Last One Standing?

The IMSAI 8080 Microcomputer System came into being in 1975, some 34 years ago.  Created from the mind and talent of IMSAI co-founder and Chief Engineer Joe Killian, it remains an icon with strong heritage and a legacy of classic elegance that also lays claim to perhaps being an incubator for some of the earliest and most successful enterprises formed by former principals and employees, unrivaled by any of its contemporaries of the time.  IMSAI was the first company to commercially license the CP/M operating system from its creator Gary Kildall, once the most popular operating system in the world for microcomputers until eventually eclipsed by Microsoft's DOS in the early 1980's.

IMSAI's founder Bill Millard went on to form Computerland, once the largest and most successful computer retailer franchises of the 1970's and '80's.

Former IMSAI client and early investor Phil Reed went on to form Computerland's rival, Businessland, and later bought into a kit aircraft firm in Idaho.  When last heard from, he was involved in Venture Capital and business development.

Former Marketing Manager Seymour Rubinstein went on to found MicroPro International along with former IMSAI Chief Programmer Rob Barnaby to eventually create and market, among a number of early and successful software applications, WordStar, once the most popular word processing program in the world. 

They were later joined by Bruce Van Natta (former IMS Associates co-founder and visionary, along with Bill Lose and  Joe Killian (Van Natta's counterpart and designer of the IMSAI 8080), Dianne Hajicek (former IMSAI Chief Programmer who succeeded Rob Barnaby), and Glen Ewing (former IMSAI Chief Engineer and former fellow instructor along with CP/M creator Gary Kildall at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California), all part of the "Inner Circle" of talent that envisioned and implemented IMSAI's earlier offerings.

Other notable talent from IMSAI went on into wildly successful enterprises such as venture capital investment, computer retailing, software development, etc.  Some former employees faired lesser achievements, but all certainly hold some indebtedness to a degree from their early association with IMS Associates, later to become IMSAI Manufacturing Corporation.

Which leads me to the point of the "Last One Standing".  When my wife Nancy and I, as former employees, took over the IMSAI product line in 1978, little did we envision what life would be like in 34 years.  I believe that we as Fischer-Freitas Company can legitimately claim title as being  the oldest remaining hardware firm from the dawn of the personal computer era.  We continue to support the IMSAI name and legacy products to the best of our ability, and have provided parts and support over these many years to enthusiasts and users who keep the legacy and hardware alive.

This dedication and continuation of a true classic comes from a personal obsession and pride that will eventually ebb with time.  One night in 1980, after a successful showing of our product line at San Francisco's West Coast Computer Faire, my wife and I met with former co-worker Seymour Rubinstein and several of his staff for dinner at Scoma's on Fisherman's Wharf.  During dinner and talk of our prospective ideas and goals he offered one million dollars for my company and the IMSAI trademarks as he was planning a new hardware venture.  I turned the offer down, citing my passion for what I was doing as being stronger than a need for money. 

I never regretted that decision, as Seymour's hardware venture was essentially dead two years later.  Two other offers to buy us out came later from companies who bought our hardware and rebranded it for proprietary applications.  I failed to see any permanence in either of these offers and so, like Rubinstein's offer, I declined.  In reflection I believe that had I relinquished ownership of the IMSAI product line we would have seen its demise long ago.

While major computer and software companies are swooning and folding with the current economy, I can safely say that my firm remains unaffected due to being very small and not dependent upon a workforce or significant cash requirements.  Such has been the case since the mid-1980's when my wife and I decided to de-camp from the Bay Area to the Sacramento region of California. 

I made a major move to create a new embodiment of the classic IMSAI 8080 in 2002 when I chanced to meet a talented and eager hardware and software engineer.  Together we created the IMSAI Series Two which promised to embody legacy elements of the original IMSAI 8080 system along with modern PC architecture to create a hardware platform that would provide the best of the old and new worlds of personal computing.  Additionally, we had an offer of help with software and applications development from a fellow in Mississippi who was following our progress with great interest and valuable input.  We sent him a prototype system in 2004 and never heard from him again, and neither did anyone else on the comp.os.cpm newsgroup.  We thought that he might have been a victim of a major hurricane, but this was only speculation.

Prototypes and proof-of-concept platforms were built, tested, modified, and evaluated to a point where we were almost ready to go to market, provided we could raise capital for the initial run.  Several supposedly capable individuals approached with offers to fund us, but nothing of substance was realized.

In early 2003 I was diagnosed with a malignant pancreatic tumor.  After my first operation and being bedridden for 2 months, I got the news that I needed a second, even more dangerous operation that had a 20% survival rate.  I could write a book about how this affected my thinking and values, and what a life means in the end.  Apple's Steve Jobs is possibly in a similar position as I write this, and I wish him the strength and determination to hang on and look ahead. 

I chose to let the doctors make the determination as to what was best, and promised I would do all I could on my end.  I went ahead with the second operation and spent another 3 months in bed, always wondering how much time I had left on earth to spend with my wife and daughters, friends and associates.  I can gratefully and humbly say that my spirit and will has prevailed.  Having lost almost 60 pounds and much of my muscle mass, I eventually regained my strength, joined a prospecting club, and made a remarkable and speedy comeback in a physical and spiritual sense.

A significant setback to the Series Two project occurred in 2004 when we found that a major support chip for our Super IO interface board was being discontinued with no ready alternative.  Having invested thousands of dollars in the initial design only to face a certainty of parts being unavailable was discouraging. 

My talented cohort drifted on to other pursuits, leaving the IMSAI Series Two project unfinished and unfulfilled for now.  Newer developments in embedded controller design, CPLD, and FPGA technologies offer some fresh and potentially powerful alternatives to the platform first envisioned in 2003, and I will continue to find a means of making the Series Two concept a reality.  Software development has always been my major deficit, while system and hardware design were my greater strengths.  Given access to adequate resources and talent, I just might succeed again. 

While many of my peers are either dead, retired, or just plain tired, I haven't lost my hopes and vision for continuing the IMSAI name.  I also manage to keep active in my spare time working a gold mining operation in the mountains with my faithful dog Gir when weather and finances permit.  I don't know how many good years I have left, but each day that I can walk and breathe is a blessing I'll never take for granted.

January - 2009

-  Thomas "Todd" Fischer