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Charlie Jackson (software)
Encyclopedia
Charlie Jackson is a computer software entrepreneur who founded Silicon Beach Software
in 1984 and co-founded FutureWave Software
in 1993. FutureWave created the first version of what is now Adobe Flash
. He was an early investor in Wired
magazine, Outpost.com, Streamload and Angelic Pictures.
in 1984. The company developed and published Macintosh software. It was best known for its graphics editors SuperPaint
, Digital Darkroom
and SuperCard
. Silicon Beach was acquired by Aldus Corporation in 1990. That year he was named Entrepreneur of the Year in San Diego for High Tech.http://eoyhof.ey.com/SearchHallofFame.aspx
In 1984, Jackson also founded the San Diego Macintosh User Group
.
Jackson co-founded FutureWave Software
with Jonathan Gay
in 1993. FutureWave developed and published FutureSplash Animator
. Macromedia
acquired FutureWave in 1996 and renamed the product Flash 1.0, which in turn became Adobe Flash
when Macromedia was acquired by Adobe Systems
.
In 2010, using the name Silicon Beach Software again, he founded a company to develop apps for tablets and smartphones.
were the two seed investors in Wired
magazine.http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3065/is_n4_v22/ai_13903698/pg_3 In 1994, Jackson loaned Wired Ventures the money that allowed the company to start up HotWired
, the first commercial web magazine.
Jackson was the seed investor in Outpost.com, an early online reseller of computer equipment. Outpost.com gained some notoriety for its TV ads in which gerbils were shot out of a cannon and wolves attacked a high school marching band.
Jackson was the first investor in Angelic Pictures, a movie production company. He was an executive producer of Angelic's movies, The Month of August, Hole in One, and Beach Bar.
Jackson was the first investor in Streamload, an online media storage and retrieval company that was subsequently renamed Nirvanix
and he was the first investor in Pacific Coast Software, publisher of WebCatalog, an e-commerce package.
is an online reseller of volleyball equipment. In 2000, VolleyHut challenged Amazon.com on its use of patents.http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/5231 Silicon Beach Software is a developer and publisher of apps for tablets and smartphones.
, Turkey, where he earned a B.E.P.C. degree from a French school. Jackson earned a BA degree in Near Eastern Studies from UCLA in 1972, a Master's degree in Linguistics
from San Diego State in 1978 and a C.Phil in Linguistics from UCSD in 1980.
He was an active duty Marine Corps
officer from 1972 to 1976 and Reserve officer from 1976 to 1989.
At UCLA
, Jackson was a letter winner in soccer and lightweight rowing
. His senior year he was co-captain of the lightweight rowing team.
In the Marine Corps, Jackson became a competitive rifle and pistol shooter, earning the Marine Corps' highest award for rifle shooting, the Distinguished badge. In 1978 he was the High Marine at the National Championships for Service Rifle, held at Camp Perry
, Ohio.
In the '90s, Jackson returned to competitive shooting. In 1993 and 1994, he earned a spot on the US National Team in Rapid Fire Pistol and competed internationally.
In 1994, Jackson attended the World Masters Games
in Brisbane, Australia, where over 24,000 athletes competed for World Championship titles in their respective age groups. In the 45 - 49 age group, Jackson won Gold medals in Rapid Fire Pistol and 4-man Beach Volleyball
and a Silver medal in 2-man Beach Volleyball.
From 1997 to 2000, Jackson served on the board of USA Volleyball
, chairing the Olympic Beach Volleyball Committee. Jackson was a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team in the capacity of Assistant Team Leader, Beach Volleyball.
In 2000 and 2001, Jackson owned and operated Beach Volleyball America (BVA), a U.S. professional beach volleyball tour.
Currently, Jackson owns and operates Epic Volleyball Club, a junior club in the San Diego area.
Silicon Beach Software
Silicon Beach Software was an early developer of software products for the Macintosh personal computer. It was founded in San Diego, California by Charlie Jackson and his wife Hallie. Jackson later co-founded FutureWave Software with Jonathan Gay, the company that produced the first version of...
in 1984 and co-founded FutureWave Software
FutureWave Software
FutureWave Software was a software developer and publisher based in San Diego, California. The company was founded by Charlie Jackson and Jonathan Gay in early 1993. VP of Marketing was Michelle Welsh who also came from Silicon Beach Software, then Aldus....
in 1993. FutureWave created the first version of what is now Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
. He was an early investor in Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
magazine, Outpost.com, Streamload and Angelic Pictures.
