Definition: NCR

(NCR Corporation, Dayton, OH) A technology company specializing in financial terminal transactions, retail systems and data warehousing. Until the late 1990s, NCR was heavily invested in the hardware side of the industry, known worldwide as a major manufacturer of computers and financial terminals. The sale of its computer hardware manufacturing assets in 1998 signaled the company's shift towards solutions and services to business customers.

NCR's long and illustrious history began in 1884 when John Henry Patterson purchased National Manufacturing Company of Dayton, Ohio, and renamed it National Cash Register. It became the leading cash register company and, by 1911, had sold its one millionth machine.

Starting in the 1930s, NCR made accounting machines that posted customer accounts and became successful in the banking and retail industries, in which it has remained ever since.

In 1957, it introduced the "304" transistorized computer. It accepted data from NCR cash registers and banking terminals via paper tape. The 304 was very reliable and widely accepted.

NCR computer lines included the Century series (1960s), Criterion series (1970s) and the V and I series (1980s). Starting in 1982 with the Unix- and Motorola 68000-based Tower series, NCR embraced open systems and industry standards. In 1990, the x86-based System 3000 series was introduced, a complete line from desktops to massively parallel machines running DOS, Windows and OS/2 at the low end and Unix at the high end.

In 1991, AT&T acquired the company and ran it as a wholly owned subsidiary, renaming it AT&T Global Information Systems (AT&T GIS) in early 1994. The NCR name did remain on ATM and POS terminals as well as microelectronics and business forms. In 1996, AT&T GIS was spun off of AT&T, renamed NCR, and it became an independent company once again. As the new millennium arrived, NCR focused on its ATM business and its leading edge in enterprise data warehousing from its Teradata division. At the end of 2007, NCR and Teradata officially separated into two different corporations.

John H. Patterson

Patterson was the consummate salesman and built a small empire as machinery was first introduced into the commercial world at the end of the 19th century. (Image courtesy of NCR Corporation.)

An Early Cash Register

These were marvelous machines when first introduced, because they could tally the day's receipts automatically. (Image courtesy of NCR Corporation.)

The NCR 304

Introduced in 1957, the 304 was NCR's first computer. Using paper tape from NCR cash registers as input, it was very reliable and widely accepted. (Image courtesy of NCR Corporation.)

NCR CRAM Units

In 1962, these Card Random Access Units were made available with NCR's 315 computer system. They offered reliable direct access storage during the 1960s. (Image courtesy of NCR Corporation.)