Pre-acquisition (1981–1989) Practical Peripherals, Inc., was incorporated in 1981 by Michael S. Seedman in
Westlake Village, California, as a manufacturer of
computer peripherals. Its first products in 1982 were a series of
print buffer (spooler)
expansion cards, sold under the Microbuffer name. This encompassed the Microbuffer II for the
Apple II, the Microbuffer E for the
Epson MX-80 printer, standalone Microbuffers with two
serial or
parallel ports, and a versatile universal Microbuffer supporting both serial and parallel use. These products featured internal dynamic memory capacities ranging from 16 KB to 512 KB. The company began diversifying its operations in 1985, branching into telecommunications products for personal computers. It introduced modems for personal computers under the Practical Modem brand name, as well as
data buffer devices for faxes. The company's modem line was its hottest seller. It commenced with the Practical Modem 1200 (PM1200) in December 1985, providing speeds of 1200 bps for both internal and external modems. Progressing through their product offerings, Practical Peripherals culminated with the PM56K, a high-speed internal and external modem operating at 56,000 bps, in 1997. By the mid-1980s, other members of the Seedman family began presiding over operations at Practical. Michael's brother Eric was hired as vice president of sales and his father Joseph acted as
chief operating officer under CEO Michael.
Post-acquisition (1989–1999) In 1985, Practical was sued for alleged
patent infringement by
Hayes Microcomputer Products of
Atlanta, Georgia, of the latter's
Heatherington '302 patent. Practical counter-sued in 1988, claiming that Hayes' patent was invalid. Rather than drag on legal proceedings, Hayes acquired Practical for an undisclosed sum in August 1989, allowing it to operate as an independently operating subsidiary, the Practical brand surviving, and short-circuiting their respective lawsuits. Practical that year achieved sales of nearly $50 million on their modem products from 1990 to 1992. The company increased their payroll in tandem, the company peaking at 700 workers in September 1992. Sales of Practical's products peaked that year as well, at just over $50 million. In 1993, founder Michael Seedman departed from Practical Peripherals to join rival modem maker
U.S. Robotics of
Schaumburg, Illinois, as their senior VP and general manager. Following price cuts and consolidation of the company's operations in 1993, In late November 1994, Hayes sought
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection due to constricting
cash flows, and despite reassurances that Practical would not see further consolidation, As Practical had formally merged with Hayes right before the parent company's bankruptcy, Practical's management were dragged into Chapter 11 proceedings along with them. In 1995, Hayes laid of 100 employees of Practical. In September 1996, Hayes announced that Practical's 375 remaining employees were to be laid off in the next seven months, effectively ending Practical's independent operations. Practical continued as a brand of Hayes modems for the next two years, until Hayes themselves were bought out by
Zoom Telephonics in April 1999. ==References==