FutureWave Software, Inc
was a software development company based in
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...
. The company was co-founded by
Charlie Jackson and
Jonathan Gay
Jonathan Gay (born 1967) is an American computer programmer and software entrepreneur based in Northern California. Gay co-founded FutureWave Software in 1993. For a decade, he was the main programmer and visionary of Flash, an animation editor ...
on January 22, 1993.
VP of Marketing was Michelle Welsh who also came from
Silicon Beach Software
Silicon Beach Software, Inc., was an early American developer of software products for the Macintosh personal computer. It was founded in San Diego, California in 1984 by Charlie Jackson and his wife Hallie. Jackson later co-founded FutureWave S ...
, then
Aldus Corporation
Aldus Corporation was an American software company best known for its pioneering desktop publishing (DTP) software. PageMaker, the company's most well-known product, ushered in the modern era of desktop computers such as the Macintosh seeing ...
.
MACROMEDIA FLASH BACK
Digital Archaeology[PC Graphics & Video, Volume 6, Issues 1-6](_blank)
Advanstar Communications, 1997[Personal Computer Magazine](_blank)
PC Communications Corporation, 1995
The company's first product was SmartSketch, a drawing program for the PenPoint OS
The PenPoint OS was a product of GO Corporation and was one of the earliest operating systems written specifically for graphical tablets and personal digital assistants. It ran on AT&T Corporation's EO Personal Communicator as well as a number ...
and EO tablet computer. When pen computing
Pen computing refers to any computer user-interface using a pen or Stylus (computing), stylus and tablet, over input devices such as a keyboard or a mouse.
Pen computing is also used to refer to the usage of mobile devices such as tablet computers ...
did not take off, SmartSketch was ported to the Microsoft Windows and Macintosh
The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...
platforms.
As the Internet became more popular, FutureWave realized the potential for a vector-based web animation tool that might challenge Macromedia
Macromedia, Inc., was an American graphics, multimedia, and web development software company (1992–2005) headquartered in San Francisco, California, that made products such as Flash and Dreamweaver. It was purchased by its rival Adobe System ...
Shockwave technology. In 1995, FutureWave modified SmartSketch by adding frame-by-frame animation features and re-released it as FutureSplash Animator
Adobe Animate (formerly Adobe Flash Professional, Macromedia Flash, and FutureSplash Animator) is a multimedia authoring and computer animation program developed by Adobe Inc.
Animate is used to design vector graphics and animation for televis ...
on Macintosh and Windows. By that time, the company had added a second programmer Robert Tatsumi, artist Adam Grofcsik, and PR specialist Ralph Mittman.
In December 1996, FutureWave was acquired by Macromedia, who renamed the animation editor Macromedia Flash Macromedia Flash may refer to:
*Adobe Animate, a multimedia authoring and computer animation program formerly known as ''Macromedia Flash''
*Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia software platform ...
.
References
{{US-software-company-stub
Defunct software companies of the United States
Adobe Flash
Adobe Inc.
Software companies established in 1993
Software companies disestablished in 1996
1996 mergers and acquisitions
Companies based in San Diego