As it got better at concocting multilayered devices from plastic resins, it moved on to computer circuit boards.

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When Andrew Fluegelman first got hold of an early IBM PC, he noticed that there was no way to exchange files with other PC users or log on to early services like CompuServe or The Source or computer bulletin boards.

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By the end of the year Digium was selling computer cards with custom boards and Asterisk software.

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Jung is also on the boards of Apple Computer and General Electric.

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Using wires, pieces of metal sheeting and circuit boards, artist Peter McFarlane transforms old circuit boards into amazing computer-age fossils that somehow look prehistoric.

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And Benjamin Yates makes his unique coffee tables from recycled circuit boards, old VCRs and computer components.

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In 1982 Jabil went into high-tech with a contract to make add-on boards for the IBM Personal Computer unit in Boca Raton, Fla.

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Adding cape plug-in boards to the popular and expandable BeagleBone computer that is used as a development kit allows hobbyists and developers to quickly and easily augment BeagleBone's capabilities with LCD screens, motor control and battery power as well as the ability to create their own circuits.

ENGADGET: BeagleBone gets plenty of expansion options with new 'cape' add-ons

The whole personal computer era can be seen as one giant triumph of dis-integration, as IBM's circuit-boards-to-boxes-to-software mainframe business gave way to the layered computer industry we see today: Intel making the electronics, Dell the boxes and Microsoft the software.

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Perhaps he thought serving on a bunch of outside tech boards would distract people from noticing that Stonehill College never offered a computer science degree when he attended.

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Inspired to expand development options for their BeagleBone mini computer platforms, participants in the BeagleBoard.org community created cape plug-in boards to enhance the sensors, actuators and interfaces available on the BeagleBone platform.

ENGADGET: BeagleBone gets plenty of expansion options with new 'cape' add-ons