🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <9405311803.AA00575@goldleaf.com>, Thomas Poff
<goldleaf!thomas@NNTP.CRL.COM> writes:

>> Pardon me... but could someone tell us exactly where Authorware 
>> came from?  I'm writing some authoring tools and of course 
>> would like to know about the "family lineage!"

Lengthy history follows...

Authorware came out of research done by at Control Data in
Minneapolis, MN by Dr. Michael Allen in the late '70s and early '80s.
Allen, who had been one of the key contributors to CDC's PLATO
project was dissatisfied with the low productivity of CBT authoring
languages, inclusing PLATO's TUTOR language. They were simply too
much like programming languages to be of use to "mere mortals" (a
phrase Allen claims first use of, pre-dating Steve Jobs).

Allen's research led to the development of an iconic authoring system
for the PC called "PCD3". When Control Data indicated they were
dropping pursuit of this area, Dr. Allen persuaded Bill Norris, CDC's
chair and founder, to allow him to take PCD3 outside the organization
and develop it for the Mac. After a lengthy wrangle with CDC's
bureaucracy, Allen was allowed to do this and formed a new startup,
Authorware.

The product was originally released as "Course of Action". By the
time version 1.5 was released, the company had hired as CEO Bud
Colligan from Apple, who rechristened the the product "Authorware
Professional". As the company grew, a Windows version of Authorware
Pro was created, which was meticulously designed to allow for
cross-platform conversion of authored files. In 1993, Authorware
merged with Macromind to form Macromedia and closed up shop in
Minneapolis. Allen started a new consulting and development company,
which now goes under the name Allen Interactions.

Authorware, along with Director, is Macromedia's mainstay product.
Its strength is that it was expressly designed for rapid development
of learning applications. It is not a HyperCard clone or me-too
product, but an original approach to authoring.