Global Village was a leading manufacturer [1] of easy-to-use fax modems and other telecommunications products for the Apple Macintosh platform. It was one of the few manufacturers to support the Mac's RS422 serial ports without requiring an adaptor. Major product lines included the TelePort series of high-speed desktop dialup modems, the PowerPort series of internal PowerBook modems as well as a series of modems that connected to the Mac's ADB port. Many of its products were bundled with the Macintosh Performa series of computers and it was the manufacturer for the internal modem in the PowerBook 500 series. [2]
Fax, sometimes called telecopying or telefax, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material, normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device. The original document is scanned with a fax machine, which processes the contents as a single fixed graphic image, converting it into a bitmap, and then transmitting it through the telephone system in the form of audio-frequency tones. The receiving fax machine interprets the tones and reconstructs the image, printing a paper copy. Early systems used direct conversions of image darkness to audio tone in a continuous or analog manner. Since the 1980s, most machines modulate the transmitted audio frequencies using a digital representation of the page which is compressed to quickly transmit areas which are all-white or all-black.
The PowerBook is a family of Macintosh laptop computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1991 to 2006. During its lifetime, the PowerBook went through several major revisions and redesigns, often being the first to incorporate features that would later become standard in competing laptops. The PowerBook line was targeted at the professional market, and received numerous awards, especially in the second half of its life, such as the 2001 Industrial Design Excellence Awards "Gold" status, and Engadget's 2005 "Laptop of the Year". In 1999, the line was supplemented by the home and education-focused iBook family.
The Macintosh Performa is a family of personal computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1992 to 1997. The Performa brand re-used models from Apple's Quadra, Centris, LC, and Power Macintosh families with model numbers that denoted included software packages or hard drive sizes. Whereas non-Performa Macintosh computers were sold by Apple Authorized Resellers, the Performa was sold through big-box stores and mass-market retailers such as Good Guys, Circuit City, and Sears.
The company also produced the OneWorld fax server and the GlobalFax fax software for Macintosh computers, which it bundled with its hardware. [3] [4]
A fax server is a system installed in a local area network (LAN) server that allows computer users whose computers are attached to the LAN to send and receive fax messages.
Global Village later became a division of Zoom Telephonics.
Zoom Telephonics, Inc. designs, produces, and markets, and supports cable modems and other communications products with emphasis on Internet access products and Wi-Fi products. Its highest volume product category is cable modems, which it sells primarily through high-volume retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart. Zoom also produces Wi-Fi products, dial-up modems, ADSL modems, and cellular data products.
GeoPort is a serial data system used on some models of the Apple Macintosh that could be externally clocked to run at a 2 Mbit/s data rate. GeoPort slightly modified the existing Mac serial port pins to allow the computer's internal DSP hardware or software to send data that, when passed to a digital-to-analog converter, emulated various devices such as modems and fax machines. GeoPort could be found on late-model 68K-based machines as well as many pre-USB Power Macintosh models. Some later Macintosh models also included an internal GeoPort via an internal connector on the Communications Slot. Apple GeoPort technology is now obsolete, and modem support is typically offered through USB.
The PowerBook Duo is a line of small subnotebooks manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from 1992 until 1997 as a more compact companion to the PowerBook line. Improving upon the PowerBook 100's portability, the Duo came in seven different models. They were the Duo 210, 230, 250, 270c, 280, 280c, and 2300c, with the 210 and 230 being the earliest, and 2300c being the final incarnation before the entire line was dropped in early 1997.
The iMac G3 is a series of personal computers designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1998 to 2003. Noted for its innovative enclosure via the use of translucent and brightly colored plastics, it was the first consumer-facing Apple product to debut under the recently returned interim CEO Steve Jobs. It was updated over time with new hardware and colors, until being supplanted by the iMac G4 and eMac in 2002.
The Power Macintosh 6100 is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from March 1994 to March 1996. It is the first computer from Apple to use the new PowerPC processor created by IBM and Motorola. The low-profile ("pizza-box") case was inherited from the Centris/Quadra 610 and 660AV models, and replaced the Macintosh Quadra series that used the Motorola 68040 processor, Apple's previous high-end workstation line.
MacTerminal was the first telecommunications and terminal emulation application software program available for the classic Mac OS. MacTerminal enabled users to connect via modem or serial port to bulletin board systems and online services, and to other computers. MacTerminal was capable of emulating the DEC VT100 and other computer terminals.
