After purchasing my Compaq Portable, I wanted to make sure I was totally up to speed on everything about its history. I was reading through the Wikipedia article for the machine (because of course *that’s* the best source), and I came across a machine mentioned as a competitor in the portable business that I had not heard of before: The Seequa Chameleon. Intrigued, I went to its Wikipedia page and found a short stub about a portable computer and a brief company overview. There was not a single photo, and hardly any information about the machine or the company that made it. This piqued my interest. A quick Google search found the aforementioned Wikipedia article, a Reddit post, some short personal website blurbs, and a YouTube video of a hardly together unit. Google Images finally showed me an image of this machine: A large, beige-white, luggable computer with a green phosphor display. Seeing this machine staring me in the face started a rabbit hole I have been going down for the better part of four months. Consequently, I believe I may have the largest compiled set of information about Seequa, the Chameleon, and its successors, along with the highest quality photos of the units and marketing material I was able to get.
I consider this mostly complete as of time of publishing, however I may add to this later. What I have is the result of digging through hundreds of newspapers, magazines, local news stories, and advertising. I will continue to do so until I feel I have a "complete" history. If you have anything to add, or if I need to correct something, please reach out to me.
Beginnings
Seequa Computer Corporation incorporated in 1977 in Annapolis, Maryland. The company was founded by Dave Egli and his business student David Gardner. Seequa got its start as a data processing consulting service for banks. It then became involved with the retail computer store Computers Etc. and the government's GSA Schedule. At this time, the company Martin Marietta commissioned Seequa to design a personal computer workstation for their engineers. This computer became the Chameleon. At the time of the Chameleon’s release, IBM had the market cornered with their expensive proprietary 16-bit machines. They were also able to sue companies like Eagle for replicating the BIOS of IBM machines. Seequa, unlike the competition, created a computer with both 8-bit and 16-bit architecture and had its own proprietary BIOS. According to Jim Hoffman, VP of marketing for Seequa, “Our hardware people had never even seen a PC, and our software people went purely on functionality. They looked at IBM’s code only when they finished, to make sure they hadn’t duplicated any areas just by chance.”
The Chameleon
The Chameleon was presented at COMDEX in 1982. Much like the name implies, it was supposed to blend in with the IBM machines and change its “colors” based on what OS was booted. It retailed for $1,995 ($6,319.36 in 2024 USD), and began selling in 1983. The Chameleon boasts being one of, if not the first, dual processor computers. The Zilog Z80 was dedicated to running CP/M, the main OS the luggable competition such as Osborne Computer Corporation was running, and the Intel 8088 was meant for IBM-compatible MS-DOS and promised full compatibility of all DOS software. The Chameleon also had 128K of RAM onboard, a 9” green phosphor display with 640x200 aspect ratio, and two full size Single Sided/Single Density 5.25” 160K floppy disk drives. Weighing in at a solid 28 pounds, the Chameleon had a large black metal handle that could be tightened into place as a stand for the machine. The keyboard clipped to the front using plastic side clips and used an XT connector. On the rear of the unit are an RS-232 serial port and a parallel port. As for expansion, Seequa opted to not allow for onboard expansion. Instead, Seequa advertised an “expansion chassis” with eight expansion slots. The computer shipped with Perfect Writer and Perfect Calc. These were advertised as “the two best programs around”, along with guaranteed full compatibility with the “thousands of the CP/M-80 programs available”. In terms of upgrades and accessories, the magazine Your Computer in December 1983 stated that Seequa promised to release the following:
- 10MB HDD
- CP/M-86 16-bit operating system
- Color Monitor
- Intel 8087 Math Coprocessor
- Modem and Communication/Terminal Package
- Two battery packs (one is ‘uninterruptible’)
According to Your Computer, Seequa said they had no planned release date or any information for these add-ons outside of the list.
The Chameleon Plus
Later in 1983, Seequa unveiled the Chameleon Plus at COMDEX as an upgraded version of the Chameleon. Boasting 256K of RAM and 2 full height Double Sided/Double Density 360K floppy drives, the Chameleon Plus seems, at least on paper, to be the clear winner. However, the Plus model is physically identical to the base model Chameleon. The only clear difference I have found is the logo on the keyboard is different.
