[ih] KA9Q and Gandalf Technologies

[Lyndon Nerenberg]

Brian E Carpenter writes:

> > A (perhaps) little known historical side note, Gandalf Technologies
> > (makers of the infamous PACX), licensed Phil's code to use as the
> > basis of their attempt to move from serial terminal<->host multiplexing
> > (the PACX was just a big RS-232 crossbar switch) to gaining a
> > foothold in the rapidly evolving TCP-based terminal server space.
>
> They never had a chance. Everybody wanted a Mac, PC or NCD on their desk,
> not a dumb terminal, by the time they came by trying to sell what was
> basically telnet support, iirc.

As near as I can tell Gandalf was trying to take over the dialup
modem interconnect market.  They got smoked by the (Livingston?)
Portmaster 2, which, while relatively expensive, was nowhere near
as expensive as what Gandalf was trying to charge for their equivalent
hardware.  And then commodity direct-connect T1 modem banks came
along, after which Telebit failed as well.

--lyndon