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Tadpole Computer

Tadpole Computer was a manufacturer of rugged, military specification UNIX workstations, thin client laptops, and lightweight servers.

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May 31, 2026
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Tadpole Computer
Founded1994 (1994)
Defunct2005
FateAcquired by General Dynamics
Headquarters
Cupertino
,
United States
ProductsLaptops, servers, workstations
Websitewww.tadpolecomputer.com

Tadpole Computer was a manufacturer of rugged, military specification UNIX workstations, thin client laptops, and lightweight servers.

History

Tadpole was founded in 19941 and originally based in Cambridge, England, then for a time in Cupertino, California.2

In 1998, Tadpole acquired RDI Computer Corporation of Carlsbad, California,3 who produced the competing Britelite and Powerlite portable SPARC-based systems, for $6 million.4

Tadpole was later acquired by defense contractor General Dynamics, in April 2005.5

Production continued until March 2013 but since then, they no longer sell any systems; and support for their products was provided by Flextronics. Flextronics discontinued Tadpole support around 2019. Vector Data, a Tadpole OEM, still provides legacy Tadpole systems and support.

An anonymous US intelligence officer had stated to Reuters in 2013 that a decade earlier the US secretly created a company reselling laptops from Tadpole Computer to Asian governments. The reseller added secret software that allowed intelligence analysts to access the machines remotely.6

Products

Tadpole laptops used a variety of architectures, such as SPARC, Alpha, PowerPC and x86.1 Although very expensive, these classic Tadpoles won favour as a method to show corporation's proprietary software (IBM/HP/DEC) on a self-contained portable device on a client site in the days before remote connectivity.

SPARC

SPARCbook 3 in Computer History Museum source ↗

The original SPARCbook 17 was introduced in 1992 with 8–32 MB RAM and a 25 MHz processor.89 It was followed by several further SPARCbooks, UltraSPARCbooks (branded as Ultrabooks) – and the Voyager IIi.1011 These all ran the SunOS or Solaris operating systems.12131415 In 2004, Tadpole released the Viper laptop.16

The SPARCLE was based on a 500-600 MHz UltraSPARC IIe or 1 GHz UltraSPARC IIIi.17

DEC Alpha

Demo of the Tadpole ALPHAbook 1 at VMworld 2011

An Alpha-based laptop, the ALPHAbook 1, was announced on 4 December 1995 and became available in 1996. The Alphabook 1 was manufactured in Cambridge, England. It used an Alpha 21066A microprocessor specified for a maximum clock frequency of 233 MHz. The laptop used the OpenVMS operating system.1819

IBM PowerPC

A PowerPC-based laptop was also produced – the IBM RISC System/6000 N40 Notebook Workstation, powered by a 50 MHz PowerPC 601 and with between 16 and 64MB RAM – and designed to run IBM AIX.2021

x86

Tadpole also produced a range of x86-based notebook computers, including the Tadpole P1000, and the TALIN laptops with SUSE Linux, or optionally Microsoft Windows.22

See also

See also

References

References

  1. "Tadpole Eyes Athlon 64, Multiprocessor Sparc Notebooks - ExtremeTech". www.extremetech.com. 11 March 2003. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  2. "Tadpole Launches Sleek UltraSPARC® Technology Powered Notebook". 2003-02-18. Archived from the original on 2003-02-18. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  3. "Tadpole Technology: Industry news" (PDF). 2020-04-20. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-04-20. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  4. "Tadpole Technology purchases major competitor RDI Computer Corporation - SunWorld - August 1998". sunsite.uakom.sk. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  5. "Form 10-K, General Dynamics Corporation". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  6. "Strong ties bind spy agencies and Silicon Valley". Reuters. 2013-07-04. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  7. Chronology of Workstation Computers (1991-1992) Archived April 2, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  8. Sub-$6,000 Sparc Notebook Announced, By Martin Marshall, InfoWorld, 27 May 1991, Page 32
  9. Advert: Meet the Notebook that Breaks the Mold: SPARCbook 1: Tadpole, Computerworld, 23 Mar 1992, Page 37
  10. Tadpole release Sparc notebooks, By Yvonne L. Lee, InfoWorld, 21 Feb 1994, Page 33, ...The $10,950 SparcBook 3....The $7,500 SparcBook 3LC...
  11. SPARC notebook manufacturer promises desktop performance, by Michael Fitzgerald, Computerworld, 28 Feb 1994, Page 41, ...Tadpole Technology Inc. in Austin, Texas, announced its third SPARC notebook....The $10,950 SPARCbook 3 uses Texas insstruments, Inc.'s 50-MHz MicroSPARC processor...
  12. "Tadpole SPARCbook 3", computinghistory.org.uk
  13. SPARCbook 3000ST - The coolest 90s laptop, March 14, 2019, adafruit.com
  14. Table 11-1: Identifying Different SPARC CPUs, Page 256, Sun Performance and Tuning: Java and the Internet, By Adrian Cockcroft, Richard Pettit, Sun Microsystems, ...System(Kernel Architecture): Tadpole SPARCbook 1 (sun4m) / CPU Mhz: 25 / CPU Type: Cypress 601...System(Kernel Architecture): Tadpole SPARCbook 2 (sun4m) / CPU Mhz: 40 / CPU Type: Fujitsu MB86903...System(Kernel Architecture): Tadpole SPARCbook 3 (sun4m) / CPU Mhz: 85-110 / CPU Type: microSPARC II...
  15. Sparc-based notebook ready to debut: Tadpole system uses Cypress processor, runs Solaris operating system, By Cate Corcoran, InfoWorld Dec 28, 1992 - Jan 4, 1993, Page 23
  16. "Tadpole leaps to Sparc portable workstation". CNET. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  17. "Tadpole". 2004-06-04. Archived from the original on 2004-06-04. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  18. "Tadpole Technology announces the ALPHAbook 1, the world's most powerful notebook computer". Business Wire. December 3, 1995. Retrieved September 2, 2008.
  19. HP OpenVMS Systems Documentation Retrieved September 15, 2011.
  20. "IBM RISC System/6000 N40 Notebook Workstation", March 8, 1994, Announcement Number: 194-062
  21. "RS/6000 Notebook 860" (PDF).
  22. Tadpole boosts power in Pentium-, Sparc-based notebooks, By Yvonne L. Lee, InfoWorld, 24 Jul 1995, Page 45, ...The two new notebooks, shipping now, include the SparcBook 3GX...and the Tadpole P1300, the first 133-MHz Pentium-based notebook...A Pentium notebook with 8MB of RAM and a 340MB hard disk cost $6,995...
External links