Ovation Technologies Explained

Ovation Technologies was a short-lived software company founded in Canton, Massachusetts, in December 1982^[1] to create business productivity software for the then-emerging IBM PC and compatible market.^[2] Briefly named Spectrum Group Inc., the company was founded by Thomas J. Gregory, who also served as the company's president.^[3] Mike Walrod served as vice president of marketing.^[4]

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.^[5] 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.^{[6] [7]} The "Ovation" project was led by chief software designer Robert Kutnik.^[8]

The company made impressive demonstrations, culminating with a high-profile news conference staged at Manhattan's Windows on the World restaurant,^[9] but ultimately they were unable to ship their product, and filed for bankruptcy by the end of 1984.^[5]

Ovation's most enduring claim to fame may be as what many consider to be the industry's first widely publicized and "most notorious" example of vaporware.^{[9] [10] [11]}

Notes and References

1. Wierzbicki . Barbara. 1983-11-07 . Ovation integrates five applications. InfoWorld . CW Communications. 5 . 45 . 31–32 . Google Books.
2. News: New Companies. 1983-10-24 . . 90 . 2015-03-17.
3. Posner . Bruce G.. 1983-09-01. In Search of Better Business Plan . Inc. . Mansueto Ventures. https://web.archive.org/web/20100206074122/https://www.inc.com/magazine/19830901/8952.html . 2010-02-06.
4. Shea . Tom . 1984-05-07. Developers Unveil 'Vaporware' . InfoWorld . 6 . 19 . 48–51 . Google Books.
5. News: Stoking the Micro Fire . Jim . Bartimo . 1984-12-03 . . 48 . 2015-03-17.
6. News: Late Breaking News . David. Needle . 1984-02-20. InfoWorld. 11. 2015-03-17.
7. Alsop . Stewart II . Tandy DeskMate: Viva La Small Business . 1988-01-18. P.C. Letter . 4 . 2. 9–10.
8. McCarthy . Michael . 1984-11-12 . From the News Desk . InfoWorld . CW Communications . 6 . 46 . 13 . Google Books.
9. News: Burning Questions, Final Answers . Forbes ASAP Staff . . 2001-05-28. 2015-03-17.
10. Flynn . Laurie . 1995-04-24 . The Executive Computer . The New York Times. D4. https://web.archive.org/web/20110110083916/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/24/business/information-technology-the-executive-computer.html . 2011-01-10.
11. Web site: Townsend . Emru . 2008-05-06. The top 15 vaporware products of all time . PCWorld . IDG Communications . https://web.archive.org/web/20210619225355/https://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/214642/top_15_vaporware_products_all_time/ . June 19, 2021.