Janese Swanson

Last updated
Janese Swanson
Born1958 (age 65–66)
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater San Diego State University University of San Francisco
Occupation(s)Inventor
Software developer

Janese Swanson (born 1958) [1] is an American inventor and software developer. Swanson co-developed the first of the Carmen Sandiego educational games, and founded the company Girl Tech, [2] [3] which creates products aimed at making technology more interesting for girls. She has developed award-winning curricula, electronic toys, and books that encourage girls to explore technology and inventions. Her toy inventions include the Snoop Stopper Keepsake Box, Me-Mail Message Center, Zap N’ Lock Journal, and Swap-It Locket. Her publications include Tech Girl's Internet Adventures, Tech Girl's Activity Book, and Girlzine: A Magazine for the Global Girl.

Contents

Biography

Swanson was raised by her mother in San Diego, California, after her father was killed in the Vietnam War. [4] She graduated from Orange Glen High School in 1975, and while in high school, she worked a part-time job at Sears. Not only was she the youngest, she was also the only female salesperson in the television and sound system department and she received awards for her work in sales. [5] She earned a bachelor's degree in liberal studies in 1981 from San Diego State University, and went on to work as a teacher, a flight attendant and a model. [1] She convinced a computer company to donate laptops, and taught her mainly female fellow flight attendants how to use them during their spare time. [6]

She also continued her studies, eventually earning a total of seven academic degrees [3] including a doctorate in organization and leadership, with a doctoral thesis on gender issues in product design, play patterns and gender preferences. [2] Swanson received her Ed.D. in Organization and Leadership Technology in 1997 from the University of San Francisco. [4]

In the late 1980s, Swanson was hired by Broderbund Software as a product manager, where she helped develop The Treehouse , The Playroom , and the Macintosh edition of the game Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? . [7] She invented gadgets for her daughter, including a voice recording device that she hoped to install in Jackie's daycare cubby and in her own office. She said, "I missed her so much that I used to call my home answering machine to hear her voice, and I thought this would let me talk to her during the day." [1] In 1992, she left Broderbund to develop technology for electronically altering a voice's pitch and modulation; started her own company, Kid One For Fun, for developing and licensing Yak Bak to Yes! Entertainment and Talkboy F/X+ to Tiger Electronics. [1] [6]

In 1995, Swanson decided that she wanted to create toys aimed specifically at girls, and founded Girl Tech as an independent company with headquarters near her home in San Rafael, California. [6] Products included the "Friend Frame" talking picture frame, the Snoop Stopper "Keepsafe" Box storage box with a remote-controlled lock, Me-Mail Message Center, Zap N’ Lock Journal, and Swap-It Locket, and a remote listening device called "Bug 'Em". [6] Swanson claimed that her vision for the company did not match the expectations of existing toy distributors: "For two years after I founded the company, toy store buyers would say, 'Can you make it pink?' 'Can't you make it for boys?' And I would say, 'No, this is what girls like to play with.'" [1] This company also publishes books on technology for girls, works with community groups, and developed a technology curriculum for Girl Scout councils. [6] She later sold the company to Radica Games, now a division of Mattel, for $6 million. [1] She has also licensed her technologies to Hasbro and Sega. [8]

Swanson worked as Education Coordinator at the United States Mint, and was a founder at The Art Apprentice. [9] She is now an art teacher in the Del Mar Union School District, and uses computer technology to encourage students' creation of art work. [8] Her students' work has received an "Innovative Video In Education" (iVIE) award in 2008 from the San Diego County Office of Education, [10] and she was the education chair of SIGGRAPH in 2007. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broderbund</span> American software company

Broderbund Software, Inc. was an American maker of video games, educational software, and productivity tools. Broderbund is best known for the 8-bit video game hits Choplifter, Lode Runner, Karateka, and Prince of Persia, as well as The Print Shop—originally for printing signs and banners on dot matrix printers—and the Myst and Carmen Sandiego games. The company was founded in Eugene, Oregon, and moved to San Rafael, California, then later to Novato, California. Broderbund was purchased by SoftKey in 1998.

<i>Carmen Sandiego</i> (video game series) American educational mystery video game series

Carmen Sandiego is a series of American educational mystery video games that spawned an edutainment franchise of the same name. The game released in 1985, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, started off both the video game series and the franchise as a whole, which has continued up to the present day. Each game of the series has a particular theme and subject, where the player must use their knowledge to find Carmen Sandiego or any of her innumerable henchmen. This series was originally owned by Broderbund, but is now owned by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Since its initial release the series has won over 125 awards and accolades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Fadell</span> Inventor of the iPod, engineer

Anthony Michael Fadell is an American engineer, designer, entrepreneur, and investor. He was senior vice president of the iPod division at Apple Inc. and founder and former CEO of Nest Labs.

