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Ovation Technologies
Ovation Technologies was a short-lived software company founded in Canton, Massachusetts, in December 1982 to create business productivity software for the then-emerging IBM PC and compatible market. Briefly named Spectrum Group Inc., the company was founded by Thomas J. Gregory, who also served as the company's president. Mike Walrod served as vice president of marketing. Their intended product, also named "Ovation", was an integrated software suite aiming to compete against the industry leader at the time, Lotus 1-2-3. The company raised several million in capital and secured a distribution agreement with Tandy Corporation, including co-marketing with their line of Tandy 2000 computers. The "Ovation" project was led by chief software designer Robert Kutnik. The company made impressive demonstrations, culminating with a high-profile news conference staged at Manhattan's Windows on the World restaurant, but ultimately they were unable to ship their product, and filed for bankrup ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canton, Massachusetts
Canton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,370 at the 2020 census. Canton is part of Greater Boston, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of downtown Boston. History The area that would become Canton was inhabited for tens of thousands of years prior to European colonization of the Americas, European colonization. The Paleo-Indians, Paleo-Indian site Wamsutta, Radiocarbon dating, radiocarbon dated to 12,140 years before present, is located within the bounds of modern day Canton at Signal Hill (Canton, Massachusetts), Signal Hill. At the time of the Puritan migration to New England (1620–1640), Puritan migration to New England in the early 1600s, Canton was seasonally inhabited by the Neponset band of Massachusett under the leadership of sachem Chickatawbut. From the 1630s to the 1670s, increasing encroachment by year-round English settlers on lands traditionally inhabited only part of the year, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Productivity Software
Productivity software (also called personal productivity software or office productivity software) is application software used for producing information (such as documents, presentations, worksheets, databases, charts, graphs, digital paintings, electronic music and digital video). Its names arose from it increasing productivity, especially of individual office workers, from typists to knowledge workers, although its scope is now wider than that. Office suites, which brought word processing, spreadsheet, and relational database programs to the desktop in the 1980s, are the core example of productivity software. They revolutionized the office with the magnitude of the productivity increase they brought as compared with the pre-1980s office environments of typewriters, paper filing, and handwritten lists and ledgers. In the United States, some 78% of "middle-skill" occupations (those that call for more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor's degree) now require the us ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a team of engineers and designers directed by Don Estridge in Boca Raton, Florida. The machine was based on open architecture and third-party peripherals. Over time, expansion cards and software technology increased to support it. The PC had a substantial influence on the personal computer market. The specifications of the IBM PC became one of the most popular computer design standards in the world. The only significant competition it faced from a non-compatible platform throughout the 1980s was from the Apple Macintosh product line. The majority of modern personal computers are distant descendants of the IBM PC. History Prior to the 1980s, IBM had largely been known as a provider of business computer systems. As the 1980s opened, their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computerworld
''Computerworld'' (abbreviated as CW) is an ongoing decades old professional publication which in 2014 "went digital." Its audience is information technology (IT) and business technology professionals, and is available via a publication website and as a digital magazine. As a printed weekly during the 1970s and into the 1980s, ''Computerworld'' was the leading trade publication in the data processing industry. Indeed, based on circulation and revenue it was one of the most successful trade publications in any industry. Later in the 1980s it began to lose its dominant position. It is published in many countries around the world under the same or similar names. Each country's version of ''Computerworld'' includes original content and is managed independently. The parent company of Computerworld US is IDG Communications. History The first issue was published in 1967. Going international The company IDG offers the brand "Computerworld" in 47 countries worldwide, the name and fre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Integrated Software
Integrated software is a software for personal computers that combines the most commonly used functions of many productivity software programs into one application. The integrated software genre has been largely overshadowed by fully functional office suites, most notably Microsoft Office, but at one time was considered the "killer application" type responsible for the rise and dominance of the IBM PC in the desktop business computing world. In the early days of the PC before GUIs became common, user interfaces were text-only and were operated mostly by function key and modifier key sequences. Every program used a different set of keystrokes, making it difficult for a user to master more than one or two programs. Programs were loaded from floppy disk, making it very slow and inconvenient to switch between programs and difficult or impossible to exchange data between them (to transfer the results from a spreadsheet to a word processor document for example). In response to these li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lotus 1-2-3
Lotus 1-2-3 is a discontinued spreadsheet program from Lotus Software (later part of IBM). It was the first killer application of the IBM PC, was hugely popular in the 1980s, and significantly contributed to the success of IBM PC-compatibles in the business market. The first spreadsheet, VisiCalc, had helped launch the Apple II as one of the earliest personal computers in business use. With IBM's entry into the market, VisiCalc was slow to respond, and when they did, they launched what was essentially a straight port of their existing system despite the greatly expanded hardware capabilities. Lotus's solution was marketed as a three-in-one integrated solution: it handled spreadsheet calculations, database functionality, and graphical charts, hence the name "1-2-3", though how much database capability the product actually had was debatable, given the sparse memory left over after launching 1-2-3. It quickly overtook VisiCalc, as well as Multiplan and SuperCalc, the two VisiCalc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
