Software Publishing Corporation
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Software Publishing Corporation (SPC) was a Mountain View,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
-based manufacturer of business software, originally well known for its "pfs:" series (and its subsequent "pfs:First" and "pfs:Professional" derivative series) of business software products, it was ultimately best known for its pioneering
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 ...
business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...
and presentation graphics program. Though SPC's earliest product was for the
Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...
personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...
, most of its products were for use on text-based DOS
desktop computer A desktop computer (often abbreviated desktop) is a personal computer designed for regular use at a single location on or near a desk due to its size and power requirements. The most common configuration has a case that houses the power supply ...
s, with non- graphical-user-interfaces (GUI), long before the graphical GUIs of
Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...
or
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
existed. A salient benefit of Harvard Graphics, then, was that it brought sophisticated on-screen graphics capabilities to computers running the normally non-graphical, text-based DOS operating system. This factor played a role in the company's ultimate demise in 1996, as
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
was shipping on most desktop computers. Windows incorporated built-in graphical capabilities, so much of what Harvard Graphics provided was no longer needed. SPC scrambled to develop a Windows version of Harvard Graphics, but big competitors and their Windows-native business and presentation graphics tools had so penetrated the Windows market by then that it was just too little, too late. As
MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...
began to disappear, so did SPC's revenues.


Early history

SPC was established in 1980 by three former
Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...
employees, Fred Gibbons, Janelle Bedke, and John Page, with an eye to producing packaged software for personal computers like the Apple II. The first application to be launched was the "Personal Filing System" (PFS), a simple database program for Apple II computers. With the advent of the
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 ...
the following year, though, the company quickly shifted focus to the burgeoning DOS-based desktop computer market, which also included a fast-growing number of
IBM PC-compatible IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT, all from computer giant IBM, that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such computers were referred to as PC clones, IBM clones or IBM PC clones. ...
computers. The Apple II PFS product eventually led to the "pfs:" series of products for DOS. By early 1984, ''InfoWorld'' estimated that SPC was the world's ninth-largest microcomputer-software company, with $14 million in 1983 sales. In 1984 IBM executed an OEM-style agreement pursuant to which SPC would develop the IBM Assistant Series, which was an only slightly enhanced, but completely rebranded version of the "pfs:" family of products (described in the next section) such that no mention of SPC was present in the software or its documentation; and which IBM intended to sell with its IBM PC and PCjr computers. IBM advertised the suite using a Chaplin-esque figure getting all of his ducks in a row, in a
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
TV ad, and in print ads. By only a year later, in 1985 SPC company had achieved $50 million in revenue from the IBM deal, alone.


