CARDCO
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer peripherals |
| Founded | 1980s |
| Founder | Ed J. Lippert II, Breck Ricketts |
| Defunct | 1986 |
| Headquarters | Wichita , United States |
| Products | Printer interfaces, cassette player interface, numpad, software cartridges and floppy disk software for Commodore computers |
CARDCO was a manufacturer of computer peripherals during the 1980s, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, United States. The company established its presence in the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 segments by advertising in Compute! magazine and securing distribution through prominent retailers such as Target.
History
The enterprise was initiated by Ed J. Lippert II, who served as President, alongside Breck Ricketts, the Vice President of Engineering. CARDCO discontinued its business activities in 1986, primarily due to a downturn in C64 unit sales.
Subsequently, the founders created C-Ltd in 1986, focusing on manufacturing peripherals for Amiga computers. This company also shuttered operations in 1989 following a decline in Amiga market demand.
A connected initiative named Computers Anonymous, operated by Betsy Lippert and Cherie Hovaidar-Safid, provided repair services specifically for CARDCO hardware.
Printer interfaces
To overcome the constraints of early Commodore printers, CARDCO introduced the Card Print A (C/?A) interface. This device translated the Commodore serial interface into a Centronics parallel printer interface, allowing users to connect various third-party printers to Commodore 64 or VIC-20 systems.
An upgraded variant, the Card Print +G (C/?+G), enabled support for printer graphics by converting Commodore graphic characters into Epson ESC/P escape sequences.
Other models featured RS-232 serial output capabilities. CARDCO distributed over two million units of these printer interfaces, compatible with well-known brands including Epson, Panasonic, Okidata, Star Micronics, and C. Itoh.
The GWIZ interface permitted Commodore 64 users to connect to non-Commodore printers such as Silver Reed and Gorilla devices.
Cassette player interface
Unlike many other systems, Commodore computers required proprietary cassette players known as "Commodore Datasettes" for data storage. CARDCO developed an adapter that made it possible to use standard cassette players with these computers.
Numpad
CARDCO also offered a numeric keypad designed to connect via both joystick ports on the Commodore 64.
Software products
- Cartridge
- Write Now (C/01) – word processing software for VIC20
- Write Now (C/02) – word processing software for C64
- Freeze Frame
- S'MORE
- Floppy Disk
- Mail Now (D/01) – mailing list management application for C64
- Spell Now (D/04) – spell checking utility for C64
- File Now (D/05) – relational database program for C64
- Graph Now / Paint Now (D/06) – tools for generating graphs and charts on C64
- Super Printer Utility Programs (D/08)
See also
External links
- CARDCO Manual Archive
- CARDCO Card Print A (C/?A) Printer Interface: User Manual, Addendum
- CARDCO Card Print +G (C/?+G) Printer Interface: User Manual, Supplement