software company
A software company is a company whose primary products are various forms of software, software technology, distribution, and software product development. They make up the software industry.
Types
There are a number of different types of softw ...
founded in 1982John Case. ''Digital Future'', William Morrow : New York, N.Y. 1985. p. 122. known primarily for its line of non-curriculum based educational software, which was a major seller during the 1980s. It was founded by chairman Bill Bowman and president C. David Seuss.
Spinnaker pioneered the educational software market and was the first company to mass market low cost, educational software. It went public on NASDAQ in 1991 and was acquired by
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 ...
in 1994. The Learning Company was subsequently acquired by
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 ...
.
Educational and entertainment titles
One of the key elements of the business plan was to change the marketing of software aimed at home users: Instead of plastic bags, the software was put into brightly colored, durable plastic boxes. To reach non-tech-savvy parents as potential buyers, full-color advertisements were run in magazines like ''
Good Housekeeping
''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good House ...
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
.'' The budget for advertising was huge: In 1983 $1.5 million were spent on advertising compared to sales of $11.1 million.
Robert Nason Baker of advertising agency Harold Cabot & Co., Boston designed the company logo and the multicoloured stripe that appeared on all printed material.John Case. ''Digital Future'', William Morrow : New York, N.Y. 1985. p. 123-125.
The initial lineup for Christmas 1982 comprised four titles: ''FaceMaker'' and ''The Story Machine'', learning games by San Francisco-based DesignWare, and two ''
Snooper Troops
''Snooper Troops'' is a series of two 1982 adventure/educational video games developed by Spinnaker Software and published by Computer Learning Connection. They were released for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 and DOS. The first case ...
'' strategy games by
Tom Snyder Productions
Soup2Nuts (sometimes referred to as Soup2Nuts Studios, and formerly part of Tom Snyder Productions) was an American animation studio founded by Tom Snyder. The studio is known for its animated comedy series, its use of Squigglevision, a techniqu ...
.
Among the Spinnaker Software titles of 1983 were three programs designed and programmed by Interactive Picture Systems: ''Trains'', ''Aerobics'', and ''Grandma's House'' for Apple II, Atari 800 and Commodore 64 systems. A well-known product of 1983 was '' In Search of the Most Amazing Thing'' by Tom Snyder Productions.
Spinnaker's educational titles included such games as ''Alphabet Zoo'' and ''Kidwriter''. Kidwriter, a storybook authoring tool and the first word processor ever designed and developed specifically for children, was created by Jim and Jack Pejsa, who also developed Movie Creator (licensed by Spinnaker to Fisher Price Corp.) an 8 track video and 3 track music production and editing workshop for children. ''Alphabet Zoo'' was produced by Dale Disharoon, a teacher from Chico, California.
By early 1984 ''InfoWorld'' estimated that Spinnaker was the world's 16th-largest microcomputer-software company, with $10 million in 1983 sales. During the 1983–1988 time frame, Spinnaker consistently led the best seller charts for educational software. with Snooper Troops making the top ten list of bestselling games.
Branding
Beginning in 1984, Spinnaker introduced several brands to structure its product line and target different audiences. Branding was intended to get Spinnaker more shelf space at retailers.Marguerite Zientara: Inside Spinnaker Software. ' In: ''InfoWorld'', Volume 6, Number 33, August 13, 1984. ISSN 0199-6649. Page 43-48.
The first new product line was a collaboration with toy manufacturer
Fisher-Price
Fisher-Price is an American company that produces educational toys for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, headquartered in East Aurora, New York, East Aurora, New York (state), New York. The company was founded in 1930 during the Great Depressio ...
. Spinnaker was responsible for creating, marketing and distributing the software and paid royalties for using the Fisher-Price name.
In October 1984 Spinnaker founded two subsidiaries, the
Telarium
Telarium Corporation (formerly Trillium) was a brand owned by Spinnaker Software. The brand was launched in 1984 and Spinnaker was sold in 1994. The headquarters were located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. The President of Telarium was C. Dav ...
Corporation
A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...
and the
Windham Classics
Windham Classics Corporation was a subsidiary of Spinnaker Software. The corporation was founded in 1984 and went defunct circa 1985/86 or later. The headquarters were in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Adventure games
Windham Classics publishe ...
