Hi! My name is David Ingram, founder of MyComputerStore, and this is our origin story.
I started with computers when I was 5. Back then, we didn’t have floppy drives or any way to save work. If you wanted a new game, you either wrote it yourself or transcribed it from huge programming books. Since I couldn’t read yet, I spent weeks typing code from these books, making lots of typos. My mom would fix them when she came home from work. After weeks of transcribing, we’d get something like Pong, which would disappear once the computer was turned off. I remember getting my first 5¼-inch floppy drive and fitting 100 games on a single floppy.
Next came the IBM 8080, 8086, and then the 286. The modern era began with the 386 and Microsoft Windows 3.1, and real games like DOOM.
My dad, a chimney sweep and HAM operator, used a program called First Choice to manage his business. He spent hours perfecting it. Meanwhile, I was learning DOS. In my exploration, I discovered FDisk, which I used to accidentally delete everything on his computer. That’s how I got my first computer! I wasn’t allowed to touch his again. He should have had backups!
We went to the Hamvention in Dayton every year, where I bought parts to build the latest computers. Back then, the Hamvention was more about computers than amateur radio.
In middle school, I knew everything about the outdated TRS-80s in the classroom. I convinced the school to get new computers, which ran Novell Netware and broke often. They would constantly have to call in someone to fix them and he charged over two hundred and fifty dollars an hour back in 1990. So, I learned Netware by running all the executables on the computers. The school was ecstatic that they didn’t have to pay for that service tech anymore, and that’s how I became the IT Administrator of Eaton City Schools. I even picked out new computers for the high school before graduating middle school.
Professionally, I worked for Jack Roegner’s Computer Services of Eaton, Indiana. Despite my experience, the workload was intense, working on 20-30 computers a day.
I then joined Allied Telecommunications, helping code the war room for the Adjutant General in Columbus and working on advanced board rooms and tech projects. However, Allied was bought by Axis Communications, which soon went under after cutting commissions.
Burnt out, I took a job as a manager for Drake Heating and Air, learning customer service from my mentor, Steve Chrismer. He suggested starting a computer service company with a membership model similar to Drake’s. Despite my initial skepticism, we launched MyComputerStore with a direct mail campaign.
Our membership program was a hit, but physically handling computers was tough. Then, ScreenConnect allowed remote control, revolutionizing our service.
Next, we introduced monitoring software to check in on our customers' computers every two hours, preventing failures and managing updates. We then adopted Sentinel One, an AI-powered antivirus, providing unparalleled protection.
Today, we offer managed Office365, unlimited cloud backup, and virtual machine backups. Our customers' servers are safe, even in disasters.
Thanks for reading our origin story!
David Ingram,
MyComputerStore