Item Details

Description

The James N. Porter papers document Porter’s career in the disk drive and data storage industries, particularly his role as the founder and president of DISK/TREND, which published annual market study reports on the disk drive and data storage industry. Material dates from 1956 to 2010, with the bulk of material from 1970 to 2003. The majority of material in the collection consists of DISK/TREND’s profiles on companies active in the disk drive industry. A smaller portion of the collection contains material related to data storage industry conferences, including IDEMA’s DISKCON and DataStorage, two conferences Porter co-founded; storage industry market studies; Porter’s research files on various types of data storage technologies; records from his employment and consulting work outside of DISK/TREND; and unprocessed audiovisual material.

Scope and Content of the Collection

The James N. Porter papers contain records from Porter’s career in the disk drive and data storage industries, especially in his role as founder and president of DISK/TREND. The collection spans from 1956 to 2010 with the bulk of the collection ranging from 1970 to 2003, around the period of DISK/TREND’s active years.

The largest parts of the collection comprise DISK/TREND’s profiles on companies active in the disk drive industry. Porter filed and classified most of these companies as “manufacturers” (Series 1), but also kept separate files on “suppliers” (Series 5). The material in Series 1, “Disk drive manufacturer profiles,” was relatively more extensive and organized than other parts of the collection. For instance, each manufacturer profile includes DISK/TREND worksheets, which were used in Porter’s interviews with industry leaders and also in providing content for DISK/TREND publications.

Another significant part of the collection covers material that Porter collected and/or created from conferences, symposia, workshops, and other events taking place within the data storage industry. Two conferences that Porter co-founded and operated: DISKCON (run under IDEMA) and DataStorage, are heavily represented in this part of the collection.

The collection also holds storage industry market studies, which include reports from peer publications similar to DISK/TREND, analyst reports created for investment purposes, academic market studies authored under business schools, and a small amount of DISK/TREND reports. Porter’s research files on various types of data storage technologies are also held in this collection, along with records from his employment and consulting work outside of DISK/TREND. Lastly, there is a small amount of unprocessed audiovisual material.

Biographical/Historical Note

James (Jim) N. Porter was born October 3, 1931, in Sacramento, California. He received a bachelor’s degree in Advertising from San Jose State University.

Porter worked in marketing for the paper manufacturer Crown Zellerbach after the company received IBM’s RAMAC, the first computer to use a disk drive, in 1956. Impressed with the machine, Porter would show it off to office visitors, and it was after this experience around the RAMAC that his interest in drive technology took off. After Crown Zellerbach, Porter worked for Memorex from 1968 to 1971 in different marketing roles and as the manager of computer media product management. In 1971, Porter was hired as the director of marketing for Cartridge Television Inc., one of the first developers of home video cassette systems. He worked there until 1973, when he took the role of director of marketing for CMX Systems, a joint Memorex-CBS company that made and marketed computer-controlled videotape editing systems. Around this time, he also worked for Rockwell International.

In 1974, Porter started his own management consulting firm, working for various companies, including Memorex. In 1977, he founded the industry analyst firm DISK/TREND, which published annual market study reports on the disk drive and data storage industries. DISK/TREND was considered the industry standard for market studies, and Porter was in high demand to speak on panels and present his DISK/TREND reports at disk and storage conferences worldwide.

Porter was a founder and chairman of IDEMA (International Disk Drive Equipment and Materials Association), and was heavily involved in their annual DISKCON trade shows, both in the United States and in Asia. He also founded the DataStorage conference. Porter retired DISK/TREND in 1999. He continued speaking at conferences and shows until the end of his life. He died March 2, 2012.

Level of description

Folder

Date

1956-2010 (Made), 1970-2003 (Bulk)

Publisher

Computer History Museum (Publisher)

Extent

135.21 linear feet in 107 record cartons and 4 manuscript boxes

Subject

Computer Storage Devices

Collection title

James N. Porter papers

Credit

Gift of James N. Porter

Catalogue number

102733956

Lot number

X6504.2012