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41-658: IMS Associates required all executives and key employees to take the EST Standard Training. Forbes considered Millard's requirements - which placed a heavy emphasis on self-actualization and encouraged vast discrepancies between executives and staff - were a key contributor to the downfall of the company, and Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine concurred in Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer , noting that Millard's EST-induced unwillingness to admit

82-692: A cult . The last est training took place in December 1984 in San Francisco. The seminars gave way to a "gentler" course offered by Werner Erhard and Associates and dubbed "The Forum" (currently named Landmark Worldwide ), which began in January 1985. The est Standard Training program consisted of two weekend-long workshops with evening sessions on the intervening weekdays. Workshops generally involved about 200 participants and were initially led by Erhard and later by people trained by him. Ronald Heifetz, founder of

123-519: A "real computer". Full-scale development of the IMSAI 8080 was put into action using the existing Altair 8800's S-100 bus , and by October 1975 an ad was placed in Popular Electronics , receiving positive reactions. IMS shipped the first IMSAI 8080 kits on 16 December 1975, before turning to fully assembled units. In 1976, IMS was renamed to IMSAI Manufacturing Corporation because by then, they were

164-416: A manufacturing company, not a consulting firm. In 1977, IMSAI marketing director Seymour I. Rubinstein paid Gary Kildall $ 25,000 for the right to run CP/M version 1.3, which eventually evolved into an operating system called IMDOS , on IMSAI 8080 computers. Other manufacturers followed and CP/M eventually became the de facto standard 8-bit operating system. By October 1979, the IMSAI corporation

205-457: A microphone to be brought to them. The second day of the workshop featured the "danger process". As a way of observing and confronting their own perspective and point of view, groups of participants were brought onto the stage and confronted. They were asked to "imagine that they were afraid of everyone else and then that everyone else was afraid of them" and to re-examine their reflex patterns of living that kept their lives from working. This

246-487: A participant named Jack Slee collapsed during a portion of the seminar known as "the danger process" and died at the hospital to which he had been transported. A court subsequently found that the est training was not the cause of death. A jury later ruled that Erhard and his company had been negligent, but did not give Slee's estate a monetary award. According to a 1991 report by the Los Angeles Times , est had been

287-443: A place spacious and undefined, distinct from the tired old story that our minds continuously tell us about who we are, and with which we ordinarily identify. Many participants reported experiencing powerful results through their participation in the est training, characterised by Eliezer Sobel as perceived "dramatic transformations in their relationships with their families, with their work and personal vision , or most important, with

328-409: A role that had been imposed on them and aimed to press people beyond their point of view, into a perspective from which they could observe their own positionality. As Robert Kiyosaki writes, "During the training, it became glaringly clear that most of our personal problems begin with our not keeping our agreements, not being true to our words, saying one thing and doing another. That first full day on

369-455: A system including a terminal , small computer, printer , and special software. Five of these workstations were to have common access to a hard disk drive , which would be controlled by a small computer. Eventually product development was stopped. Millard and his chief engineer Joe Killian turned to the microprocessor . Intel had announced the 8080 chip, and compared to the 4004 to which IMS Associates had been first introduced, it looked like

410-595: A task might be impossible was a key factor in IMSAI's demise. In May 1972, William Millard began business individually as IMS Associates (IMS) in the area of computer consultancy and engineering, using his home as an office. The work done by IMS was similar to that Millard had done previously for the city and county of San Francisco . By 1973, Millard founded IMS Associates, Inc. Millard soon found capital for his business, and received several contracts , all for software. IMS provided advanced engineering and software management to mainframe users, including business and

451-466: Is largely regarded as the first "clone" microcomputer. The IMSAI machine runs a highly modified version of the CP/M operating system called IMDOS . It was developed, manufactured and sold by IMS Associates, Inc. (later renamed to IMSAI Manufacturing Corp). In total, between 17,000 and 20,000 units were produced from 1975 to 1978. In May 1972, William Millard started a business called IMS Associates (IMS) in

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492-608: The IMSAI Series Two ), and continue support to this day. ComputerLand stores continued to prosper retailing IBM computers until IBM abandoned the 8-bit ISA bus in 1984; the franchises became independent following a series of bitter and costly legal battles with Millard. The right to the word mark IMSAI expired on 2004-04-06 because Thomas Fischer did not correctly submit the required documents for renewal. Erhard Seminars Training Erhard Seminars Training, Inc. (marketed as est , though often encountered as EST or Est )

533-492: The United States Government . In 1974, IMS was contacted by a client which wanted a " workstation system" that could complete jobs for any General Motors new-car dealership. IMS planned a system including a terminal , small computer, printer , and special software. Five of these work stations were to have common access to a hard disk , which would be controlled by a small computer. Eventually, product development

574-518: The Z80 by Zilog in 1976 quickly put an end to the dominance of 8080 machines as the new chip had an improved instruction set, could be clocked at faster speeds, and had on-chip DRAM refresh. IMSAI sales quickly plummeted and so in 1977 Millard decided to take the company through another transition, this time from a computer manufacturing company to a computer retailer. He established a chain of franchised retail outlets, initially called Computer Shack (the name

