Appearance: UsedFunctionality: WorkingDescription:============As pictured, a USRCourier I-Modem W/ V.Everything – tested good. Includes everything pictured:modem and power supply. Full support is available at: http://support.usr.com/support/product-template.asp?prod=imodem.About Us:=========The ComputerPreservation Group is dedicated to the preservation of historical computers. Tohelp fund ongoing operations, select items are made available. To learn more,please visit our website: www.computerpreservation.com. Thank you for your support!Warranty andReturns:=====================We understand thatthere may be compatibility issues, space constraints, or it just doesn’t lookperfect. This item can be returned within 14-days for ANY reason. However,shipping to and from is not refundable. Shipping:=========- Local pickup isalso available at no cost.- Most orders placedbefore 9am will ship the same day.Stock#:18433Details from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USRobotics:U.S. RoboticsCorporation (often referred to as USR) is a company which produces USRoboticscomputer modems and related products. It sold high-speed modems in the 1980s,and had a reputation for high quality and compatibility with communicationstandards. With the reduced usage of analog or voiceband modems in NorthAmerica in the early 21st century, USR is now one of the few modem companiesleft in that market. It now employs about 125 people worldwide.[1]USR was founded in1976 in Chicago, Illinois (and later moved to Skokie, Illinois), by a group ofentrepreneurs, including Casey Cowell, who served as CEO for most of thecompany's history and Paul Collard who designed modems into the mid-1980s. Thecompany name is a reference to the fiction of Isaac Asimov, who is creditedwith inventing the term robotics. Asimov's Robot stories featured a fictionalcompany named U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men. Cowell stated at a popular BBSconvention they named the company as an homage to Asimov and because in hisscience fiction works US Robotics eventually became "the biggest companyin the universe".[citation needed] (The later 2004 movie I, Robot, whichwas loosely based on Asimov's works, and set in Chicago, used the name"U.S. Robotics" for the fictional robot manufacturer.) The movie'sU.S. Robotics corporate logo resembles a former nonfictional USR logo.Following the release of the movie, the company officially changed its name toUSR.USR was one of manycompanies to offer dial-up modems for personal computers. Prior to thedevelopment of standards such as the V.32 family of protocols, USR introducedits own HST (High-Speed Transfer) protocol in 1986, which operated at 9600bit/s (bits per second). In 1989 HST was expanded to 14.4 kbit/s, 16.8 kbit/sin 1992, and finally to 21 kbit/s and 24 kbit/s.USR was not the onlycompany making modems with proprietary protocols; Telebit's TrailBlazer seriesoffered speeds up to 19.2 kbit/s in its first model, and Hayes also introduceda 9600 bit/s Express 96 (or "Ping-Pong") system. However, USR becamethe most successful of the three, due to a marketing scheme that offered largediscounts to BBS sysops.The proprietarynature of HST allowed USR to maintain its market predominance even whenoff-brand V.32-based modems began selling for less than equivalent HST modems.As the price differential decreased, however, V.32-based modems eventuallybecame a cost-effective alternative to HST. Nevertheless, USR maintained itsuser base by creating slightly faster HST protocols (in particular, a 16.8kbit/s mode) and by producing "dual-standard" modems which were ableto communicate with both HST and V.32 modems at high speeds.During this period,USR differentiated between its high and low-end product lines by supportingonly the V.32 modes on its low-end Sportster models, while its high-end Couriermodels supported V.32, HST, or both in the Courier Dual Standard models. TheSportster used the same motherboard as the Couriers, and on certain 14.4 kbit/smodels a sequence of AT commands could be issued to enable the faster 16.8kbit/s HST mode.[2] The Courier modems remained a favorite in the BBS andemerging Internet service provider world, where they were known to run withoutproblems for extended periods of time (although the initial large-scaledeployment of Courier modems in the CompuServe network uncovered a serious bugwhich would cause the modems to crash and stop answering calls under high callvolumes).Later, when 56kbit/s modems were introduced, USR again went its own way with its X2technology pitched against K56flex before the creation of a final formal 56Kstandard. After the V.90 industry standard became available, USR abandoned itsproprietary protocols. In a further effort to reduce the retail price of itsmodems, USR also marketed a Winmodem that used software running on the hostcomputer to perform some of the modem functions.Some models ofCourier modems were known for their long-term upgradeability, because they usedan upgradeable DSP design. For example, when the Courier V.Everything modem wasfirst released in 1994 under the product label "Courier V.34 Ready",it shipped with only V.FC support because V.34 had not been released. A freeV.34 upgrade was made available later via FidoNet, as well as the Internet. USRthen surprised many early Courier V.Everything modem owners with a limited-timefree offer of an X2 firmware upgrade, which added 56K speed capability.Finally, USR released a V.90 upgrade that was compatible with X2-upgradedCourier V.Everything modems. Even the 1994 hardware released pre-V.34 was fullyV.90-upgradeable without hardware modification. Many Courier V.Everythingmodems were still in use more than a decade later.[citation needed]There was alicensing key needed for some Courier V.Everything V.90 flash upgrades. Thefirmware could be loaded onto the modem, but it would work in"degraded" V.34 mode. After paying a fee, and having the modem dialUSR, a license key was installed that enabled the V.90 functions.
