Columbia Data Products (CDP) introduced the MPC 1600 "Multi Personal Computer" in June 1982. It was an exact functional copy of the IBM PC model 5150 except for the BIOS which was clean roomed. IBM had published the BUS and BIOS specifications, wrongly assuming that this would be enough to encourage the add-on market and prevent unlicensed copying of the design. IBM PC (IBM 5150) with keyboard and green screen monochrome monitor (IBM 5151), running MS-DOS 5. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For the meaning of Cleanroom engineering in software development, see Cleanroom Software Engineering. ... International Business Machines Corporation (known as IBM or Big Blue; NYSE: IBM) is a multinational computer technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, USA. The company is one of the few information technology companies with a continuous history dating back to the 19th century. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

As the first IBM PC clone, the MPC was actually superior to the IBM original. It came with 128 KiB RAM standard, compared to the IBM's 64 KiB maximum. The MPC had eight PC expansion slots, with one filled by its video card. Its floppy disk drive interface was built into the motherboard. The IBM PC, in contrast, had only five expansion slots, with the video card and floppy disk controller taking two of them. The MPC also included two floppy disk drives, one parallel and two serial ports, which were all optional on the original IBM PC. The MPC was followed up with a portable PC, the 32 pound (15 kg) "luggable" Columbia VP in 1983. Microsofts disk operating system, MS-DOS, was Microsofts implementation of DOS, which was the first popular operating system for the IBM PC, and until recently, was widely used on the PC compatible platform. ... CP/M-86 was a version of the CP/M operating system that Digital Research made for the Intel 8086 and Intel 8088. ... MP/M was the multi-user version of the CP/M operating system, created by Digital Research. ... Xenix was a version of the Unix operating system, licensed by Microsoft from AT&T in the late 1970s. ... ... A kibibyte (a contraction of kilo binary byte) is a unit of information or computer storage, commonly abbreviated KiB (never kiB). 1 kibibyte = 210 bytes = 1,024 bytes The kibibyte is closely related to the kilobyte, which can be used either as a synonym for kibibyte or to refer to... Look up RAM, Ram, ram in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A floppy disk is a data storage device that is composed of a disk of thin, flexible (floppy) magnetic storage medium encased in a square or rectangular plastic shell. ...

The success of the MPC and its successors built CDP revenue from US$9.4 million in 1982 to US$56 million in 1983, with an IPO at US$11 in January, 1983.^[1] In February 1984 IBM announced the introduction of their first portable PC.^[2] By August 1984 the CDP sales were faltering and CDP announced layoffs of 114 employees at its Maryland headquarters and 189 employees at a second factory in Puerto Rico.^[3] By 1985 their stock had dropped to US$0.50 and was delisted.^[4] An initial public offering (IPO) is the first sale of a corporations common shares to public investors. ...

In 1987 CDP shifted emphasis from hardware to software. They developed and licensed Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) software to Western Digital (WD), the leading supplier of hard drive controllers at the time. In 1991 WD sold their SCSI business to Future Domain, where it languished. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC) (often abbreviated to WD) is a manufacturer of a large proportion of the worlds hard disks, and has a long history in the electronics industry as an IC maker and a storage products company. ... The disk controller (or hard disk controller) is the circuit which allows the CPU to communicate with a hard disk, floppy disk or other kind of disk drive. ...

Columbia Data Products was founded in 1976 in Columbia, Maryland. It changed ownership, was taken private in 1986, and continues to operate under that name. CDP is now headquartered in Altamonte Springs, Florida. The company currently specializes in data security. No mention of the MPC can be found on the company's history page. The People Tree statue has become a symbol of Columbia, Maryland. ... Altamonte Springs is a city in Seminole County, Florida, United States. ... Data security is the means of ensuring that data is kept safe from corruption and that access to it is suitably controlled. ...

Notes

1. ^ New York Times, February 16, 1984
2. ^ "IBM Will Sell Portable Version of its PC Model", Wall Street Journal, February 17, 1984.
3. ^ New York Times, August 15, 1984
4. ^ Wall Street Journal, April 26, 1985

February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... April 26 is the 116th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (117th in leap years). ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Columbia Data Products website
• CDP history
• MPC specifications from Old-computers.com
• Prototype of CDP luggable computer
• Columbia VP Portable PC – picture and specifications
• Scanned images (JPEG's) of CDP advertising and November 1983 brochure with price comparisons to IBM and Compaq portable
• Scanned jpg images of VP Portable advertising from 1984