615-594: The Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University, called est "an important experience in which two hundred people go through a powerful curriculum over two weekends and have a learning experience that seemed to change many of their lives." Trainers confronted participants one-on-one and challenged them to be themselves rather than to play a role that had been imposed on them by the past. Jonathan D. Moreno observed that "participants might have been surprised how both physically and emotionally challenging and how philosophical

656-630: The IMSAI 8080. With most of the IMSAI resources stripped to fund ComputerLand's expansion, and with Millard's attention diverted, IMS Associates, Inc. went into a "tailspin", and filed for bankruptcy in October 1979. The trademark was eventually acquired by Thomas "Todd" Fischer and Nancy Freitas (former early employees who undertook continued support after the parent company folded), now doing business as Fischer-Freitas Company (since October 1978), who continued manufacturing and service support under their newly acquired and trademarked IMSAI badge (such as

697-678: The approval of the Federal Bureau of Prisons . Initial est training in Lompoc involved participation of 12–15 federal prisoners and outside community members within the walls of the maximum security prison and was personally conducted by Werner Erhard. By 1979, est had expanded to Europe and other parts of the world. In 1980 the first est training in Israel was offered in Tel Aviv. The est training presented several concepts to these new attendees, most notably

738-407: The areas of computer consulting and engineering, using his home as an office. By 1973, Millard incorporated the business and soon found funding for it, receiving several contracts, all for software. IMS stood for "Information Management Services". In 1974, IMS was contacted by a client which wanted a " workstation system" that could complete jobs for any General Motors car dealership. IMS planned

779-467: The concept of spiritual transformation and taking responsibility for one's life. The actual teaching, called "the technology of transformation," emphasizes the value of integrity. As est grew, so did criticism. It was accused of mind control and labeled a cult by some critics who said that it exploited its followers by recruiting and offering numerous "graduate seminars." In 1983 in the United States,

820-460: The critical mass from which was kindled the experience that produced est. Other influences included Dale Carnegie , Subud , Scientology and Mind Dynamics . IMSAI Series Two The IMSAI 8080 is an early microcomputer released in late 1975, based on the Intel 8080 (and later 8085 ) and S-100 bus . It is a clone of its main competitor, the earlier MITS Altair 8800 . The IMSAI

861-475: The first IMSAI 8080 kits on 16 December 1975 and shortly after turned to fully assembled units. Between 17,000 and 20,000 units were eventually produced, with an additional 2500 produced under the Fischer-Freitas name thereafter. In 1976, as IMS had completed its transition from a consultancy firm into a manufacturing firm, the name of the company was changed to IMSAI Manufacturing Corporation. The release of

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902-567: The original IMS 1973 "Hypercube" project, but some peripherals such as the floppy are simulated and instead use Wi-fi. In mid-1977, IMSAI released the VDP-series, based on the Intel 8085. According to the product description of January 1978, many different models were released, with 32K or 64K memory and a 9" (VDP4x-range) or 12" (VDP8x-range) video display. For example, the VDP-40 had two 5-1/4" disk drives,

943-409: The other participants. These classroom agreements provided a rigorous setting whereby people's ordinary ways to escape confronting their experience of themselves were eliminated. Moreno describes the est training as a form of " Socratic interrogation ...relying on the power of the shared cathartic experience that Aristotle observed." Erhard challenged participants to be themselves instead of playing

984-411: The present moment. Participants agreed to follow the ground rules, which included not wearing watches, not speaking until called upon, not talking to their neighbors, and not eating or leaving their seats to go to the bathroom except during breaks separated by many hours. Participants who were on medication were exempt from these rules, and had to sit in the back row so that they would not interfere with

1025-593: The process of life itself". Est seminars operated from late 1971 to late 1984 and spawned a number of books from 1976 to 2011. Est has been featured in a number of films and television shows, including the critically acclaimed spy-series The Americans , broadcast from 2013 to 2018. Est represented an outgrowth of the Human Potential Movement of the 1960s through to the 1970s. As est grew, so did criticisms. Various critics accused est of mind control or of forming an authoritarian army; some labeled it

1066-435: The recognition who they truly were in the core of their beings". One study of "a large sample of est alumni who had completed the training at least 3 months before revealed that "the large majority felt the experience had been positive (88%), and considered themselves better off for having taken the training (80%)". Werner Erhard reported having a personal transformation, and created the est training to allow others to have

1107-606: The same experience. The first est course was held at a Jack Tar Hotel in San Francisco , California, in October 1971. Within a year, trainings were being held in New York City and other major cities in the United States followed soon after. They were carried out by Werner Erhard, who had recently resigned from Mind Dynamics . Beginning in July 1974 the est training was delivered at the U.S. Penitentiary at Lompoc , California, with

1148-449: The simple class agreements was painfully enlightening. It became obvious that much of human misery is a function of broken agreements – not keeping your word, or someone else not keeping theirs." Sessions lasted from 9:00 a.m. to midnight, or to the early hours of the morning, with one meal-break. Participants had to hand over wristwatches and were not allowed to take notes, or to speak unless called upon, in which case they waited for