InfoWorld
''InfoWorld'' (abbreviated IW) is an information technology media business. Founded in 1978, it began as a monthly magazine. In 2007, it transitioned to a web-only publication. Its parent company today is International Data Group, and its sister publications include '' Macworld'' and ''PC World''. InfoWorld is based in San Francisco, with contributors and supporting staff based across the United States. Since its founding, ''InfoWorld''s readership has largely consisted of IT and business professionals. ''InfoWorld'' focuses on how-to, analysis, and editorial content from a mixture of experienced technology journalists and working technology practitioners. The site averages 4.6 million monthly page views and 1.1 million monthly unique visitors. History The magazine was founded by Jim Warren in 1978 as ''The Intelligent Machines Journal'' (IMJ). It was sold to IDG in late 1979. On 18 February 1980, the magazine name was changed to ''InfoWorld''. In 1986, the Robert X. Cringel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tandy Corporation
Tandy Corporation was an American family-owned leather goods company based in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. Tandy Leather was founded in 1919 as a leather supply store. By the end of the 1950s, under the tutelage of then-CEO Charles Tandy, the company expanded into the hobby market, making leather moccasins and coin purses, making huge sales among Scouts, leading to a fast growth in sales. Entering the 1960s, aiming to broaden the company horizon, Charles Tandy acquired a number of craft retail companies, including RadioShack in 1963, then an almost bankrupt chain of electronics stores in Boston. In the 1980s, now led by John Roach as CEO, the corporation started to invest into the personal computer market, being one of the pioneers in the personal computer race, being lauded by the magazine ''Financial World'' as "the driving force at the front-running company in the red-hot personal computer race." In 2000, the Tandy Corporation name was dropped and the entity became t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tandy 2000
The Tandy 2000 is a personal computer introduced by Radio Shack in September 1983 based on the 8 MHz Intel 80186 microprocessor running MS-DOS. By comparison, the IBM PC XT (introduced in March 1983) used the older 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 processor, and the IBM PC/AT (introduced in 1984) would later use the newer 6 MHz Intel 80286. Due to the 16-bit-wide data bus and more efficient instruction decoding of the 80186, the Tandy 2000 ran significantly faster than other PC compatibles, and slightly faster than the PC AT. (Later IBM upgraded the 80286 in new PC AT models to 8 MHz, though with wait states.) The Tandy 2000 was the company's first computer built around an Intel x86 series microprocessor; previous models used the Zilog Z80 and Motorola 6809 CPUs. While touted as being compatible with the IBM XT, the Tandy 2000 was different enough that most existing PC software that was not purely text-oriented failed to work properly. The Tandy 2000 and its special versio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Windows On The World
Windows on the World was a complex of dining, meeting, and entertainment venues on the top floors (106th and 107th) of the North Tower (Building One) of the original World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan. It included a restaurant called Windows on the World, a smaller restaurant called Wild Blue (before 1999 was called "Cellar in the Sky"), a bar called The Greatest Bar on Earth, (which had previously been the Hors d'Oeuvrerie)) as well as a Wine School and Conference and Banquet rooms for private functions located on the 106th floor. Developed by restaurateur Joe Baum and designed initially by Warren Platner, Windows on the World occupied 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) of space in the North Tower. The Skydive Restaurant, which was a 180 seat cafeteria on the 44th floor of 1 WTC conceived for office workers, was also operated by Windows on the World. The restaurants opened on April 12, 1976, and were destroyed in the September 11 attacks. All of the staff members who were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also reports on related subjects such as technology, communications, science, politics, and law. It is based in Jersey City, New Jersey. Competitors in the national business magazine category include ''Fortune'' and ''Bloomberg Businessweek''. ''Forbes'' has an international edition in Asia as well as editions produced under license in 27 countries and regions worldwide. The magazine is well known for its lists and rankings, including of the richest Americans (the Forbes 400), of the America's Wealthiest Celebrities, of the world's top companies (the Forbes Global 2000), Forbes list of the World's Most Powerful People, and The World's Billionaires. The motto of ''Forbes'' magazine is "Change the World". Its chair and editor-in-chief is Steve Fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaporware
In the computer industry, vaporware (or vapourware) is a product, typically computer hardware or software, that is announced to the general public but is late or never actually manufactured nor officially cancelled. Use of the word has broadened to include products such as automobiles. Vaporware is often announced months or years before its purported release, with few details about its development being released. Developers have been accused of intentionally promoting vaporware to keep customers from switching to competing products that offer more features. ''Network World'' magazine called vaporware an "epidemic" in 1989 and blamed the press for not investigating if developers' claims were true. Seven major companies issued a report in 1990 saying that they felt vaporware had hurt the industry's credibility. The United States accused several companies of announcing vaporware early enough to violate antitrust laws, but few have been found guilty. "Vaporware" was coined by a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
