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Network Computing Devices (NCD) was a company founded in 1987 to produce a new class of products now known as a thin client. It was founded in Mountain View, CA, and when it closed it was headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon.
The corporate founders were Mike Harrigan, Doug Klein, Dave Cornelius, Ed Basart, Martin Eberhard, and Kevin Martin.
At that time these devices were known as network terminals or X Terminals. Judith Estrin and William Carrico joined the company about 6 months after its founding as its new CEO and executive
Welcome to NCD – The Thin Client Experts!National Semiconductor & NCD to Jointly Develop Information Appliances
''Business Wire, Nov 14, 2000''
Network Computing Devices – NCD – Acknowledged by Australian Government Technology Productivity Award
''Business Wire, March 28, 2001''
Network Computing Devices, Inc. Introduces NCD ThinPATH PC; New Software Manages PCs as Thin Clients, Reducing the Total Cost of Ownership of the Desktop
''Business Wire, March 27, 2002''
NCD is Finalist in The Computing Industry Awards 2002; Newly Launched ThinPATH PC is Selected as a Finalist in the Computing Industry Awards
''Business Wire, August 13, 2002'' 1987 establishments in California 2004 disestablishments in Oregon American companies established in 1987 American companies disestablished in 2004 Companies based in Mountain View, California Companies based in Portland, Oregon Computer companies established in 1987 Computer companies disestablished in 2004 Defunct companies based in Oregon Defunct companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Defunct computer companies of the United States Defunct computer hardware companies Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Technology companies established in 1987 Technology companies disestablished in 2004 Thin clients X Window System
Network Computing Devices (NCD) was a company founded in 1987 to produce a new class of products now known as a thin client. It was founded in Mountain View, CA, and when it closed it was headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon.
The corporate founders were Mike Harrigan, Doug Klein, Dave Cornelius, Ed Basart, Martin Eberhard, and Kevin Martin.
At that time these devices were known as network terminals or X Terminals. Judith Estrin and William Carrico joined the company about 6 months after its founding as its new CEO and executive vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is o ...
, and led the company through its IPO in 1992. The products were some of the earliest examples of a thin client and providing remote access to data in something other than ASCII
ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because ...
as was common with traditional terminals of the time.
The X Protocol
The X Window System core protocolRobert W. Scheifler and James Gettys: ''X Window System: Core and extension protocols, X version 11, releases 6 and 6.1'', Digital Press 1996, RFC 1013Grant EdwardsAn Introduction to X11 User Interfaces/ref> is the ...
provided a way to show high-resolution images of data and graphics over a network connection. NCD supported a range of network protocols including TCP/IP, Token Ring, DECnet and others.
Acquisitions
NCD purchased PCXware, which made anX Window System
The X Window System (X11, or simply X) is a windowing system for bitmap displays, common on Unix-like operating systems.
X provides the basic framework for a GUI environment: drawing and moving windows on the display device and interacting ...
for Microsoft Windows.
NCD purchased Z-Code Software in 1994. Z-Code made Z-Mail, a cross platform open standards email client. Z-Mail was later sold by NCD to Netmanage
NetManage Inc. was a software company based in Cupertino, California, founded in 1990 by Zvi Alon, an Israeli engineer. The company's development centre was located at the MATAM technology park, in Haifa, Israel. In June 2008 the company was acq ...
.
NCD purchased TekXPress X-terminals line from Tektronix.
NCD ceased operations in 2004. However, a few of the company's employees have set up a new company, ThinPATH Systems, to provide former NCD customers and others with service, support and products.
See also
*DESQview/X
DESQview (DV) is a text mode multitasking operating environment developed by Quarterdeck Office Systems which enjoyed modest popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Running on top of DOS, it allows users to run multiple programs concurrentl ...
, a similar product
References
{{ReflistExternal links
Welcome to NCD – The Thin Client Experts!
''Business Wire, Nov 14, 2000''
Network Computing Devices – NCD – Acknowledged by Australian Government Technology Productivity Award
''Business Wire, March 28, 2001''
Network Computing Devices, Inc. Introduces NCD ThinPATH PC; New Software Manages PCs as Thin Clients, Reducing the Total Cost of Ownership of the Desktop
''Business Wire, March 27, 2002''
NCD is Finalist in The Computing Industry Awards 2002; Newly Launched ThinPATH PC is Selected as a Finalist in the Computing Industry Awards
''Business Wire, August 13, 2002'' 1987 establishments in California 2004 disestablishments in Oregon American companies established in 1987 American companies disestablished in 2004 Companies based in Mountain View, California Companies based in Portland, Oregon Computer companies established in 1987 Computer companies disestablished in 2004 Defunct companies based in Oregon Defunct companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Defunct computer companies of the United States Defunct computer hardware companies Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Technology companies established in 1987 Technology companies disestablished in 2004 Thin clients X Window System