Packard Bell: Difference between revisions

Packard Bell's growing adoption rates into the mid-1990s were helped along by a new industrial design language and user-friendly software. In 1993, the company introduced [[Packard Bell Navigator|Navigator]], a [[Windows shell replacement|shell replacement]] for [[Windows 3.1x|Windows 3.1]] intended for novice computer users that provides simple screens of large icons to launch their commonly used application software.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Cooper | first=Barry | date=May 2, 1993 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/278233430/ | title=Packard Bell Lures Novices to Computers with Easy System Software, Price | work=Orlando Sentinel | page=D6 | via=ProQuest}}</ref> In 1994, they release Navigator 2, replacing the icons with a hyper-[[skeuomorph]]ic house metaphor, in which every screen of icons is within a prerendered [[3D computer graphics|3D-CGI]] room in a house.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=November 16, 1994 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1523889815/ | title=American Personal Computer Maker Has Launched Navigator 2 | work=South China Morning Post | page=7 | via=ProQuest}}</ref> Packard Bell acquired the software firm responsible for Navigator, Ark Interface of [[Seattle|Seattle, Washington]], in May 1994.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Baker | first=Sharon M. | date=May 27, 1994 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/226869187/ | title=Major Computer Maker Buys Ark Interface Software Firm | work=Puget Sound Business Journal | publisher=American City Business Journals | volume=15 | issue=2 | page=4 | via=ProQuest}}</ref>{{efn|In around 1996, [[Microsoft]] forced boot-up shells off OEM computers by updating its Microsoft Windows distribution agreement. Packard Bell subsequently discontinued Navigator in summer 1997.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Bransten | first=Lisa | author2=Don Clark | date=May 19, 1998 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/398815630/ | title=PC Makers, Despite the Microsoft Suit, Aren't Clamoring to Control the Screen | work=The Wall Street Journal | publisher=Dow Jones & Company | page=B7 | via=ProQuest}}</ref>}} That same year, Packard Bell acquired Active Imagination, Inc., of [[Westlake Village, California]], a developer of [[edutainment]] video games for children. With this acquisition, Packard Bell made the shift toward providing standalone software packages in retail outlets for the first time.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=November 14, 1994 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/398441347/ | title=Packard Bell, in Shift, Plans to Distribute Software in Stores | work=The Wall Street Journal | publisher=Dow Jones & Company | page=B8 | via=ProQuest}}</ref>

 

 

Packard Bell's Chatsworth headquarters were seriously damaged in the [[1994 Northridge earthquake|January 1994 Northridge earthquake]]—the epicenter of which was located just a few blocks from their six-building complex—putting a halt to operations and putting 1,500 employees temporarily out of work.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Lee | first=Don | date=January 21, 1994 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/282164143/ | title=The Long Road Back: Valley Firms Struggle to Resume Operations | work=Los Angeles Times | publisher=Times-Mirror Company | page=2 | via=ProQuest}}</ref><ref name=elephant>{{cite journal | last=Auguston | first=Karen | date=October 1996 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/236548530/ | title=Packard Bell turns a white elephant into a top performing plant | work=Modern Materials Handling | publisher=Reed Publishing | volume=51 | issue=13 | page=41 | via=ProQuest}}</ref> Buckling racks destroyed factory equipment and inventory,<ref name=elephant /> while the reactivation of municipal water activated sprinklers and caused substantial water damage, destroying much of the company's paperwork.<ref name=movin /> A week after the earthquake, its sales offices and part of its production operations were moved to a 160,000-square-foot complex in Westlake Village, California, on an interim basis.<ref name=vacated>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=January 25, 1994 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/398519525/ | title=Packard Bell Headquarters Is Vacated Due to Quake | work=The Wall Street Journal | publisher=Dow Jones & Company | page=A4 | via=ProQuest}}</ref> The company later relocated its operations to a new headquarter complex in Sacramento, in summer 1995.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=August 8, 1995 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/293119338/ | title=Packard Bell Electronics Moves to Sacramento | work=Los Angeles Times | publisher=Times-Mirror Company | page=12 | via=ProQuest}}</ref> Its customer service team meanwhile was relocated to an out-of-state office in Utah.<ref name=vacated />