As with the base model Chameleon, expandability was limited to an external chassis promised by Seequa. Byte Magazine (June 1984) notes that the RAM can only be expanded with the external chassis and advertises more options for this model:
- Battery pack
- Hard Drive
- IEEE-488 Bus Port
- Analog-to-Digital Converter
- RGB Color Monitor Interface
- Intel 8087 Math Coprocessor
Byte Magazine mentions they spoke to two different Seequa dealers and got different answers on the existence of the expansion chassis and the availability of the other upgrades. Byte also notes that the power supply is designed to operate on either 110 or 220 volts, but only the dealer can switch the power supply. In 1984, Seequa released the RAMPlus, an addon card with 384K of RAM, an IBM serial port, and a Real Time Clock. The card was to be installed underneath the floppy drives, and came with an initialization disk.
The Plus shipped with more software than the base model: Including MS-DOS 1.25, BASIC-86, GW BASIC, Perfect Writer, Perfect Calc, Perfect Speller, Condor I, C-Term communications program, and optionally can come with CP/M-80, CP/M-86, or Perfect Filer. Seequa apparently did not provide any documentation for using CP/M that is beginner friendly, instead opting to use Digital Research’s CP/M Operating System Manual. The Chameleon Plus retailed for $2,895 ($9,170.20 in 2024 USD), much closer in price to an IBM PC, which made the selling point of the Chameleon Plus the portability, dual processors, and the software bundle.
Another interesting anecdote I found was in Peter McWilliams’s The Personal Computer Book, where it is mentioned the unit that he was testing would shut off with any static discharge. He relayed this information to Seequa, and they suggested he must have had an early model that did not come with a “static module” (Pictured).
According to The Computer Entrepreneurs: Who’s Making It Big and How in America’s Upstart Industry by Robert Levering, it is mentioned that Kaypro, one of the biggest competitors of the Luggable Computer market, had “...five of [their] 13 regional sales managers and 10 other support staffers left the company to join Seequa Computer Corp. in Annapolis, Maryland.”
In November of 1983, Seequa moved operations to a new plant, as reported by the local Baltimore news station WMAR-TV. Their new location was 8305 Telegraph Road in Odenton, a previous chemical plant, moving from two smaller buildings at 209 West St. in Annapolis. In the same report, Seequa planned to hire 300 more employees by the end of 1983.
The Seequa 325
Following the Chameleon Plus was the Seequa 325. The only mention of the 325 I can find that includes specs is PC Magazine’s 15 May 1984 issue. It is stated that the 325 has the same chassis, processors, and display size as its predecessors, but uses 3.25” floppy disks in Tabor Drivettes. You probably are thinking I am sorely mistaken and meant the 3.5” disks, right? No. Apparently Dysan created a 3.25” disk that is ONLY used in the 325 (That’s where the ‘325’ comes from). PC Magazine notes that the 3.25” drives take up a third of the footprint the 5.25” drives do and use a third of the power. The president of Seequa, David Gardner, stated that he believes the 3.25” disk format will “…become the standard for smaller IBM-compatible computers…” over the plastic 3.5” disks released a little bit earlier in Apple, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, and Gavilan machines. In Byte Magazine’s October 1984 issue, the 325 seems to be missing a crucial part of its naming scheme:
“Seequa began shipping the Seequa 325, similar to its IBM-compatible Chameleon portable computer, in August, but a spokesman said that the 3.25-inch disk version would be manufactured in quantity only if demand is present. "We're not betting the farm on it,’ he said.”
Amusingly enough, that is the last I can find about the 325. There are no pictures of the unit, although I am strong to believe it uses the Chameleon’s chassis.
