Company:Franklin Electronic Publishers

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Franklin Electronic Publishers
FormerlyFranklin Computer Corporation
TypePublic
Founded1981; 45 years ago (1981) in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States
Founder
  • Barry Borden
  • Russell Bower
  • Joel Shusterman
ParentSaunders Acquisition Corporation
Website{{{1}}}

Franklin Electronic Publishers, Incorporated (formerly Franklin Computer Corporation) is an American consumer electronics manufacturer based in Burlington, New Jersey, founded in 1981. Since the mid-1980s, it has primarily created and sold hand-held electronic references, such as spelling correctors, dictionaries, translation devices, medical references, and Bibles. It was publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol FEP until September 30, 2009, when it merged with Saunders Acquisition Corporation.[1]

History

Franklin ACE 100


Franklin followed with the ACE 1200, which included two built-in 5¼" floppy drives and an ACE 80 Zilog Z80 processor card (a rebranded PCPI Appli-Card) for CP/M compatibility—a popular third-party option for the Apple II. The ACE 1200 was identical to the ACE 1000, but with the addition of dual built-in floppy drives and four expansion cards pre-installed (one of which offered color video; the ACE 1000 was monochrome).[2] At its peak workforce in 1983, Franklin employed 450 employees.[3]


In June 1984, Franklin filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy Act. Franklin reduced its workforce to just over 100, from a previous total of 275 employees.[3] Franklin had been planning to release the Franklin CX, a portable Apple II clone, but this release was canceled due to the bankruptcy.[4]



In 1987, Franklin released the Spelling Ace, which could provide spelling corrections to 80,000 English words based on technology from Proximity Technology.[5] Franklin also released its Language Master device, which included spelling correction, dictionary definitions and a thesaurus.[6][7] In 1988, Franklin acquired Proximity Technology.[8] In 1989, Franklin released an electronic version of the Bible in the King James, Revised Standard[9][10] and New International versions.[10] Johnny Cash was a spokesperson for the company,[11][12] recording Bible passages for their line of electronic Bibles.[12][13]


Franklin Electronic Publishers outsourced all of its R&D to Hong Kong,[14] with the last day of US R&D operations being March 31, 2009.[15]

See also

  • Bilingual dictionary
  • Franklin eBookMan

References

  1. ↑ "Franklin Electronic Publishers Reports Approval of a Merger Agreement" (Press release). Franklin Electronic Publishers. PR Newswire. September 30, 2010.
  2. ↑ McMahon, Tim (February 1984). "CP/M and Applesoft on Franklin's Ace 1200". Bits & Bytes: 26–27. https://archive.org/details/nzbitsandbytes-2-05/page/n27/mode/2up. Retrieved May 13, 2024. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Blumstein, Michael (June 23, 1984). "Reorganization Sought by Franklin Computer". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/23/business/reorganization-sought-by-franklin-computer.html. 
  4. ↑ Chin, Kathy (June 4, 1984). "Franklin Unveils First Portable". InfoWorld: 48–49. https://books.google.com/books?id=vi4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA48. 
  5. ↑ Pollack, Andrew (October 21, 1987). "Business Technology; At Last, Help on the Crossword Puzzle". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/21/business/business-technology-at-last-help-on-the-crossword-puzzle.html?pagewanted=1. 
  6. ↑ Louie, Elaine (November 8, 1987). "Holiday Gifts for the Thinker". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/08/education/holiday-gifts-for-the-thinker.html?pagewanted=1. 
  7. ↑ "More than a Spellchecker". TES Connect. http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=23263. 
  8. ↑ "Mergers, Acquisitions". The Palm Beach Post: p. 28. March 30, 1988. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=iSQjAAAAIBAJ&pg=1142,7943954&dq=franklin+buys+proximity-technology&hl=en. 
  9. ↑ Ostling, Richard N.; Harris, Michael P. (October 30, 1989). "Religion: High-Tech Bible". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,958894,00.html. "This is not a new translation but a hand-held computer containing the entire scriptural text in either the King James or the Revised Standard Version." 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Yianilos, Peter N.. "The Franklin Bibles". http://pnylab.com/pny/products/bible/main.html. "The Franklin KJ-21 was introduced in 1989 and marked the first publication of the Holy Bible in hand-held electronic form. This King James version was followed by a Revised Standard Edition (model RS-22), and the New International Version (NIV-20)." 
  11. ↑ "Johnny Cash Chosen As the Voice of New E-Bibles". CMJ Holdings. April 26, 1999. p. 12. https://books.google.com/books?id=8t1nP58JaSgC&pg=PA12. "Franklin Electronic Publishers has chosen country legend Johnny Cash to intone the Word of God. The Man in Black has been Franklin's Holy Bible spokesperson for six years..." 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Key, Peter (July 19, 1999). "Johnny Cash Recites from Bible for Franklin". Philadelphia Business Journal. http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/1999/07/19/newscolumn4.html?page=all. "The Burlington City, N.J.-based producer of handheld electronic books and the REX organizer recently announced that it will release compact disks and cassettes of Johnny Cash reciting nearly 400 of his favorite passages from the King James Holy Bible." 
  13. ↑ Nicholson, Leslie J. (July 31, 2000). "E-books Fuel Firm's Recovery". https://www.chicagotribune.com/2000/07/31/e-books-fuel-firms-recovery/. "The speaking electronic Bibles feature country music legend Johnny Cash reading aloud daily devotional passages." 
  14. ↑ "2008 Letter to Shareholders". Franklin. http://www.franklin.com/investors/shletter_08.asp. 
  15. ↑ "Photos of U.S. R&D Last Day". PB. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.84372535927.111292.566615927&type=1&l=05a9e38137. 
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