Gandalf Technologies, Inc., or simply Gandalf, was a Canadian data communications company based in Ottawa. It was best known for modems and terminal adapters that allowed computer terminals to connect to host computers through a single interface. Gandalf also pioneered a radio-based mobile data terminal that was popular for many years in taxi dispatch systems. The rapid rise of TCP/IP relegated many of Gandalf's products to niche status, and the company went bankrupt in 1997; its assets were acquired by Mitel.
History
Gandalf was founded by Desmond Cunningham and Colin Patterson in 1971, and started business from the lobby of the Skyline Hotel, which is now the Crowne Plaza Hotel, on Albert Street in Ottawa.
The company's first products were industrial-looking half-bridges for remote terminals which were supported by large terminal multiplexers on the "computer end". Gandalf referred to these systems as a "PACX", in analogy to the telephony PABX which provided similar services in the voice field. These systems allowed the user to "dial up" the Gandalf box and then instruct it what computer they wanted to connect to...
Glenn Fleishman
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