About Us

When Worlds Collide

You may ask yourself, why would any company specialize in two product lines that appear to be so different as enterprise storage systems and home entertainment/ theater systems.  The fact is that we have been traveling in parallel universes since the mid seventies.

In 1978, as an IT manager for a company here in Jacksonville, Florida,  I made a recommendation to the board of directors that rather than purchase our next computer upgrade from the manufacturer, we procure the equipment through third party sources and  install it ourselves.  Back in 1978, that was very radical thinking.  We purchased a 300 MB disk drive (yes MB, not GB or TB) for $15,000 and a 1 MB (yes 1, not 128, 256, or 512 MB) for $20,000 AND SAVED 50% in the process. 

The next year we started helping other companies do the same.  Some organizations simply purchased the hardware and software from us and integrated it themselves. Others required that we provide complete turnkey solutions.

Those of you familiar with Dallastone System Solutions, Inc.  know that we have been designing, selling, and installing state of the art storage systems since the mid 80's.  Dallastone has won major contracts with The US Air Force, Boeing Aerospace, AT&T, Columbia University, the Marine Base at Blount Island here in Jacksonville, FL and Verizon Wireless, just to name a few.  We still service these types of organizations nationwide (but travel is getting to be expensive and troublesome).

Now, here's the rest of the story.  Back in 1978, when I installed my first 300 MB disk drive and 1 MB memory board resulting in saving my company $35,000,  I got a $5000 performance bonus.  Back then, that was big money as I was only making $15,000 a year.  I asked my wife if we could use part of the bonus to buy a $950 Sony Beta recorder.  She replied, "What's a Beta recorder."  (Some of you may be asking the same question now, but that's another story).  My wife has always been very supportive of my hobby, and it has become hers as well.

Since then we have integrated the techniques and concepts learned in the commercial IT world with home audio/ video systems.  In the early 90's when Dallastone was selling Sony robotic optical jukeboxes to Fortune 500 companies and universities at $50,000 plus per site, we started writing  (and giving away) our own PC software to enable $600 Sony CD players to emulate music jukeboxes.  Because of our ties with Sony in the IT world, we had the opportunity to develop a great relationship with their home entertainment group.  Later we wrote database software to catalog movies, integrate the database with an electronic television guide, and  have a PC control  a Sony VCR  to schedule the recording of TV programs, much like a Tivo does today.  When Tivos became available, we installed  hundreds of them for family, friends, and friends of friends.  Of course, we have installed hundreds of computer networks both for Fortune 500 companies as well as home users.  With the introduction of Microsoft's Media Center, we can finally easily marry the concepts of information technology with home entertainment.  Because technology has driven down the costs, truly awesome home theater systems are now affordable for the average family.  In addition to providing the hardware at  good price points, it is Dallastone's job to take out the mystery of what appears to be a very complicated endeavor and deliver the home user an easy to use home system.

Whether your requirement is for a complete, turnkey home theater system with a Microsoft Media Center PC, and theater seating, advice on the selection of a single audio/video component, or anything in between, give us a try.  We would love to add you to our family of long term customers.

Barry Dacks

President