Technology through the decades
The machines he sold, ran, or taught
This is not a general history of computing. It is the equipment named on his résumé, in the order he met it. He did not design the IBM 370 or the personal computer. He operated, sold, licensed, or taught what each decade put in front of him.
- Mainframes
- Minicomputers and early micros
- CAD/CAM
- Personal computers
- Compression, discs, and the internet
- Small unmanned aircraft
1967–1976
Mainframes
Graphic Controls ran payroll, financial, and manufacturing work on IBM 1401, 1440, 360, and 370 systems. Pitre’s own path on those machines was operator, then programmer, then systems analyst, then project manager.
1976–1982
Minicomputers and early micros
Data General minicomputers were the product at his first sales job and again at Collective Computer Marketing, alongside Zilog microcomputers. CCM sold turnkey small-business systems and a high-level program generator. At Prime he sold general-purpose computers into CAD/CAM, office automation, engineering, communications, and data processing.
1982–1987
CAD/CAM
Scientific Calculations built CAD/CAM for electronic design automation. Cygnet Group, which he co-founded next, distributed personal-computer CAD/CAM: Viewlogic, and mechanical systems from Supercads and McDonnell Douglas 3D Graphixx.
1987–1993
Personal computers
The Kodak work at Wang covered minicomputers, image systems, and PC LANs. At Microlytics the products were linguistic: spell checkers, thesauri, and translators, licensed to personal-computer companies. Selectronics, the other half of that Xerox venture, sold handheld computers and custom electronic publishing into OEM and consumer electronics.
1993–2016
Compression, discs, and the internet
Data Compression, Inc. licensed a toolkit for text and directory data on magnetic media, ROM, and CD-ROM, aimed at telephone-directory applications. DockSide Equipment, renamed after the Kap Strap sale, built digital marketing for direct-response television, CD-ROM, and online selling. dockside.net followed with SMART Internet Marketing: mass email, surveys, sweepstakes, and marketing tracking.
2013 onward
Small unmanned aircraft
SkyOp’s product is training, not an airframe. The résumé describes courseware that is licensed to partners and taught directly, for schools, sUAS manufacturers, public safety, and businesses. The point he states is safe, lawful, effective use.
