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SoftKey
SoftKey International (originally SoftKey Software Products, Inc.) was a software company founded by Kevin O'Leary in 1986 in Toronto, Ontario. It was known as The Learning Company from 1995 to 1999 after acquiring The Learning Company and taking its name. SoftKey played a major role in the dissolution of the edutainment industry by the turn of the millennium. Contributing factors include its reduction of the market price by releasing shovelware discs of freeware and shareware, hostile takeovers of major edutainment software companies, reduction of these acquisitions to a skeleton staff, and questionable financial practices to maintain its stock price. In 1999, the company was acquired by Mattel in what ''Businessweek'' called one of "the Worst Deals of All Time". It was subsequently folded into Mattel Interactive. Products SoftKey published and distributed CD-ROM-based personal computer software for Windows and Macintosh computers during the late 1980s and 1990s. Its li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Living Books
''Living Books'' is a series of interactive storybook, interactive read-along adventures aimed at children aged 3–9. Created by Mark Schlichting, the series was mostly developed by Living Books for CD-ROM and published by Broderbund for Mac OS and Microsoft Windows. Two decades after the original release, the series was re-released by Wanderful Interactive Storybooks, Wanderful Interactive Storybook for iOS and Android. The series began in 1992 as a Broderbund division that started with an adaptation of Mercer Mayer's ''Just Grandma and Me''. In 1994, the Living Books division was spun-off into its own children's multimedia company, jointly owned by Broderbund and Random House. The company continued to publish titles based on popular franchises such as ''Arthur (book series), Arthur'', ''Dr. Seuss'', and ''Berenstain Bears''. The next few years saw a saturated market begin to squeeze Living Books company's profits; in 1997 Broderbund agreed to purchase Random House's 50% stake ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Learning Company
The Learning Company (TLC) was an educational software company founded in 1980 in Palo Alto, California and headquartered in Fremont, California. The company produced a grade-based line of learning software, edutainment games, and productivity tools. Its titles included the flagship series ''Reader Rabbit'', for preschoolers through second graders, and ''The ClueFinders'', for more advanced students. The company was also known for publishing licensed educational titles featuring characters such as Arthur Read, Arthur, Scooby-Doo (character), Scooby-Doo, Zoboomafoo, and Caillou. In 1995, the company was acquired by The Learning Company (formerly SoftKey), SoftKey in a hostile takeover bid, at which point SoftKey assumed the Learning Company name and brand. History The Learning Company was founded in 1980 by Ann McCormick; Leslie Grimm; Teri Perl; and Warren Robinett, a former Atari employee who had programmed the popular game ''Adventure (1979 video game), Adventure''. They s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broderbund
Broderbund Software, Inc. (stylized as Brøderbund) was an American maker of video games, educational software, and productivity tools. Broderbund is best known for the 8-bit video game hits ''Choplifter'', ''Lode Runner'', ''Karateka'', and ''Prince of Persia'' (all of which originated on the Apple II), as well as ''The Print Shop''—originally for printing signs and banners on dot matrix printers—and the ''Myst'' and ''Carmen Sandiego'' games. The company was founded in Eugene, Oregon, and moved to San Rafael, California, then later to Novato, California. Brøderbund was purchased by SoftKey in 1998. Many of Broderbund's software titles, such as ''The Print Shop'', ''PrintMaster'', and ''Mavis Beacon'', are still published under the name "Brøderbund". Games released by the revived Broderbund are distributed by Encore, Inc. ''Brøderbund'' is now the brand name for Riverdeep's graphic design, productivity, and edutainment titles such as The Print Shop, ''Carmen Sandiego'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kevin O'Leary
Terence Thomas Kevin O'Leary (born 9 July 1954), also known as Mr. Wonderful, is a Canadian businessman, entrepreneur, and television personality. From 2004 to 2014, he appeared on various Canadian television shows. These include the business news programmes ''SqueezePlay'' and ''The Lang and O'Leary Exchange'', as well as the reality television shows ''Dragons' Den'' and ''Redemption Inc.'' In 2008, he appeared on Discovery Channel's '' Project Earth''. Since 2009, he has appeared on '' Shark Tank'', the American version of ''Dragons' Den''. O'Leary co-founded SoftKey Software Products, a technology company that sold software geared toward family education and entertainment. During the late 1980s and 1990s, SoftKey acquired rival companies via hostile takeover bids, such as Compton's New Media, The Learning Company, and Broderbund. SoftKey later changed its name to The Learning Company and was acquired by Mattel in 1999, with the sale making O'Leary a multimillionaire. Mattel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MECC
The Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (later Corporation), most commonly known as MECC, was an organization founded in 1971 best known for developing the edutainment video game series '' The Oregon Trail'' and its spinoffs. The goal of the organization was to coordinate and provide computer services to schools in the state of Minnesota; however, its software eventually became popular in schools around the world.and Canada. MECC had its headquarters in the Brookdale Corporate Center in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. It was acquired by SoftKey in 1995 and was shut down in 1999. History Origins During the 1960s, Minnesota was a center of computer technology, what '' City Pages'' would describe 50 years later as a "Midwestern Silicon Valley". IBM, Honeywell, Control Data and other companies had facilities in the state. In 1963, their presence inspired a group of teachers at the University of Minnesota College of Education's laboratory school to introduce computers into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carmen Sandiego (video Game Series)
