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]
