View source for PrairieTek

{{More citations needed|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox company
| name = PrairieTek
| logo = PrairieTek logo.svg
| type = Private
| industry = Data storage
| founded = {{Start date and age|1985}} in [[Longmont, Colorado]], United States
| founder = [[Terry Johnson (entrepreneur)|Terry Johnson]]
| defunct = {{End date|1991|08}}
| fate = Bankruptcy liquidation
| products = Hard disk drives
| num_employees = 
| num_employees_year = <!-- Year of num_employees data (if known) -->
}}
'''PrairieTek''' was a [[Hard disk drive|hard drive]] manufacturer located in [[Longmont, Colorado]] in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  It was founded by [[Terry Johnson (entrepreneur)|Terry Johnson]] in 1985.<ref name="est">{{cite web |url=http://s3.computerhistory.org/groups/ds-prarietek-220-20121211.pdf |title=PrairieTek 220 |publisher=Hard Disk Drives |accessdate=October 25, 2018}}</ref> It manufactured 5 and 10 [[megabyte]] "[[Rugged computer|ruggedized]]" miniature hard drives for the laptop computer market.

Its PrairieTek 220 was the first {{convert|2.5|in|abbr=on}} hard drive, a potentially profitable move, but by the time the drive entered into mass production, its storage capacity was already low for the market.  "PrairieTek's single disk 40MB model, potentially a
cost-effective competitive product, was...late to market."<ref name="est"/>

Unlike many manufacturers of the time, PrairieTek did not rest the drive heads on the disks, but instead used reverse EMF (ElectroMagnetic Force) to park the drives on a spreader bar.  At the time all manufacturers parked heads on the platters in an out of the way place. When the platters spun up, with the increasingly smooth surface of the platter, the heads had a tendency to stick to the surface (sticktion) which resulted in ripping them off the arms. This dynamic loading of the heads avoided the problem and was a carry over from a previous design used in 8 inch removable drives.

The company first went into the black in September 1990, at which point co-founder Steve Volk and the core group of engineers resigned to found [[Intégral Peripherals]], to develop 1.8" drives.<ref name=sold>{{cite journal | last=Potter | first=Beth | date=June 1, 1998 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/221204998/ | title=Integral sold to investor group | journal=Boulder County Business Report | publisher=Boulder Business Information | volume=17 | issue=6 | page=1 | via=ProQuest}}</ref>

The company failed within a year of Volk leaving. The first round of layoffs started in February 1991, all production activity ceased at the end of June - and the company filed for [[Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 11 bankruptcy]] in September 1991.<ref name="iw">{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uT0EAAAAMBAJ&dq=1991+closing+prairietek&pg=PA100 |title=PrairieTek files for Chapter 11 |last=Yacco |first=Wayne A. |page=100 |date=September 23, 1991 |journal=[[InfoWorld]] |accessdate=June 10, 2018}}</ref> 

The bidding war for PrairieTek's patent portfolio in 1992 rose to the then astounding price of $18M, paid by [[Conner Peripherals]] and [[Alps Electric]] - PrairieTek's patent #4,933,785<ref>
[https://patents.google.com/patent/US4933785 &quot;Patent #4,933,785 Disk Drive Apparatus using Dynamic Loading/Unloading&quot;] Retrieved October 25, 2018</ref> in particular was sought after.<ref name="est"/><ref>[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/24049288_Market_Value_and_Patent_Citations &quot;RAND March 2005 Market Value and Patent Citations&quot;] Retrieved October 25, 2018</ref>

==References==
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{{Hard disk drive manufacturers}}
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[[Category:1985 establishments in Colorado]]
[[Category:1991 disestablishments in Colorado]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1985]]
[[Category:American companies disestablished in 1991]]
[[Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1991]]
[[Category:Computer companies established in 1985]]
[[Category:Computer companies disestablished in 1991]]
[[Category:Computer storage companies]]
[[Category:Defunct companies based in Colorado]]
[[Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct computer hardware companies]]
[[Category:Electronics companies established in 1985]]
[[Category:Electronics companies disestablished in 1991]]
[[Category:Technology companies established in 1985]]
[[Category:Technology companies disestablished in 1991]]