''Carmen Sandiego'' is a series of American educational software, educational mystery video games that spawned an Carmen Sandiego (franchise), edutainment franchise of the same name. The game released in 1985, ''Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (1985 video game), Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?'', started off both the video game series and the franchise as a whole, which has continued up to the present day. Each game of the series has a particular theme and subject, where the player must use their knowledge to find Carmen Sandiego (character), Carmen Sandiego or any of her innumerable henchmen. This series was originally owned by Broderbund, but is now owned by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Since its initial release the series has won over 125 awards and accolades. Design Background In 1983, the founders of Broderbund, Broderbund Software, Gary and Doug Carlston, publicly discussed a plan to make edutainment one of their company's three focus areas. The character of Car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reader Rabbit
''Reader Rabbit'' is an educational game franchise created in 1983 by The Learning Company. The series is aimed at children from infancy to the age of nine. In 1998, a spiritual successor series called ''The ClueFinders'' was released for older students aged seven to twelve. The games teach language arts including basic skills in reading and spelling and mathematics. The main character in all the titles is named "Reader Rabbit". History The first ''Reader Rabbit'' computer game was conceived by the Grimm sisters and titled ''Reader Rabbit and the Fabulous Word Factory''. It was released initially in 1983 and featured in the 1983 holiday special ''The Computer Chronicles''. Later versions were released in 1984. In 1986, both ''Reader Rabbit'' 2.0 and ''Math Rabbit'' were released. In 1987, ''Writer Rabbit'' was released with the intention of having a ''Rabbit'' series that featured different academic subjects. Ultimately, the developers decided to have a ''Reader Rabbit'' s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Oregon Trail (series)
''The Oregon Trail'' is a series of educational computer games. The first game was originally developed by Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann, and Paul Dillenberger in 1971 and produced by the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (MECC) in 1974. The original game was designed to teach 8th grade schoolchildren about the realities of 19th-century pioneer life on the Oregon Trail. The player assumes the role of a wagon leader guiding a party of settlers from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon's Willamette Valley via a covered wagon in 1848. History In 1971, Don Rawitsch, a senior at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, taught an 8th grade history class as a student teacher. He used HP Time-Shared BASIC running on a HP 2100 minicomputer to write a computer program to help teach the subject. Rawitsch recruited two friends and fellow student teachers, Paul Dillenberger and Bill Heinemann, to help. The original core gameplay concepts that have been included in every subsequent vers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more than 150 countries. The company operates through three business segments: North America, International, and American Girl. It is the world's second largest toy maker in terms of revenue, after The Lego Group. Two of its historic and most valuable brands, Barbie and Hot Wheels, were respectively named the top global toy property and the top-selling global toy of the year for 2020 and 2021 by The NPD Group, a global information research company. The name of the company is a portmanteau of the names of two of the company's founders; the surname of Harold Matson and the first name of Elliot Handler. History Origins and early years Harold "Matt" Matson, Ruth Handler, and Elliot Handler founded Mattel as Mattel Creations in January 1945 in a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Print Shop
The Print Shop is a basic desktop publishing software package originally published in 1984 by Broderbund. It was unique in that it provided libraries of clip art and templates through a simple interface to build signs, posters and banners with household dot-matrix printers.InfoWorld magazine, page 57 - 17 September 1984 Over the years, the software has been updated to accommodate changing file formats and printer technologies. The original version was for the Apple II and created signs, cards, banners, and letterheads. Designed by David Balsam and programmed by Martin Kahn, it became one of the most popular Apple II titles of all time. Versions for MS-DOS, Commodore 64, and the Atari 8-bit family followed, as did a variant for the Apple IIGS. Reception The Print Shop was very successful. In 1985, it and ''Ghostbusters'' were reportedly the two most widely pirated Commodore 64 programs. ''II Computing'' listed it seventh on the magazine's list of top Apple II non-game, non-educa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Storybook Weaver
''Storybook Weaver'' is a 1994 educational game released on floppy disk for the Apple Macintosh, aimed at children aged 6–12. An updated version, Storybook Weaver Deluxe, was released for Windows and Mac computers and featured much more content than the original. Both versions were released by MECC. The Deluxe version was made available for both home and school environments. A Teacher Resource CD for the software included lesson plans and user guides. Gameplay Storybook Weaver Storybook Weaver is a program that is intended to enable and motivate children to easily create their own stories on a computer. The most noticeable feature of the game is the sizable space allowed for illustrations on each page of a story. The game offered hundreds of backgrounds, objects and characters that could be selected from easy-to-use categories and placed anywhere on the page through a simple click-and-drag process. Backgrounds in the original featured mostly natural, outdoor locations, wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Number Munchers
''Number Munchers'' is a 1986 video game and a spin-off to the title '' Word Munchers''. It was made by MECC for Apple II, then ported to DOS and Macintosh in 1990. The concept of the game was designed by R. Philip Bouchard, who also designed ''The Oregon Trail''. Two versions of the game were released being the Consumer Version (for home use) and the School Version (for classrooms). After The Learning Company acquired MECC, the game was rebranded as "Math Munchers". Gameplay The player controls the muncher who must move around a grid and munch on numbers that match the logic rule above, while avoiding the threatening troggles. As the player progresses the levels, the logic rules have bigger numbers and harder difficulty and multiple troggles pursue the muncher. Modes of play There are five different modes of play in Number Munchers to advance players' mathematical skills. These modes include Multiples, Factors, Primes, Equalities, and Inequalities: * Multiples - the objective ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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