Ovation Technologies

Short description: Early PC "vaporware" software company

Ovation TechnologiesFormerly| Spectrum Group Inc.

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Type| Private
Industry| Software
Fate| Dissolved
Founded| December 1982; 43 years ago (1982-12) in Canton, Massachusetts
Founder| Thomas J. Gregory
Defunct| 1984; 42 years ago (1984)
Products| Ovation (never released)

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]

## References

1. ↑ Wierzbicki, Barbara (1983-11-07). "Ovation integrates five applications". InfoWorld (CW Communications) 5 (45): 31–32. https://books.google.com/books?id=0C8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA32.
2. ↑ "New Companies". Computerworld: p. 90. 1983-10-24. https://books.google.com/books?id=wFqbDqPhSMcC&pg=RA1-PA90.
3. ↑ Posner, Bruce G. (1983-09-01). "In Search of Better Business Plan". Inc. (Mansueto Ventures). https://www.inc.com/magazine/19830901/8952.html.
4. ↑ Shea, Tom (1984-05-07). "Developers Unveil 'Vaporware'". InfoWorld 6 (19): 48–51. https://books.google.com/books?id=ti4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA51.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Bartimo, Jim (1984-12-03). "Stoking the Micro Fire". InfoWorld: p. 48. https://books.google.com/books?id=qS4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA47.
6. ↑ Needle, David (1984-02-20). "Late Breaking News". InfoWorld: p. 11. https://books.google.com/books?id=hS4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA11.
7. ↑ Alsop, Stewart II (1988-01-18). "Tandy DeskMate: Viva La Small Business". P.C. Letter 4 (2): 9–10. http://vintagecomputer.net/cisc367/PC-Letter_19880118.pdf.
8. ↑ McCarthy, Michael (1984-11-12). "From the News Desk". InfoWorld (CW Communications) 6 (46): 13. https://books.google.com/books?id=oy4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA13.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Forbes ASAP Staff (2001-05-28). "Burning Questions, Final Answers". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/asap/2001/0528/024_8.html.
10. ↑ Flynn, Laurie (1995-04-24). "The Executive Computer". The New York Times: D4. https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/24/business/information-technology-the-executive-computer.html.
11. ↑ Townsend, Emru (2008-05-06). "The top 15 vaporware products of all time". PCWorld. IDG Communications. https://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/214642/top_15_vaporware_products_all_time/.

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