Major products

SPC's first product, its "PFS" brand database for Apple II computers, was reworked, improved, and then released as pfs:File, a flat-file database for DOS. It was the first of a family of products released by SPC under the "pfs:" brand which, when installed onto the same computer, combined to form a sort of office suite which included companion products pfs:Write (a
word processor A word processor (WP) is a device or computer program that provides for input, editing, formatting, and output of text, often with some additional features. Word processor (electronic device), Early word processors were stand-alone devices ded ...
), pfs:Plan (a
spreadsheet A spreadsheet is a computer application for computation, organization, analysis and storage of data in tabular form. Spreadsheets were developed as computerized analogs of paper accounting worksheets. The program operates on data entered in cel ...
), pfs:Report (
reporting software The following is a list of notable report generator software. Reporting software is used to generate human-readable reports from various data sources. Commercial software * ActiveReports * Actuate Corporation * BOARD * Business Objects * Cog ...
), and pfs:Graph ( business graphics software). Other, mostly utilitarian products bearing the "pfs:" brand subsequently emerged, including pfs:Access (for data communications), pfs:Easy Start (a menuing utility), and pfs:Proof (a
proofreading Proofreading is the reading of a galley proof or an electronic copy of a publication to find and correct reproduction errors of text or art. Proofreading is the final step in the editorial cycle before publication. Professional Traditional ...
utility). Eventually, SPC offered a low- to mid-level
desktop publishing Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using page layout software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online c ...
product called pfs:Publisher; and it packaged the core word processing, database and spreadsheet products into a
suite Suite may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Suite (music), a set of musical pieces considered as one composition ** Suite (Bach), a list of suites composed by J. S. Bach ** Suite (Cassadó), a mid-1920s composition by Gaspar Cassadó ** ''Suite' ...
named pfs:Office. While relatively limited in their capabilities compared with better-known and more powerful products like the DOS database
dBase III dBase (also stylized dBASE) was one of the first database management systems for microcomputers and the most successful in its day. The dBase system includes the core database engine, a query system, a forms engine, and a programming language ...
, the DOS spreadsheet Lotus 1-2-3, and the DOS word processor WordPerfect, the trio of SPC products proved popular, because of their simplicity and ease-of-use, with beginning and intermediate DOS PC users. Lighter-weight versions of the core "pfs:" word processing, database, spreadsheet and data communications programs were released as a single, integrated suite called pfs:First Choice for DOS, intended to directly compete with, but be more economical than,
Microsoft Works Microsoft Works was a productivity software suite developed by Microsoft and sold from 1987 to 2009. Its core functionality included a word processor, a spreadsheet and a database management system. Later versions had a calendar application and ...
for DOS. The pfs:First Choice product subsequently led to what SPC had hoped would be a larger series of far lighter-weight products bearing the "pfs:First" label, the most famous of which, after pfs:First Choice, was an
entry-level An entry-level job is a job that is normally designed or designated for recent graduates of a given discipline and typically does not require prior experience in the field or profession. These roles may require some on-site training. Many entry ...
desktop publishing product called pfs:First Publisher, and its fonts and
graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...
add-ons. A business graphics package called pfs:First Graphics came next, so that the "pfs:First" series could have lightweight business graphics like the original, and slightly heavier-weight, "pfs:" series offered. There was no compatibility between the "pfs:First" series and the "pfs:" series. In response to business users' requests for a far more powerful, yet still economical word processor that really ''could'' compete with the likes of the better-known and more-popular DOS word processors like WordPerfect (and even, by then, Microsoft Word for DOS, SPC released an enhanced version of pfs:Write called pfs:Professional Write, a much higher-powered word processor which was eventually joined by companion products pfs:Professional File (a more powerful database, to better compete with dBase), and pfs:Professional Plan (a more powerful spreadsheet, to better compete with Lotus 1-2-3). These became SPC's higher-end, truly business-oriented and, eventually, networkable and multi-user software product line. Starting with the second versions of the ''Professional'' trio, the "pfs:" was dropped from the product names, making them, simply, Professional Write, Professional File, and Professional Plan. When all three were installed on the same machine, the separately-purchased products could interact with one another as a sort of office suite. The trio also had somewhat limited interoperability with SPC's completely separate business graphics software product called
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 ...
, and its later series companion Harvard Total Project Manager. There was, however, no compatibility of the trio, or the Harvard series products, with any of SPC's other earlier "pfs:" or "pfs:First" products. Starting with the second versions of the Professional Write, Professional File and Professional Plan trio, a separately-purchased Professional series networking add-on (available in 5-user, 10-user and larger packs) could be obtained so that they could all function in a multi-user local area networking (LAN) environment utilizing rudimentary
file locking File locking is a mechanism that restricts access to a computer file, or to a region of a file, by allowing only one user or process to modify or delete it at a specific time and to prevent reading of the file while it's being modified or deleted ...
(but not
record locking Record locking is the technique of preventing simultaneous access to data in a database, to prevent inconsistent results. The classic example is demonstrated by two bank clerks attempting to update the same bank account for two different transacti ...
) via NetBIOS on such as Novell's
NetWare NetWare is a discontinued computer network operating system developed by Novell, Inc. It initially used cooperative multitasking to run various services on a personal computer, using the IPX network protocol. The original NetWare product in 19 ...
, or Banyan VINES. In 1986, SPC released its groundbreaking Harvard Presentation Graphics, one of the first PC applications which allowed users to combine
chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
s,
clip art Clip art (also clipart, clip-art) is a type of graphic art. Pieces are pre-made images used to illustrate any medium. Today, clip art is used extensively and comes in many forms, both electronic and printed. However, most clip art today is creat ...
, and text and display fonts into presentation slides.


