Snowbound Software turned fifteen years old earlier this year – and I didn’t want the year to go by without taking a look back at what’s transpired in technology, and other topics, over the past decade and a half. The year was 1996, and as I was looking back through some of the previous versions of our collateral materials, I think we’ve progressed for the better for both the company and its offerings!

Snowbound was founded in the winter of 1996 – the snowiest winter in Boston history -– hence our company’s moniker. Throughout the founders’ planning for the company, the snow kept falling, and the unique name stuck – both in their heads – and now in the marketplace.

Snowbound accomplishments of note from 1996:

• Company is founded in February by Simon Wieczner and Jim Palo in Watertown, MA
• Product development, based on pre-existing code base, begins on RasterMaster family of Imaging SDKs for June 1996 release
• The first document viewer, SnowView, is developed with the capability to read more than 60 document and image file formats
• Professional services provided include custom applications, applets and SDKs
• Company rapidly expands and moves to Newton in July 1996

Notable and notorious artists, albums and events from 1996 include:

• Lisa Marie Presley files for divorce from Michael Jackson
• Jamaican authorities open fire on Jimmy Buffett’s seaplane mistaking it for drug traffickers
• KISS reunites and takes to the stage in full makeup for the first time since 1983
• Madonna receives death threats from Argentinean conservatives who are enraged and insulted of her portrayal of Eva Peron in ‘Evita’
• The Monkees embark on their 30^th anniversary reunion tour

1996 highlights in film:

• The top grossing movie is ‘Independence Day’ with over $800 million
• ‘The English Patient’ wins the Best Picture Oscar
• ‘Fargo’ introduces audiences to a new disposal method in the wood chipper
• “You’re luggage,” Schwarzenegger as he shoots an alligator for Vanessa Williams in ‘Eraser’
• Cuba Gooding, JR. wants Tom Cruise to “Show me the money” in ‘Jerry Maguire’

1996 News/Technology/Politics/Sports/Entertainment:

• The citizens of Great Britain are alarmed by an outbreak of ‘mad cow’ disease
• The Palm Pilot is introduced; Hewlett-Packard cofounder David Packard dies
• Bob Dole sweeps the presidential primaries in March; Clinton & Gore win in November
• The Yankees win the World Series and the Cowboys the Super Bowl
• Janet Jackson becomes the highest paid musician in history with an $80 million deal with Virgin Records; jazz great Ella Fitzgerald dies
• In television, Spin City, Everybody Loves Raymond, Nash Bridges & Suddenly Susan debut

We hope you’ve enjoyed this trip down memory lane as we celebrate our fifteenth year!