Spinnaker Software

Spinnaker Software Corporation was an American software and video game company. Founded in 1982 by Bill Bowman and C. David Seuss, it was known primarily for its line of non-curriculum-based educational software, which was a major seller during the 1980s.[1]

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 in 1994. The Learning Company was subsequently acquired by Mattel.

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, Better Homes and Gardens and Newsweek. The budget for advertising was huge: In 1983 $1.5 million were spent on advertising compared to sales of $11.1 million. By 1984 an industry rumor said that the company was running out of cash.

Robert Nason Baker of advertising agency Harold Cabot & Co., Boston designed the company logo and the multicoloured stripe that appeared on all printed material.

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.[6]

The first new product line was a collaboration with toy manufacturer Fisher-Price. Spinnaker was responsible for creating, marketing and distributing the software and paid royalties for using the Fisher-Price name.[7]

In October 1984 Spinnaker founded two subsidiaries, the Telarium Corporation and the Windham Classics 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 (interactive fiction) 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.[6] President of Telarium was C. David Seuss.[8] The game development was managed by Seth Godin.[9][10] Telarium focused on prime quality text and published eight adventures, partly in cooperation with established writers like Michael Crichton, Byron Preiss, Ray Bradbury, 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.[11]

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 running on IBM PC clones, Spinnaker decided to phase out its educational and entertainment titles and focus on personal productivity.

successor	The Learning Company
fate	Merged
location	Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
foundation	April 1, 1982
defunct	1994
industry	Educational software

Educational and entertainment titles

Branding

Leaving the market of educational software

Productivity software

Alumni

References