Corporate decline and demise

The power of Harvard Graphics product made it extremely popular with DOS PC users, helping to drive SPC's sales revenues to $150 million by 1990. As the popularity of Harvard Graphics soared, SPC shifted focus to high-end business graphics software, and so it sold the "pfs:" and related series software to Spinnaker Software in 1991. This move made SPC an essentially one-product company. The shift ultimately led, however, to the company's demise. By 1993 the DOS-based Harvard Graphics product accounted for 80% of SPC's revenue. It was valuable to users because it brought to the normally-text-only, non-graphical DOS environment a rich and powerful on-screen graphical presentation tool. However, as more and more business desktop computers began shipping with the Microsoft Windows GUI sitting atop DOS in Windows version 1.0 through
Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems. The first operating system in the 9x family, it is the successor to Windows 3.1x, and was released to manufacturin ...
, and then also in the full operating system version
Windows NT Windows NT is a proprietary graphical operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems sc ...
, the need for software like Harvard Graphics, which did the kind of on-screen graphical
heavy lifting Heavy may refer to: Measures * Heavy (aeronautics), a term used by pilots and air traffic controllers to refer to aircraft capable of 300,000 lbs or more takeoff weight * Heavy, a characterization of objects with substantial weight * Heavy, ...
so needed in the non-graphical DOS environment, was suddenly no longer necessary because Windows had on-screen graphics capability built right into it. Though SPC scrambled to release a Windows 3.0 version of Harvard Graphics in 1991, big competitors had, by then, deeply penetrated the Windows business and presentation graphics market with products like Microsoft's PowerPoint and Lotus Development Corporation's
Freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
, relegating the Windows version of Harvard Graphics's revenues to less than 20% of SPC's overall sales. Though SPC had begun to rebuild its product line to include products in addition to the DOS and Windows versions of Harvard Graphics—such as ActiveOffice, ASAP WordPower, ASAP WebShow, Harvard ChartXL, Harvard Spotlight, the Superbase 2.0, and Personal Publisher (which SPC acquired from T/Maker) -- all of said new products, even combined with the Windows version of Harvard Graphics, accounted for only a tiny part of SPC's overall revenues. So as DOS desktop computers began to disappear from US businesses by 1994, and revenues from the DOS-based version of Harvard Graphics disappeared with them, SPC's overall revenues plummeted. In 1994, the firm laid off half its staff and Gibbons stepped down as chief executive. In 1996 SPC was purchased by, and became a subsidiary of, Allegro New Media, Inc., a New Jersey-based multimedia publisher of interactive CD-ROM software applications, including 25 titles in five product lines, the most notable of which were its Entrepreneur Guides, Berlitz Executive Travel Guides, Learn To Do Series and Business Reference Series. Earlier that year, Allegro had purchased Serif Inc, which produced publishing and graphics software for the
SOHO Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...
market, including PagePlus Home/Office 95, PagePlus 3.0 and DrawPlus 2.0, as well as a variety of clipart and font collections. Allegro believed that the move would expand its product lines and distribution capabilities. Allegro renamed itself Vizacom in late 1996 and began actively marketing its new products; however, in 2001 Vizacom sold Serif back to its original management, and included the licensure to Serif of the Harvard Graphics line of products in the sale. Serif continued to market Harvard Graphics 98 for Windows until 2017, when the product was taken off the market.


See also

* pfs:Write * T/Maker *
Superbase (database) Superbase is an end-user desktop database program that started on the Commodore 64 and was ported from that to various operating systems over the course of more than 20 years. It also has generally included a programming language to automate data ...


References


External links

*
Serif's Harvard Graphics website


* ttps://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/09/science/personal-computers-software-for-the-average-user.html Review of pfs:First Choice, NY Times, 9 December 1986
Fred Gibbons Explaining start of Software Publishing ''(one-minute video)''
{{Authority control Defunct software companies of the United States Software companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Software companies established in 1980 Software companies disestablished in 1996 1980 establishments in California 1996 disestablishments in California Defunct companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Companies based in Mountain View, California