![]() ![]() Parsons Technology was acquired by Intuit in 1994. The Rise And Slow Demise Of Family Origins He retained ownership, which would greatly impact his own future and the inception of RootsMagic. In contrast, Bruce Buzbee licensed his software to Parsons. The key difference is that Ken Hess sold Family Tree Maker outright to a company that later acquired Parsons Technology. From the moment Parsons Technology was involved, the winding journey looks very similar. When I saw a list of the different companies that owned the license for Family Origins, my first thought was… haven’t I written this story before? Because that list looks awfully familiar.īut the other article I wrote was about the origins and successive ownership of Family Tree Maker. That is a software developer’s dream! It allowed Buzbee to focus on coding.įormalSoft continued to innovate with genealogy features, while the licensing of the product went through a series of changes. If you’re wondering about the breakdown of work between Parsons Technology and Buzbee’s FormalSoft, the former company looked after all the sales, marketing, and customer support. That could be useful for someone who discovers a parent’s floppy disks with their family research. You can still get some used copies for Windows 3.1/95. Here’s a later version that is currently listed on Amazon. Parsons insisted on a name change to Family Origins. In 1992, Buzbee signed a licensing agreement with Parsons Technology for his genealogy program. But when they spotted what Buzbee had achieved, they asked to license his new software. The company had its own team trying to develop a similar offering to FTM. Never heard of AncestraLink? Enter Parsons Technology. Buzbee released it in 1991 through his own company, FormalSoft. His first genealogy application was called AncestraLink. Now with commercial spreadsheet applications under his belt, Buzbee jumped back into genealogy. That was so easy back then (I sheepishly admit). When he had first dabbled in programming in the early 80s, he started to code a genealogy application. Parsons Technology wanted to compete directly with FTM, and hinted to Buzbee that they’d be interested if he developed a clone. I’ve written a separate article about its interesting and checkered history of Family Tree Maker. Getting Into Genealogy Softwareįamily Tree Maker hit the genealogy market in 1989 to great acclaim. The first was called QubeCalc, and the next was InstaCalc.īuzbee’s company FormalSoft then released ProQubue, which Parson Technology licensed and distributed as ProCalc 3D. Various spreadsheet programsĭepending on your profession and your longevity(!), you may have come across one or more of Buzbee’s spreadsheet applications. But the first connection with Buzbee was through this different application area. Parsons Technology will later play a massive part in the development and demise of many genealogy applications. ![]() COMDEX was one of the giant trade shows.īob Parsons of Parsons Technology connected with Buzbee after the 1989 convention, as he wanted to license the spreadsheet software. Like other software companies, Buzbee would drum up business by attending conventions. Utah officials said that “FormalWare” sounded too much like tuxedo hire as opposed to software. This was wordplay because he was releasing his first program as ShareWare.Īs sales revenue began to grow, Buzbee quit the day job and moved with his wife back to Utah. However, they revolved around organization and classification: he created spreadsheet applications.īuzbee was still working the day job, but he registered a company name of “The FormalWare Co” in 1986. Before RootsMagic: Spreadsheets(!)īuzbee’s first commercial software projects were outside the field of genealogy. The young man wanted to develop his own software, and he spent nights putting together a new application. However, Buzbee left college for Silicon Valley where he worked as an engineer for several years. The early owners of also attended BYU, where they were first inspired to create online genealogy archives. It’s not just the giant online archive of (owned by LDS). Utah, and BYU in particular, has produced several influencers who introduced technology to family history research. Who Owns RootsMagic – From The Horse’s Mouthīruce Buzbee had an early exposure to genealogy as his mother was a family history librarian.īuzbee also attended Brigham Young University (BYU), which is sponsored by the LDS Church.The Rise And Slow Demise Of Family Origins. ![]()
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