1189-447: The space [for est]". Bartley details Erhard's connections with Zen beginning with his extensive studies with Alan Watts in the mid-1960s. Bartley quotes Erhard as acknowledging: Of all the disciplines that I studied, practiced, learned, Zen was the essential one. It was not so much an influence on me, rather it created space. It allowed those things that were there to be there. It gave some form to my experience. And it built up in me

1230-659: The target of a smear campaign by the Church of Scientology . This campaign had spanned several years, with examples being found in documents seized by the FBI in 1977. This smear campaign involved hiring personal investigators to spy on Erhard, recruiting Scientologists to covertly enroll in and disrupt est courses, and compiling information from disgruntled former est participants which could be used to discredit est. Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard (who died in 1986) believed that Erhard had copied Scientology. Erhard disputed this, saying that est

1271-415: The trademark IMSAI was on 17 January 1980. The right to the word mark IMSAI expired on 6 April 2004 because Thomas Fischer did not correctly submit the required documents for renewal. IMSAI 8080 replicas have entered the market, due in part to the legality of copying hardware designs encouraging amateur technophiles to make backwards compatible machines, with the retro aesthetics. The color scheme matches

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1312-553: The training was." He writes that the critical part of the training was freeing oneself from the past, which was accomplished by "experiencing" one's recurrent patterns and problems and choosing to change them. The word experience meant to bring into full awareness the repetition of old, burdensome behaviors. The seminar sought to enable participants to shift the state of mind around which their lives were organized, from attempts to get satisfaction or to survive, to actually being satisfied and experiencing themselves as whole and complete in

1353-399: The way they were and were asked to indicate by a show of hands if they "had gotten it". Eliezer Sobel said in his article "This is It: est, 20 Years Later": I considered the training to be a brilliantly conceived Zen koan , effectively tricking the mind into seeing itself, and in thus seeing, to be simultaneously aware of who was doing the seeing, a transcendent level of consciousness,

1394-518: Was bankrupt . The VDP (all-in-one) computer had sold poorly and was not competitive with the Radio Shack TRS-80 , Commodore PET , and Apple II computers. The 'IMSAI' trademark was acquired by Thomas "Todd" Fischer and Nancy Freitas (former early employees of IMS Associates), who continued manufacturing the computers under the IMSAI name as a division of Fischer-Freitas Co. Support for early IMSAI systems continues. The first registration of

1435-423: Was an organization founded by Werner Erhard in 1971 that offered a two-weekend (6-day, 60-hour) course known officially as "The est Standard Training". The purpose of the training was to use concepts loosely based on Zen Buddhism for self improvement . The seminar aimed to "transform one's ability to experience living so that the situations one had been trying to change or had been putting up with clear up just in

1476-488: Was changed to ComputerLand following legal threats from Radio Shack ). ComputerLand retailed not only IMSAI 8080s, but also computers from companies including Apple , North Star , and Cromemco . The 8080 sold poorly in comparison, and IMSAI developed the IMSAI VDP-80 , an all-in-one computer which worked poorly. Many franchise dealers refused to retail most IMSAI products except those that retained popularity including

1517-634: Was essentially different despite some similarities. In their 1992 book Perspectives on the New Age James R. Lewis and J. Gordon Melton said that similarities between est and Mind Dynamics were "striking", as both used "authoritarian trainers who enforce numerous rules," require applause after participants "share" in front of the group, and de-emphasize reason in favor of "feeling and action." The authors also described graduates of est as "fiercely loyal," and said that it recruited heavily, reducing marketing expenses to virtually zero. The last est training

1558-478: Was followed by interactions on the third and fourth days, covering topics such as reality and the nature of the mind, looking at the possibility that "what is, is and what ain't, ain't," and that "true enlightenment is knowing you are a machine" and culminating in a realization that people do not need to be stuck with their automatic ways of being but can instead be free to choose their ways of being in how they live their lives. Participants were told they were perfect

1599-464: Was held in December 1984 in San Francisco. It was replaced by a gentler course called "The Forum," which began in January 1985. "est, Inc." evolved into "est, an Educational Corporation," and eventually into Werner Erhard and Associates . In 1991 the business was sold to the employees who formed a new company called Landmark Education with Erhard's brother, Harry Rosenberg, becoming the CEO. Landmark Education

1640-459: Was stopped. Millard and his chief engineer Joe Killian turned to the microprocessor . Intel had announced the 8080 chip, and compared to the 4004 to which IMS Associates had been first introduced, the 8080 looked like a "real computer". Full-scale development of the IMSAI 8080 was put into action, and by October 1975 an ad was placed in Popular Electronics , receiving positive reactions. IMS shipped

1681-471: Was structured as a for-profit, employee-owned company; since 2013, it operates as Landmark Worldwide with a consulting division called Vanto Group. In W. W. Bartley III 's biography of Werner Erhard, Werner Erhard: The Transformation of a Man, the Founding of est (1978), Erhard describes his explorations of Zen Buddhism. Bartley quotes Erhard as acknowledging Zen as the essential contribution that "created

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