The insTand and our newest product, the Bag-Mate  are manufactured by Carliss Industries, Inc. at our facility in Pompano Beach, Florida.  The tripod base was designed by inventor/designer Jim Burns, who founded the company in 1979 as a manufacturer of his specialized office machines for processing high-volume computer forms.  The patented tripod was originally developed in 1991 for use by the court reporting profession for supporting steno machines in a better ergonomic and more comfortable position. This required that the tripod be particularly durable and sturdy. Many thousands of units have been sold for that purpose.  Later, the "tray" adaptor for laptop computers was invented, also by Jim Burns. The product was initially sold, once again, to court reporters.  The method of attaching  the laptop tray was later simplified,  and the product became available to the general public in its present form.