SupraFAXModem 14400

The SupraFAXModem 14400 was one of the first truly affordable v.32bis modems to come to market. Launched in January 1991 at a $399 price point, the 14,400 bit/s model was less expensive than most 9600 bit/s models, supported many additional features, and was housed in an attractive case. The SupraFAX is an example of a disruptive technology; although it arrived into an existing modem market, its price/performance ratio was so great compared to any other model available that its introduction drove modem prices sharply downward. Whereas a 9600 bit/s model was perhaps $599 only a month before its introduction, by the end of the year $250 models were not uncommon.

Supra, Inc. had been a small player in the computer market through the mid-to-late 1980s, known originally for their external hard drives for the Atari ST and a variety of follow-on products. During 1991, Rockwell International's chip-making arm developed a new model driver chipset that included all of the latest standards that were then under development. Supra, never having been known as a "player" in the modem world, designed a modem based on the new chipset, and arranged a short-term exclusivity agreement. Not content with being the first consumer v.32bis modem on the market, Supra chose to introduce a new display on the front, a two-digit green electroluminescent display that showed the speed of connection and other information such as "RI" for ring indication and "CD" for carrier detect. The case itself was about half the size of a "normal" modem, the standard having been set with the Hayes Smartmodem in 1981 and copied by the vast majority of modems since then.

In addition to the basic modem, Supra also introduced software to make better use of all the features of the modem. In particular, Supra re-packaged FAXstf as FAXCilitate, a Macintosh fax application that allowed any application that supported printing to send the output as a fax instead. They later introduced Supra VoiceMail, another Mac application written by STF Technologies that turned the computer into a digital answering machine with caller id routing and similar features.

The SupraFAXModem was by no means a perfect product. Continued high-speed use caused the driverchipset to heat up, and as the case lacked any airflow the modems would eventually get hot enough to loose the ability to connect stably, dropping calls. Another, minor, issue was that the status display codes in the alphanumeric display rotated through several different indications, and important information, like CD, would only be displayed every few seconds. Both of these issues make them unsuitable for "host side" use on a bulletin board system or internet service provider, but on the client end these issues were simply not important.

Supra also released a v.32 version at the same time, but it seems to have been fairly uncommon. They followed up the 14400 with the SupraFAXModem 288, the first consumer v.34 modem, and then a series of various versions with different features. The SupraExpress was a low-cost series that scaled to lower price points.

References

* [http://www.atariarchives.org/cfn/12/03/0028.php SupraFAXModem] , news release in the Atari SIG of the Cleveland Freenet