Parallax's 22nd Birthday: PhiPi enters the confessional. Shh! Maybe we can over
Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)
Posts: 23,514
Bless me, father for I have sinned. In observance of Parallax's 22nd birthday, please hear my confession of Wanton Greed:
In November of 1992, I took a road trip with a buddy to Los Barilles in Baja Calfornia Sur. On that trip, we hatched a business plan to manufacture and sell PIC programmers that not only programmed the chips, but had a built-in miniature UV source to erase them quickly prior to programming, while they were in the programming socket. Parallax was perceived to be our biggest potential competitor, and our goal was to pull the rug out from under them and take over their market share! We named the company Bueno Systems and incorporated in March of 1993. (BUENO is actually an acronym that I'll leave to the reader to guess at.) We soon realized that the requirements for this nefarious plan outstripped both our experience and available capital, so we got off onto a tangent with something I had prior experience with: linescan cameras. We never did get back to the PIC eraser/programmer, and I eventually bought out my co-conspirator's interest in the company.
_________________________
I'm so glad our original plan did not succeed! By way of TAOS (who supplied Bueno Systems' imaging chips) and their TCS230 color sensor, I was brought into the Parallax fold, and they've been a valued customer and marketing partner ever since. I feel very lucky to have this relationship with Parallax and consider its principals and employees as friends.
Happy Birthday, Parallax! Live long and prosper!
-Phil
In November of 1992, I took a road trip with a buddy to Los Barilles in Baja Calfornia Sur. On that trip, we hatched a business plan to manufacture and sell PIC programmers that not only programmed the chips, but had a built-in miniature UV source to erase them quickly prior to programming, while they were in the programming socket. Parallax was perceived to be our biggest potential competitor, and our goal was to pull the rug out from under them and take over their market share! We named the company Bueno Systems and incorporated in March of 1993. (BUENO is actually an acronym that I'll leave to the reader to guess at.) We soon realized that the requirements for this nefarious plan outstripped both our experience and available capital, so we got off onto a tangent with something I had prior experience with: linescan cameras. We never did get back to the PIC eraser/programmer, and I eventually bought out my co-conspirator's interest in the company.
_________________________
I'm so glad our original plan did not succeed! By way of TAOS (who supplied Bueno Systems' imaging chips) and their TCS230 color sensor, I was brought into the Parallax fold, and they've been a valued customer and marketing partner ever since. I feel very lucky to have this relationship with Parallax and consider its principals and employees as friends.
Happy Birthday, Parallax! Live long and prosper!
-Phil
Comments
Rich H
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The Servo Boss, a 12 channel servo tester kit from Gadget Gangster.
-Phil
-P.
You must have been confessing to Browser, your cat, because both of us know there is no profit to be made in the world of 3rd Party PIC Programmers. At that time Parallax was headed towards release of the BASIC Stamp 1 module (called the Revision "D"), which we still sell today. We knew that the PIC programmer market would be flooded with suppliers, and because you're a smart guy you would have figured this out on your own.
Therefore, we can't believe that story.
We're also thankful to have you as a partner! Thanks for the many contributions you make to our company and customers.
Sincerely,
Ken Gracey
Thanks for the kind words!
-Phil
Rich H
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The Servo Boss, a 12 channel servo tester kit from Gadget Gangster.
But no.
-P.
It just so happens that one of you readers actually is a priest. Therefore,
"The Lord has put away your sins. Go in peace, and pray for me, a sinner."
This is a great story. Thanks for sharing it and I'm glad you are on the forums too!
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Whit+
"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney