Attachmate sells a PC software application
EXTRA to emulate 3270 for mainframe connection.
I know. But back in the day, back before mainframes supported Ethernet, if you wanted to connect your PC to your mainframe (or as an ex boss of mine used to say, "the grown ups computer") you had to use something called a terminal emulation board. You installed it in your PC with driver software and connected it to the mainframe either with 3270 coax or 5250 twinax (about the diameter of a small garden hose with two pins that never seemed to align perfectly). Attachmate had a product that I don't remember the name of that didn't work very well (the mainframe people blamed the PCs). In the mid '80s (I think) they bought DCA which made a similar product, the IRMA board, which was a lot better.
These days of course, assuming you even have a mainframe, it's all software via Ethernet and there's a freeware tn3270/tn5250 emulator called Mocha that costs nothing and works fine. You wonder why Attachmate is even still around.
Seattle-based Attachmate, made a $495 million acquisition in 2006.
Melissa Liton, spokeswoman for Attachmate, said Hawn is still the chairman, chief executive officer and president of the company.
Attachmate is a software company that was “founded more than 24 years ago and now serves over 65,000 customers, with accounts in nearly all the Global 10,000 enterprises,”
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