The Seequa XT & Seequa PC: Non-Portable Chameleons
Records of another non-portable machine with the same specifications as the Plus, called the Seequa XT, can be found in several mentions. At the much higher price point of either $3995 ($12,654.56 in 2024 USD), a user could get 256K of RAM, one 320K Double Sided/Double Density 5.25” floppy drive, a 5.25” 10MB HDD (I am not kidding about the size. See Quantum Bigfoot), five internal expansion slots, a Centronics parallel port, a RS-232C modem port, and possibly an Amdek 300 monitor. I have located two images of the XT, one in a mention in Computing Now!, and the other in the Seequa product brochure. The XT was packaged with MS-DOS, expanded BASIC, Perfect Writer, Perfect Calc, Perfect Speller, Condor 1, and C-Term communications software. Finding this unit led me to another machine, the Seequa PC. The PC seems to be identical in specifications to the base Chameleon, with 128K of RAM, a single Double Sided/Double Density 5.25” floppy drive, a Centronics parallel port, an RS-232C modem port, and a 9” monitor. The Seequa PC retailed for $1,995 ($6,319.36 in 2024 USD) matching the Chameleon.
Signs Of A Declining Market
Around July of 1984, the IBM-Compatible Clone market became unsteady. Too many companies boasting IBM-Compatible machines were on the market, and companies were folding everywhere. Seequa and Columbia, Maryland-based Columbia Data Products were considered by The Washington Post "...among the survivors -- for now." Articles stated that Seequa was relying heavily on their "private label" customers, which included Ford Aerospace and Martin Marietta. Jim Hoffman, Seequa's VP of Sales, predicted the company would drop their dependence on retailers from 75% to 60%, and bring their "original equipment manufacture" from 25% to 40% by 1985. (A fun little tidbit, Columbia Data Products went under Chapter 11 Protections in 1985, privatized, and went on to be a software-only company that still exists today!)
The Seequa Cobra
In October 1984, Computerworld Magazine reported that Seequa was to release the Seequa Cobra, another PC compatible desktop model. The Cobra used an 8086 processor clocked at 8MHz, a slight step up from the previous models’ 8088 architecture, and a Z80. The Cobra features a 16-bit expansion bus, supposedly to “produce a flicker-free image for the Cobra’s color-graphics display.” The Cobra included 256K of RAM, a single 5.25” floppy drive, a 10MB hard drive, a real time clock, and parallel and serial I/O. According to Byte Magazine, the Cobra was to be released in March 1985 for $4995 ($14,645.79 in 2024 USD) without a monitor. It appears around the same time the base model Chameleon took a price cut to $1,595 according to an advertisement in Byte Magazine’s October 1984 issue.
The Color Chameleon
Where the Seequa timeline gets hazy is with the Color Chameleon. The only mentions I can find outside of two Software Catalog publications (where the Color Chameleon is listed as compatible with such software as DBASE II, alongside the Chameleon and Chameleon Plus) and a product brochure I procured is the September 1984 issue of Kilobaud Magazine. Kilobaud stated that the Color Chameleon was the first IBM- and CP/M 80-compatible portable color microcomputer. It supposedly boasted 384K of RAM that was expandable to 640K and a real time clock, selling for $3,595 ($11,387.52 in 2024 USD). Kilobaud notes that the Color Chameleon was bundled with “$2300 worth of software, including WordStar, SuperCalc3, Perfect Writer, Perfect Calc and Condor I database as well as MS DOS, MBasic-86 and C-Term.” There is no picture included, but by this point I would assume it is identical to the Chameleon and the Plus. I do believe I found an image of the Color Chameleon in Popular Science’s September 1984 issue, but I cannot confirm if it is just a different badge on a base Chameleon. The notable difference is a colored stripe on the keyboard’s logo, leading me to believe it could be the Color.
The Chameleon XL and Hopeful Contracts
In November 1984, the United States Air Force / Navy purchased 36,000 “Seequa Chameleon XL’s” in a contract with Seequa and Federal Data Corp. It is mentioned in a United States Army DTIC document that the Chameleon XL is an upgraded model of the Chameleon Plus, and hinted at usages internally until the mid 1990s. It is widely believed that Seequa took on the large-scale government sale to save their business, as Seequa was suffering millions of dollars of debt, and was being forced to negotiate with their creditors to extend payment schedules and convert debt into equity. Seequa won out the contract against five other companies, including Sperry and Zenith, who would sell their machines to the government for the next three years. There were concerns within the Navy's Automatic Data Processing Selection Office that Seequa would not be able to meet the requirements of the contract. Federal Data Corp. provided a "contingency plan" that allowed for Federal Data to continue providing machines even if Seequa folded.
