LogAbax

French computer manufacturer
LogAbax
IndustryIT company
Founded1942
Defunct1988 (1988)
ProductsComputers
Logabax 2600
LogAbax Persona 1600

LogAbax was a French computer brand. Founded in 1942, the company was one of France's pioneers in computer manufacturing. The name is composed of two abbreviations: Log from logarithm and Abax from abacus.[1]

History

The company was created in 1942 as “La Société Française des Brevets LogAbax”. In 1947 it employs twenty people and has a factory located at Malakoff. The company obtains a contract from CNRS for the construction of a "Couffignal machine", intended to be the fist French "electronic calculation machine".[2] Between 1948 and 1950 LogAbax studies an electronic meter, related to the electronic calculator development.[3]

In 1968 LogAbax and Bariquand et Marre merge, forming LogAbax SA.

The LX 500, a personal computer based on the Z80 microprocessor and running the CP/M operating system, is presented in 1978.[4][5]

Due to poor results in the late 1970s,[6] LogAbax files for bankruptcy in 1981, with Olivetti becoming the majority shareholder, creating a new entity named Société Nouvelle LogAbax.

The Persona 1600, a PC compatible machine with an Intel 8086 CPU (similar to Olivetti M24) is presented in 1985.[7][8] Other rebranded Olivetti PCs follow (Persona 1800[9] and 1300[10]).

In 1988 Olivetti France and Société Nouvelle LogAbax merge, becoming Olivetti-LogAbax.

Machines

  • LX 3200 - office computer, calculator, typewriter, printer, 1969[11]
  • LX 2200, 2600 - office computer, calculator, typewriter, printer, 1974/75[12]
  • LX 4200, 4300, 4400, 4500, 4600 - office computer, 1970s/75[13]
  • LX 5000, 5076, 5200 - multi-user 16-bit computer, 64 Kb RAM, 1976/77[14][15]
  • LX 2000, 2010, 2500 - 1976
  • LX 500, 518, 528 - Z80A, 128Kb RAM, CP/M, 1978[4][5][16]
  • LX 3000, 3128, 3500 - multi-user office computer, 1980[17]
  • Hyper 32 - fault tolerant redundant computer, 1983[18][19][20]
  • Persona 800 - Z80 @ 4 MHz, 64KB RAM, CP/M, 1985[21]
  • Persona 1600 (Olivetti M24) - Nanoréseau[22] network machine, 8086 @ 8 MHz, 1985[7][8][23]
  • Persona 1800 (Olivetti M28) - 80286 @ 8 MHz, 1986[9][24][25]
  • Persona 1300 (Olivetti M19) - 8088 @ 4.77 MHz, 256KB RAM, 1986[10][26]
  • 3B modèle 400 (Olivetti CPS/32 Stratos) - 68030, VOS, 1986[27]

See also

  • Computing for All, a French government plan to introduce computers to the country's pupils

References

  1. ^ "Logabax histoire". www.silicium.org. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  2. ^ "COMPAGNIE DES MACHINES BULL". www.feb-patrimoine.com. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  3. ^ Pierre Mounier-Kuhn, L'informatique en France, de la seconde guerre mondiale au Plan Calcul. L'émergence d'une science, Paris, PUPS, 2010, « Chapitre 1 ».
  4. ^ a b "Logabax LX500". silicium.org. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  5. ^ a b "Logabax LX-500". www.system-cfg.com. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  6. ^ "Les difficultés de Logabax ou le paradoxe du succès". Le Monde.fr (in French). 1980-02-28. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  7. ^ a b "Logabax Persona 1600". silicium.org. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  8. ^ a b "Logabax Persona 1600". www.system-cfg.com. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  9. ^ a b "Logabax Persona 1800". www.system-cfg.com. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  10. ^ a b "Logabax Persona 1300". www.system-cfg.com. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  11. ^ "LX3200". logabax.free.fr. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  12. ^ "LX2200". logabax.free.fr. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  13. ^ "LX4000". logabax.free.fr. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  14. ^ "Logabax LX5000". www.silicium.org. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  15. ^ "LX5000". logabax.free.fr. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  16. ^ "LX500". logabax.free.fr. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  17. ^ "LX3000". logabax.free.fr. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  18. ^ CHAUVIN, Jacques (1986). "La session d'automne du SICOB 1986". La Revue administrative. 39 (233): 497–501. ISSN 0035-0672. JSTOR 40780051.
  19. ^ Broadband '89. Information Gatekeepers Inc. 2002.
  20. ^ "Hyper32". logabax.free.fr. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  21. ^ "P800". logabax.free.fr. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  22. ^ "Le Nanoréseau". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  23. ^ "Logabax - Album photos". logabax.free.fr. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  24. ^ "Logabax - Album photos". logabax.free.fr. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  25. ^ "Persona 1800". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  26. ^ "Logabax Persona 1300". www.silicium.org. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  27. ^ "Olivetti CPS/32 - Paolo LANDI". www.paolo-landi.it. Retrieved 2022-11-09.

Media related to LogAbax at Wikimedia Commons