Let me put this stuff into some perspective that is not in Wikipedia
There seems to be a lack of information or hidden information..
at times one here might think that Dave is off a little bit or something... not true.. pay attention as I have all my marbles and win many knowledge games with others around me that believe the key marble is missing.
Is someone hiding the true info? PC did not beat out North Star .. maybe dirty deeds and IBM come into play.. after all they did work with the Nazi's
My direct knowledge in these three is due to the Wife working for these companies directly as an employee / designer and type setter as in manuals.
1. NorthStar Computers.
2. ASK Associates (software)
3 Ingres computer systems. (software) Data Blades a database
NorthStar Computers was in debt to banks due to new products to be released and restructuring with banks.
New computer was the next in line after the Dimension which was a server to multiple workstations.
I personally owned a NorthStar Dimension Server!
Direct competitor was IBM.
NorthStar replaced CEO's to manage the Co. for the Banking interests in order to accomplish the new release and budgets.
NorthStar contracted businesses in Ireland to produce chassis parts for which to build the computer on .
My Wife was the designer of the enclosure and also the colors of that and the technical manuals!
2 weeks before the release of the new computer which would have put to shame the PC "as the story goes" two Irishman driving a truck with the newly manufactured chassis parts being shipped, were drunk and hit a bridge abutment and went into the river there by missing the Banks due date to produce the product!!!! The business failed of course.. however the Wikipedia story says that they failed due to the PC being superior...(IBM) HMMM!
We know the whole story as I personally had visited NorthStar to work in AutoCad 10 I think ... to check some drawing designs done by another person regarding the business I worked for, and sponsored by them to do the research.
I personally saw the new computer and the color scheme the Wife was responsible for.
Believe me it was very slim desktop model! Impressive!
In Item 3. Data Blades was something to do with satalite - minerals detection etc so ...interesting I find no mention of several of these companies in the Defunct Computer Companies on Wikipedia!
One of them Ingress I believe was purchased by Wang who bought only for certain software and then packaged and sold off for profit. And in the process laying off many -4000- including the Wife.
We made our way through many of the Computer ups and downs including the Dot Com failure... where by I mentioned somewhere else here on the forum about selling our last Bay Area home and relocating to properties purchased during the upheavals.