The Apple USB Modem is a combined 56 kbit/s data modem and 14.4 kbit/s fax external USB modem introduced by Apple Inc. after the internal 56k modem was dropped on the October 12, 2005 iMac G5 revision. While it looks similar, it should not be confused with Apple's optional USB Ethernet Adapter accessory, available for its MacBook Air and MacBook Pro Retina range of laptops since 2008.
The PowerBook 500 series is a range of Apple Macintosh PowerBook portable computers first introduced by Apple Computer with the 540c model on May 16, 1994. It was the first to have stereo speakers, a trackpad, and Ethernet networking built-in.
WinFax is a Microsoft Windows-based software product designed to let computers equipped with fax-modems to communicate directly to stand-alone fax machines, or other similarly equipped computers.
The Snow White design language is an industrial design language which was developed by Hartmut Esslinger's Frog Design. Used by Apple Computer from 1984 to 1990, the scheme has vertical and horizontal stripes for decoration, ventilation, and the illusion that the computer enclosure is smaller than it actually is.
The PowerBook 3400c is a laptop computer in the PowerBook line manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from February to November 1997. It was, briefly, the swiftest laptop in the world. Using the PowerPC 603e processor running at speeds of up to 240 MHz, this PowerBook was the first to feature a PCI architecture, EDO memory, and a 64-bit wide, 40 MHz internal bus. It was also the first PowerBook to feature a PC card slot capable of being used as a zoomed video port. Like all Apple laptops since the PowerBook 500 series, it featured a built-in trackpad as the pointing device.
The Power Macintosh 6200 is a series of personal computers designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from May 1995 to July 1997. The 6200 is the PowerPC-based replacement for the Quadra 630, with the same form factor and price range. In early 1997, the rather different Power Macintosh 6300/160 / Performa 6360 based on the Power Macintosh 6400 was introduced. The whole line was discontinued when the desktop model of the Power Macintosh G3 was released.
The Macintosh Quadra 840AV is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from July 1993 to July 1994. It was introduced alongside the Centris 660AV, the "AV" after both model numbers signifying video input and output capabilities, as well as enhanced audio. The 840AV has the same mini tower form factor as the Quadra 800, with a faster Motorola 68040 processor.
The Macintosh Quadra 660AV is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer Inc. from July 1993 to September 1994. It was introduced alongside the Quadra 840AV; the "AV" after both model numbers signifies video input and output capabilities and enhanced audio.
The PowerBook 100 is a portable subnotebook personal computer that was designed and manufactured by Sony for Apple Computer and introduced on October 21, 1991, at the COMDEX computer expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. Priced at US$2,300, the PowerBook 100 was the low-end model of the first three simultaneously released PowerBooks. Its CPU and overall speed closely resembled those of its predecessor, the Macintosh Portable. It had a Motorola 68000 16-megahertz (MHz) processor, 2-8 megabytes (MB) of memory, a 9-inch (23 cm) monochrome backlit liquid crystal display (LCD) with 640 × 400 pixel resolution, and the System 7.0.1 operating system. It did not have a built-in floppy disk drive and was noted for its unique compact design that placed a trackball pointing device in front of the keyboard for ease of use.
The Power Macintosh 5500 is a personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from February 1997 to March 1998. Like the Power Macintosh 5260 and 5400 that preceded it, the 5500 is an "all-in-one" design, built around a PowerPC 603ev processor operating at 225, 250 or 275 megahertz (MHz).
The PowerBook 160 is a portable computer that was released by Apple Computer along with the PowerBook 145 and PowerBook 180 in October 1992. At the time, it constituted the mid-range model replacing the previous PowerBook 140 in processing power. The PowerBook 160 was sold until May 1994.
The Apple Communication Slot or Comm Slot is an internal expansion data interface (slot) found in Apple Macintosh computers from the early to mid-1990s. It was designed as an inexpensive way to add communication expansion cards like network adapters or modems to Macs and Power Macs.
The PowerBook 150 is a laptop personal computer created by Apple Computer, Inc. which was introduced on July 13, 1994, and released on July 18, 1994. It was the last member of the PowerBook 100 series to use the original case design, the most affordable of the series when introduced, priced between $1,450 and $1,600, and also the last consumer model.
Other World Computing (OWC) is an American computer hardware company and online store for Mac upgrades and accessories located at MacSales.com that was founded in 1988.
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