# Basic/Four > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Basic%2FFour > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Basic%2FFour.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic%2FFour > Source revision: 1355321357 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Business Basic variety}} right|thumb|Terminal for a MAI Basic/Four minicomputer '''Basic/Four''' is a variety of [Business Basic](/source/Business_Basic) which originally ran on computers of the same name introduced in 1971. The company that produced the system, Management Assistance, Inc., was later known as '''Basic/Four Corporation''', '''MAI Basic Four, Inc.''', and '''MAI Basic Four Information Systems'''.{{cite news | author1 = | title = MAI Canada Ltd. | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=1xIiAQAAMAAJ | work = CIPS Magazine | publisher = Canadian Information Processing Society | page = | date = 1971 | access-date = 2023-02-03 | quote = MAI Canada Ltd. will be showing its first product, a new computer system designated Basic/Four. }} Basic/Four set the pattern for the business BASIC market, with similar products appearing on other [minicomputer](/source/minicomputer) systems, and later, [microcomputer](/source/microcomputer)s like the [Apple III](/source/Apple_III). It remained a popular product into the early 1980s, when increasingly powerful micros replaced it, and MAI turned to selling pre-packaged Basic/Four like accounting software. Basic/Four Corporation was created as a subsidiary of Management Assistance, Inc. in [Irvine, California](/source/Irvine%2C_California) in 1971. Basic/Four initially sold small business minicomputers that were assembled from [Microdata Corporation](/source/Microdata_Corporation) [CPUs](/source/central_processing_unit), but in 1976 they began selling their own [16-bit](/source/16-bit_computing) CPU designs. Over the next three years they introduced a series of models of these designs, the 200 through 730, with various configurations of memory, [terminal server](/source/terminal_server)s and [hard drive](/source/hard_drive). By the end of 1978 they had approximately 6000 systems in the field in total.{{cite magazine |url=https://ftpmirror.your.org/pub/misc/bitsavers/pdf/datapro/datapro_reports_70s-90s/Basic_Four/M11-088-10_7902_Basic_Four.pdf |title=Basic Four Business Computers |magazine=Datapro |date=February 1979}} Basic Four was one of the first commercially available business [BASIC interpreter](/source/BASIC_interpreter)s. The computers ran an operating system with the BASIC interpreter integrated, known as BOSS. The BASIC interpreter was written in [TREE-META](/source/TREE-META).{{cite web |url=https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/questions/16071/what-were-the-first-basic-interpreters-to-be-programmed-in-high-level-languages/16081#16081 |accessdate=2020-09-06|title=Programming - What were the first BASIC interpreters to be programmed in high-level languages?}} [[File:Tandy 2000 Ad, BYTE, July 1984.png|thumb|1984 ad co-marketing "MAI/Basic Four" software with the [Tandy 2000](/source/Tandy_2000) personal computer]] The takeover of the low-end and midrange market by the [IBM PC](/source/IBM_PC) during the mid-1980s led to a crash in sales of MAI's 16-bit designs. In 1985, Wall Street financier [Bennett S. LeBow](/source/Bennett_S._LeBow) purchased the company after it had experienced significant operating financial losses.{{cite magazine |first=Kathleen |last=Burton |title=LeBow vows steady course after MAI housecleaning |magazine=Computerworld |date=18 March 1985 |page=82}} In the mid-1980s, the company released accounting software for third-party microcomputers, and in 1988 it released its own [80286](/source/Intel_80286)-based workstation.{{cite magazine |first=Julie |last=Webber |title=MAI Introduces 286 Family of Workstations |magazine=InfoWorld |date=8 August 1988 |page=28}} The Basic4 system was utilized by many small banks and credit unions. In 1988, LeBow used the company as a platform for an unsuccessful attempted [hostile takeover](/source/hostile_takeover) of much larger [Prime Computer](/source/Prime_Computer).{{cite web |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE0D8133CF937A15752C1A96E948260 |title=COMPANY NEWS; MAI Basic Pursues Prime Computer |agency=Associated Press |date=November 24, 1988 |work=New York Times |accessdate=April 12, 2011}} In 1990, the company changed its name to [MAI Systems Corporation](/source/MAI_Systems) and changed its business to be a system integrator instead of a combined hardware and software manufacturer, reselling third-party computers but installing their own customer-specific software system. {{cite news |url=http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/mai-basic-four-inc |title=Stories about MAI |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |accessdate=9 June 2017 |archive-date=25 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140825001834/http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/mai-basic-four-inc |url-status=bot: unknown }} MAI Systems Corporation became a wholly owned subsidiary of [Softbrands Inc.](/source/Softbrands_Inc.) in 2006. == See also == * ''[MAI Systems Corp. v. Peak Computer, Inc.](/source/MAI_Systems_Corp._v._Peak_Computer%2C_Inc.)'' ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070701060836/http://www.answers.com/topic/mai-systems-corporation?cat=biz-fin History of MAI] *[http://www.obsoletecomputermuseum.org/mai/ M.A.I. S10 Basic Four microcomputer system description] *[http://www.ardiehl.de/basicfour/ Pictures and descriptions of a few different Basic Four computers]\ Category:1971 establishments in California Category:2006 disestablishments in California Category:American companies established in 1971 Category:American companies disestablished in 2006 Category:BASIC interpreters Category:Computer companies established in 1971 Category:Computer companies disestablished in 2006 Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States Category:Defunct computer hardware companies Category:Defunct computer companies based in California --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Basic/Four](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic%2FFour) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic%2FFour?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.