computer science

Labtec

Labtec is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Labtec rather than just read about it. In short: Labtec Enterprises Inc. was an American manufacturer of computer accessories active as an independent company from 1980 to 2001. They were best known for their budget range of peripherals such as keyboards, mice, microphones, speakers and webcams.

Labtec — illustration

Key takeaways

Labtec belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Labtec to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Labtec from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Labtec Enterprises Inc. was an American manufacturer of computer accessories active as an independent company from 1980 to 2001. They were best known for their budget range of peripherals such as keyboards, mice, microphones, speakers and webcams. In the United States, the company had cornered the market for computer speakers and headphones for much of the 1990s before being acquired by Logitech in 2001.

History

Labtec Enterprises Inc. was founded in 1980 by Charles Dunn and based in Vancouver, Washington, for most of its independent existence. The company was initially focused on providing audio gear (primarily headsets) for the airline industry before branching out to providing peripherals for personal computers in 1990. By the mid-1990s Labtec catered to three segments: the personal computer buyer, providing speakers and microphones; the airline industry, providing headphones and headsets; and the professional audiovisual and telephonics industry, providing audio cables, switches, and junction boxes. The company employed 20 people domestically at the company's combined headquarters and warehouse in Vancouver, Washington, in 1993. Meanwhile, the bulk of the company's products were manufactured overseas in Hong Kong and Taiwan. In 1993, the company was selling about 150,000 speakers to consumers a month. In 1998, Labtec merged with Spacetec IMC Corporation, becoming a new publicly traded corporation in the process. The combined company changed its name to Labtec Inc. in February 1999. Spacetec IMC had manufactured 6DOF controllers for use with CAD software. A Spaceball 2003 controller was used to control the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft in 2000. In 2001, Logitech bought Labtec for approximately US$125 million in cash, stock and debt in order to expand its line of audio products for personal computers and other devices.

References

External links Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 2000-12-06)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Labtec

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Labtec claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Labtec before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Labtec ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Labtec

In research: Labtec appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Labtec in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Labtec is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Companies based in Vancouver, Washington, Computer hardware stubs, Defunct computer companies of the United States, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Labtec outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Labtec in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Labtec means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Labtec out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Labtec in simple terms?

Why does Labtec matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Labtec?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Labtec.