Information Control Systems
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| This article, Information Control Systems, has recently been created via the Articles for creation process. Please check to see if the reviewer has accidentally left this template after accepting the draft and take appropriate action as necessary.
Reviewer tools: Inform author |
Comment: Please include references to more than one source. APerson (talk!) 18:22, 8 September 2013 (UTC)
- Comment: Please include references. FoCuSandLeArN (talk) 03:18, 13 August 2013 (UTC)
| Industry | Word Processing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1962 |
| Headquarters | Ann Arbor, Michigan , United States |
Number of locations | Washington, DC; Chicago, IL; New York, NY; Boston, MA; Detroit, MI |
Key people | Charles Newman, David Carlson, Charles Schaldenbrand, Ken Burkhalter |
| Products | Astrotype, Astrocomp |
Number of employees | 105 |
Information Control Systems (founded in 1962) was a computer programming and data processing company serving a variety of clients in Michigan and the Midwest.
Overview
In October, 1968, at the Business Equipment Manufacturers Association trade show at McCormick Place in Chicago, the company announced its first propriety product, a typing automation product called Astrotype.[1] Astrotype used Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-8 mini computers and modified IBM Selectric typewriters to run text editing software developed by Information Control Systems. Before the Astrotype product, software-based typing automation was available only as a service from time sharing companies using large mainframe computers.[2] Astrotype allowed organizations of any size to make use of computer based text editing in house. First shipments of the Astrotype product began in April, 1969. Prices ranged from $36,000 for a single typing station model, to $59,000 for a model with four typing stations.
In June, 1971, again at McCormick Place in Chicago, the company announced a variation of the Astrotype product at the National Printing Equipment show.[3] The new product, called Astrocomp, was directed at the printing and publishing industry. Its primary function was the original typing and subsequent editing of text intended to be set into type, either on a Linotype machine or on photocomposition equipment from manufacturers such as AM/Varityper, Merganthaler, and the Compugraphic Corporation. The Astrocomp product produced punched paper tape or magnetic tape that contained both the text and codes needed to drive these devices.
Customers
- RR Donnelley
- First National Bank (Chicago)
- Time/Life Books
- Chi Systems
- Ohio Bell Telephone
- Weaver Composition
- Foxboro Co.
- Curtiss-Wright
- Stone & Webster Engineering
- Western Electric
- Montgomery Ward