Rainbow Software's Showcase Presentation System was the world's first screen-based presentation system.
Launched in 1981 by London-based Rainbow Software (now Showcase Presentations Ltd) and running on
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...
II computers with just 16k of RAM it was the first commercial computer-based presentation system displaying directly onto RGB monitors or projectors.
Rainbow's first client was
Grey Advertising in London closely followed by
Ogilvy & Mather and many others. Customers claimed that it paid for itself in a single presentation.
Showcase used programmable duotone colouring to maintain ‘hi res’ mode; and a range of proportionally spaced, properly designed fonts (in 1983, two years later,
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; ...
was still trying to persuade his embryonic Mac development team that such fonts were important).
[Isaacson, W. (2011) ''Steve Jobs'', Hachette Digital]
The
IBM PC didn't make much impact until the mid-1980s; Rainbow lacked the resources to redevelop the system from scratch on to this new format with poor graphic capabilities.
The Rainbow name was eventually dropped in favour of Showcase Presentations Ltd, which became a service company.
In 1987 a product from General Parametrics called VideoShow allowed better quality presentations from a PC and Showcase adopted this and started to develop into a broader consultancy business. In 1990
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* Windows 3.0
* Windows 3.1x
Windows NT
* Windows NT 3.x Windows NT 3.x may refer to either of, or all of the following versions of Microsoft Windows:
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appeared and combined with a
Compaq Portable 386 and the first version of a new program called
PowerPoint, the route to the future seemed clear.
Since then there have been many changes in hardware and software – and particularly in display devices, speed and resolution – but the same general combination of hardware and software has prevailed.
Showcase Presentations rapidly became a high-profile support company, creating presentations for major blue chip companies and working around the world.
References
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Presentation software