News: Orlando Sentinel . August 10, 1987. Storagetek Cruising Now Palm Bay Workers Celebrate Future. Catherine Hinman.
3. News: . September 3, 1976 . Market Place . John H. Allan.
4. News: . July 16, 1979 . New IMPACT 3800 Line Printer, World's Fastest.
5. Web site: September 15, 1980 . 71 . Computerworld. STC plans Documation acquisition.
6. Web site: June 5, 1978 . 135. Documation IMPACT 3000 Line Printer.
7. News: The Orlando Sentinel. New Impact Printer May Be Stroke Of Luck Documation Hangs Hopes On Computer Product. March 31, 1986 . Catherine Hinman.
8. News: . March 27, 1978 . Burroughs Users Gain Printers .
9. . December 13, 1972 . 53 . Documation Card Readers.
10. Web site: . July 30, 1979 . 58 . Preparing for the 1980s .
11. http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/documation/M200_TechMan_Jan72.pdf Documation M-200 Card Reader Manual, 1972
12. https://www.flickr.com/photos/paleoferrosaurus/2665692757 Documation M-200 photo
13. Web site: Full text of "documation :: Documation M-200 Card Reader.
14. Web site: 2892A Card Reader . HPmuseum.net . 2017-09-11.
15. http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/Documation/ Documation M1000L Card Reader
16. (2006 elections, Arizona) Web site: Certified Voting Equipment Before 2006 - Arizona Secretary of State . Dec 7, 2005 . "Ballot counting equipment ... Documation card reader .
17. News: SEmissourian.com (Southeast Missourian) . August 8, 2002 . Bob Miller . Ballot machinery malfunction won't alter Cape County vote.
18. Web site: Dimpled and Pregnant Chad are not votes. several counties used ... Documation card reader.
19. News: . December 19, 1977 . 52w . Documation Pleased With Its Decision to Supply . receiving about half its revenues from end-user business . Molly Upton.
20. name also resembles that of IBM 2501 Card Reader
21. Web site: Storage Technology Corporation.