FutureWave Software
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software |
| Founded | January 22, 1993 in San Diego, California, United States |
| Founder | Charlie Jackson, Jonathan Gay |
| Defunct | December 1996 |
| Fate | Acquired by Macromedia |
| Headquarters | San Diego , United States |
Key people | Linda Michelle Alsip (Vice President of Marketing), Robert Tatsumi (Programmer), Adam Grofcsik (Artist), Ralph Mittman (Public Relations) |
| Products | SmartSketch, FutureSplash Animator |
FutureWave Software, Inc. was a software firm located in San Diego, founded on January 22, 1993, by Charlie Jackson and Jonathan Gay. Linda Michelle Alsip, who previously worked at Silicon Beach Software and Aldus Corporation, held the position of Vice President of Marketing.
Their first offering, SmartSketch, was designed as a drawing application for the EO tablet and PenPoint OS. When pen computing did not achieve widespread adoption, SmartSketch was adapted for use on both Windows and Macintosh systems.
As the Internet expanded, FutureWave recognized the potential for a vector-based animation tool on the web to compete with Macromedia Shockwave. In 1995, they upgraded SmartSketch by adding frame-by-frame animation capabilities and rebranded it as FutureSplash Animator for Mac and Windows platforms. By this time, the team had grown to include programmer Robert Tatsumi, artist Adam Grofcsik, and public relations expert Ralph Mittman.
Macromedia purchased FutureWave in December 1996 and subsequently renamed FutureSplash Animator to Macromedia Flash.