Startups
Jackson founded Silicon Beach SoftwareSilicon Beach Software
Silicon Beach Software was an early developer of software products for the Macintosh personal computer. It was founded in San Diego, California by Charlie Jackson and his wife Hallie. Jackson later co-founded FutureWave Software with Jonathan Gay, the company that produced the first version of...
in 1984. The company developed and published Macintosh software. It was best known for its graphics editors SuperPaint
SuperPaint (Macintosh)
SuperPaint was a graphics program capable of both bitmap painting and vector drawing simultaneously. It was originally written by William Snyder, published by Silicon Beach Software and originally released in 1986 for the Apple Macintosh. William Snyder wrote and designed the program from his house...
, Digital Darkroom
Digital Darkroom
Digital Darkroom was an innovative, award-winning Apple Macintosh graphics program for editing gray-scale photos. It was published by Silicon Beach Software in 1987. It was programmed by Ed Bomke and Don Cone....
and SuperCard
SuperCard
SuperCard is a high-level development environment that runs on Macintosh computers, under OS 8 and 9, and OS X. It is inspired by HyperCard, but includes a richer language, a full GUI toolkit, and native color .The programming language used by SuperCard is called SuperTalk, and is largely based on...
. Silicon Beach was acquired by Aldus Corporation in 1990. That year he was named Entrepreneur of the Year in San Diego for High Tech.http://eoyhof.ey.com/SearchHallofFame.aspx
In 1984, Jackson also founded the San Diego Macintosh User Group
Macintosh User Group
A Macintosh User Group is a group of people who use Macintosh computers made by Apple Inc. or other manufacturers and who use the Apple Macintosh operating system . These groups are primarily locally situated and meet regularly to discuss Macintosh computers, the Mac OS, software and peripherals...
.
Jackson co-founded FutureWave Software
FutureWave Software
FutureWave Software was a software developer and publisher based in San Diego, California. The company was founded by Charlie Jackson and Jonathan Gay in early 1993. VP of Marketing was Michelle Welsh who also came from Silicon Beach Software, then Aldus....
with Jonathan Gay
Jonathan Gay
Jonathan Gay is a computer programmer and software entrepreneur based in Northern California. Gay was a co-founder of FutureWave Software in 1993. For a decade, he was the main programmer and visionary of Flash, an animation editor for web pages...
in 1993. FutureWave developed and published FutureSplash Animator
FutureSplash Animator
FutureSplash Animator was a vector-based animation editor written by Jonathan Gay for this company FutureWave Software. The company and the product were later bought by Macromedia then Adobe Systems, and became Adobe Flash ....
. Macromedia
Macromedia
Macromedia was an American graphics and web development software company headquartered in San Francisco, California that produced such products as Flash and Dreamweaver. Its rival, Adobe Systems, acquired Macromedia on December 3, 2005 and controls the line of Macromedia...
acquired FutureWave in 1996 and renamed the product Flash 1.0, which in turn became Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
when Macromedia was acquired by Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
.
In 2010, using the name Silicon Beach Software again, he founded a company to develop apps for tablets and smartphones.
Investments
Although no longer an active seed investor, Jackson made some notable investments in the 1990s. In 1993, he and Nicholas NegroponteNicholas Negroponte
Nicholas Negroponte is an American architect best known as the founder and Chairman Emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, and also known as the founder of the One Laptop per Child Association ....
were the two seed investors in Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
magazine.http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3065/is_n4_v22/ai_13903698/pg_3 In 1994, Jackson loaned Wired Ventures the money that allowed the company to start up HotWired
HotWired
Hotwired was the first commercial web magazine, launched on October 27, 1994. Although it was part of Wired Ventures, Hotwired was a separate entity from Wired, the print magazine, and had original content....
, the first commercial web magazine.
Jackson was the seed investor in Outpost.com, an early online reseller of computer equipment. Outpost.com gained some notoriety for its TV ads in which gerbils were shot out of a cannon and wolves attacked a high school marching band.
Jackson was the first investor in Angelic Pictures, a movie production company. He was an executive producer of Angelic's movies, The Month of August, Hole in One, and Beach Bar.