Corporation. Telarium was initially named "Trillium", but Spinnaker changed the name shortly after its announcement and before launch to Telarium when another company claimed ownership of the Trillium name. Both corporations published
adventure games
An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based me ...
(
interactive fiction
''
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the ...
) based on literature works. The target groups were different, Telarium geared toward grown-up adventure players and Windham Classics geared toward children players. In marketing and sales issues, both subsidiaries worked closely together with their parent company. President of Telarium was C. David Seuss. The game development was managed by
Seth Godin
Seth W. Godin is an American author and former dot com business executive.
Background
After leaving Spinnaker in 1986, he used $20,000 in savings to found Seth Godin Productions, primarily a book packaging business, out of a studio apartment in ...
Compute!
''Compute!'' (), often stylized as ''COMPUTE!'', was an American home computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994. Its origins can be traced to 1978 in Len Lindsay's ''PET Gazette'', one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET c ...
, Issue 53, October 1984, ISSN 0194-357X, p. 32 Telarium focused on prime quality text and published eight adventures, partly in cooperation with established writers like
Michael Crichton
John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavily feature tech ...
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...
, and Arthur C. Clarke. Windham Classics focused on a nonviolent storyline appropriate for children and published five adventures.
By December 1984 Spinnaker had established seven product lines, with the Fisher-Price and Telarium/Windham Classics brands comprising more than ten titles each.
The Windham Classics corporation went defunct circa 1985–86 or later. The Telarium Corporation went defunct in 1987.
Leaving the market of educational software
In response to a severe, if temporary, downturn in consumer purchases of personal computers in the mid-to-late 1980s, and the shift in the market from more entertainment-oriented machines from Commodore and Atari toward more small business and personal
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, ...
running on IBM PC clones, Spinnaker decided to phase out its educational and entertainment titles and focus on personal productivity.
Productivity software
In 1985 Spinnaker created the ''BetterWorking'' brand of
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, ...
for adults.Scott Mace: Spinnaker Ships Low-Cost Line. ' In: ''InfoWorld'' Volume 7, Number 23, June 10, 1985. ISSN 0199-6649. Page 23-24.
In 1990 Spinnaker bought
Springboard
A springboard or diving board is used for diving and is a board that is itself a spring, i.e. a linear flex-spring, of the cantilever type.
Springboards are commonly fixed by a hinge at one end (so they can be flipped up when not in use), and ...
, creator of Springboard Publisher and The Newsroom.Lisa Picarille: Software Publishing Sells PFS Line to Spinnaker. ' In: ''InfoWorld'' Vol. 13, No. 3, January 21, 1991. ISSN 0199-6649. Page 5.
Spinnaker acquired the budget software house Power Up! Software in 1991, adding to its suite of budget business products. Power Up! Software was originally based in San Mateo (California), with the UK Head office in Mytchett (Surrey).
Spinnaker best seller during this time period was an integrated personal productivity application called "WindowWorks" which was an industry best seller, beating the Windows version of Microsoft Works to market by two years. WindowWorks was the first title ever bundled on a Compaq computer when it was selected to be included in the first price competitive Compaq released to a general public, as opposed to corporate market. WindowWorks and other Windows titles in the Betterworking series tripled Spinnaker's revenues and positioned it to acquire the pfs brand from SPC.
In January 1991 Spinnaker bought the PFS line of business applications from
Software Publishing Corporation
Software Publishing Corporation (SPC) was a Mountain View, California, Mountain View, California-based manufacturer of business software, originally well known for its "pfs:" series (and its subsequent "pfs:First" and "pfs:Professional" derivative ...
, creators of
Harvard Graphics
Harvard Graphics was a graphics and presentation program for IBM PC compatibles. The first version, titled Harvard Presentation Graphics was released for MS-DOS in 1986 by Software Publishing Corporation (SPC) and achieved a high market share. It w ...
.
Alumni
Employees of Spinnaker over the years included: Video executive Chris Deering, Network Associate's CEO Bill Larson, TV news producer Andrew Sugg, author
Seth Godin
Seth W. Godin is an American author and former dot com business executive.
Background
After leaving Spinnaker in 1986, he used $20,000 in savings to found Seth Godin Productions, primarily a book packaging business, out of a studio apartment in ...
, shark
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 n ...
, and comedy writer John Bowman {{Cite web, url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0101337/, title=John Bowman, website=
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...