Collapse Of An Empire
In 1985, the major banks funding Seequa’s credit line felt that the sudden decrease in prices across the computer market was a sign to withhold funding the company. Seequa’s only way to pay back the bank was to auction off as many computers as possible, which were being built at a rapid rate. The company’s Executive Vice President, Jim Hoffman, tipped the FCC that the machines were not to safety standards due to the rapid assembly. On 24 July 1985, the FCC raided and seized over $1,000,000 ($2,932,091.08 in 2024 USD) in inventory from Seequa. According to the 25 July 1985 issue of The Capital newspaper from Annapolis, this rounded out an already outstanding ten month investigation of Seequa, which started with a $2,000 fine to the company for selling the "high emission" Chameleon. Multiple sources claimed that Seequa executives would be federally charged for knowingly selling offending units. Despite the raid, the auction to benefit the Union Bank of Maryland continued, with over 600 to 800 bidders trying to get a great deal on a Seequa machine. All machines at the auction were to go to FCC testing facilities and be tested before being given to the winner of the auction, which would take four-to-six weeks.
In August of 1985, Seequa closed their only production facility and laid off 90% of their employees. The company only retained about 30 marketing, sales, and management employees. Hoping to save their company from shuttering, Seequa signed agreements with three companies to produce their computers:
- Televideo Systems (Sunnyvale, CA): Chameleon XL Production
- Prime Circuit Technology (San Jose, CA): Chameleon Production
- Fabremex (Guadalajara, Mexico): Unannounced New Product Production
According to the 5 August 1985 print of ComputerWorld, Seequa supposedly had $4 to $4.5 million in assets, and over $14 million in debt.
According to Maryland’s Business Entity paperwork, Seequa filed for Forfeiture from Incorporation in October of 1985. The last written mention I could find of Seequa outside of brief jokes in magazines was an ad for what I believe to be liquidated assets at a fire sale rate. The 8305 Telegraph Road address that was labelled as their headquarters was demolished in the early 2010s to make way for an apartment complex.
Within three years of giving Big Blue a run for their money, Seequa disappeared.
Why Was Seequa's History Lost?
After spending months reading product reviews, announcements, testimonials, and other print-based information about the company, I feel as though I figured out why information leading up to me was so sparse about this company. Every other mention on the Internet I have found about either the Chameleon or Seequa as a whole claims that the Chameleon was a market failure and that Seequa only existed for a small blip with one product. Obviously, none of this is true. Seequa was a top contender with IBM and Compaq, and shipped Chameleons all over the world. They had an ad in every Byte and PC Mag from 1983 to 1985, which could not be cheap to do. Vendors and dealers that carried Seequa-line products said they were ecstatic to receive Seequa equipment because of how fast it sold. It seems in some later publications Seequa and the Chameleon were ridiculed, like MicroTimes's 1 November 1993 publication on how the RISC chip could bring a "return to chaos not seen since the days of the Seequa Chameleon", or their 21 January 1991 issue where they joke about launching the "trash" computers such as the VIC-20, Osborne 1, and the Chameleon into space on a "space-borne shotgun designed to scatter high-tech blunt instruments in space with which to bonk enemy missiles, satellites and the like on the head."
Despite success, their end was untimely and unfair. From what I have been told, the FCC raid is still the biggest in Maryland's history, and Seequa is considered a notorious legend in the Baltimore area. Can you imagine watching your once successful company crumble because of market uncertainty? Do I think they could have handled some things better? Absolutely. The PC and XT were a good idea, but I feel like producing non-luggable machines was not their brand. They also could have been more transparent about potential upgrades coming to their products, and kept their dealers in the loop as well. But nothing at the end of their life was their fault.