Jackson was the first investor in Streamload, an online media storage and retrieval company that was subsequently renamed Nirvanix
Nirvanix
Nirvanix was one of the first Internet storage services and is now a cloud storage provider. Its current flagship product, Nirvanix Storage Delivery Network or Nirvanix SDN is a 'web-based platform for developers enabling quick and easy integration of scalable storage and delivery into any...
and he was the first investor in Pacific Coast Software, publisher of WebCatalog, an e-commerce package.
Current Ventures
Jackson currently owns and operates three businesses in San Diego, CA. Epic Volleyball Club is a junior volleyball organization which trains approximately 400 athletes annually. VolleyHut.comVolleyHut.com
VolleyHut.com is an online retailer of volleyball products. In 2000, VolleyHut was among several companies that protested strongly against Amazon.com's patent relating to affiliate programs. Company owner Charlie Jackson challenged Amazon.com, saying "I have a small e-commerce site, VolleyHut.com,...
is an online reseller of volleyball equipment. In 2000, VolleyHut challenged Amazon.com on its use of patents.http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/5231 Silicon Beach Software is a developer and publisher of apps for tablets and smartphones.
Early life and education
Jackson (born 1948) grew up in Imperial Beach, California. As a teenager, he also spent three years in IstanbulIstanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Turkey, where he earned a B.E.P.C. degree from a French school. Jackson earned a BA degree in Near Eastern Studies from UCLA in 1972, a Master's degree in Linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
from San Diego State in 1978 and a C.Phil in Linguistics from UCSD in 1980.
He was an active duty Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
officer from 1972 to 1976 and Reserve officer from 1976 to 1989.
Sports
Jackson's sporting background is varied and extensive. While in Istanbul, he won the county youth championship in pole vault. In high school, he competed in cross country and track and field.At UCLA
UCLA Bruins
The UCLA Bruins are the sports teams for University of California, Los Angeles . The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pacific-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation . For football, they are in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I...
, Jackson was a letter winner in soccer and lightweight rowing
Lightweight rowing
Lightweight rowing is a special category of rowing where limits are placed on the maximum weight of competitors. The rationale is that larger, taller people have a small but significant physical advantage and tend to dominate the sport...
. His senior year he was co-captain of the lightweight rowing team.
In the Marine Corps, Jackson became a competitive rifle and pistol shooter, earning the Marine Corps' highest award for rifle shooting, the Distinguished badge. In 1978 he was the High Marine at the National Championships for Service Rifle, held at Camp Perry
Camp Perry
Camp Perry is a National Guard training facility located on the shore of Lake Erie in northern Ohio near Port Clinton. In addition to its regular mission as a military training base, Camp Perry also boasts the largest outdoor rifle range in the world...
, Ohio.
In the '90s, Jackson returned to competitive shooting. In 1993 and 1994, he earned a spot on the US National Team in Rapid Fire Pistol and competed internationally.
In 1994, Jackson attended the World Masters Games
World Masters Games
The World Masters Games is an international multi-sport event held every four years which, in terms of competitor numbers, has developed into the largest of its kind....
in Brisbane, Australia, where over 24,000 athletes competed for World Championship titles in their respective age groups. In the 45 - 49 age group, Jackson won Gold medals in Rapid Fire Pistol and 4-man Beach Volleyball
Beach volleyball
Beach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net.Like volleyball, the object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent....
and a Silver medal in 2-man Beach Volleyball.
From 1997 to 2000, Jackson served on the board of USA Volleyball
USA Volleyball
USA Volleyball is a non-profit organization which serves as the national governing body of volleyball in the United States of America ....
, chairing the Olympic Beach Volleyball Committee. Jackson was a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team in the capacity of Assistant Team Leader, Beach Volleyball.
In 2000 and 2001, Jackson owned and operated Beach Volleyball America (BVA), a U.S. professional beach volleyball tour.
Currently, Jackson owns and operates Epic Volleyball Club, a junior club in the San Diego area.
External links
- The Computer Chronicles: TV Coverage of MacWorld Boston 1988 including Silicon Beach Software's Charlie Jackson
- San Diego Macintosh User Group
- Wired.com
- Angelic Entertainment
- VolleyHut.com
- Epic Volleyball Club
- Silicon Beach Software