WowWeeGroup Limited, is a privately held, Hong Kong-based Canadian consumer technology company.

<i>Living Books</i> Interactive storybook series

Living Books is a series of interactive read-along adventures aimed at children aged 3–9. Created by Mark Schlichting, the series was mostly developed by Living Books for CD-ROM and published by Broderbund for Mac OS and Microsoft Windows. Two decades after the original release, the series was re-released by Wanderful Interactive Storybooks for iOS and Android.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beulah Louise Henry</span> American business woman and inventor

Beulah Louise Henry was an American inventor whose extensive contributions to consumer products and manufacturing technology solidified her legacy in the field. Born in Raleigh, North Carolina,

and later based in New York City, Henry was a pioneering figure who held 49 patents and developed over 110 inventions, significantly advancing technology while breaking gender barriers in her field.
<i>Carmen Sandiego</i> Media franchise

Carmen Sandiego is a media franchise based on a series of computer video games created by the American software company Broderbund. While the original 1985 Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? video game was classified as a "mystery exploration" series by creators and the media, the series would later be deemed edutainment when the games became unexpectedly popular in classrooms. The franchise centers around the fictional thieving villain of the same name, who is the ringleader of the criminal organization V.I.L.E.; the protagonists are agents of the ACME Detective Agency who try to thwart the crooks' plans to steal treasures from around the world, while the later ultimate goal is to capture Carmen Sandiego herself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmen Sandiego (character)</span> Fictional thief

Carmen Isabella Sandiego is a fictional character featured in a long-running edutainment video games series of the same name created by the American software company Broderbund. As an international lady thief, a criminal mastermind, and the elusive nemesis of the ACME Detective Agency, Carmen Sandiego is the principal character of the video game series and the head of ACME's rival organization, V.I.L.E. She is depicted as an extremely intelligent, stylish, fashionable woman whose signature look features a red, matching fedora and trenchcoat. Many of her crimes depicted in the games involve spectacular and often impossible cases of monument theft, which are used as a pretext to teach children geography via the simulated process of tracking down the character, the stolen monuments, and her accomplices all over the world with her sidekicks Zack and Ivy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orange Glen High School</span> Public school

Orange Glen High School (OGHS) is one of the five public high schools in the Escondido Union School District in Escondido, California. It was established in 1962. The school earned the California Distinguished School Award in 2007.

The Lemelson Foundation is an American 501(c)(3) private foundation. It was started in 1993 by Jerome H. Lemelson and his wife Dorothy. The foundation held total net assets of US$444,124,049 at the end of 2020 and US$484,432,021 at the end of 2021. The Foundation seeks to harness the power of invention and innovation to accelerate climate action and improve lives around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Osterhout</span> American inventor

Ralph Osterhout is an American inventor, designer, entrepreneur, and CEO of Osterhout Design Group (ODG). During his career he has developed a range of products spanning toys, consumer electronics, dive equipment, furniture to devices for the Department of Defense. Osterhout is named as inventor on 260 patents and patent applications. Over the course of his career, Osterhout has developed over 2,000 different products and hundreds of separate product lines for companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500s, as well as the government.

<i>Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?</i> (video game) 1989 computer and video game

Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? is a multiplatform video game where players have to travel through time to collect clues and the warrants necessary to capture Carmen Sandiego or her henchmen. The goal of this game is to track Carmen's villains through history and arrest them and ultimately arrest Carmen herself.

<i>Carmen Sandiegos Great Chase Through Time</i> 1997 edutainment video game

Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time is a 1997 edutainment point-and-click adventure game developed by Broderbund for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh devices. The game is a remake of the 1989 time-travel title Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?, making it the second Time video game in the Carmen Sandiego franchise. The game was strongly influenced by the short-lived PBS game show, Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?. The game was previewed at the 1997 Toy Fair in New York City. A demo version was included on the CD for Carmen Sandiego Word Detective and was available on the Carmen Sandiego website. After Broderbund was sold to The Learning Company, the game was re-released with the new title - Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time - but with minimal redesign.

<i>Carmen Sandiego Word Detective</i> 1997 video game

Carmen Sandiego Word Detective is a game in the Carmen Sandiego franchise which was released in 1997. The plot of the game sees Carmen Sandiego inventing a machine called the Babble-On Machine, and the player in the role of Agent 13, thwarting her plans by freeing all the other agents which have been captured by Carmen. The title is very similar in format to Carmen Sandiego Math Detective, which was released a year later.

<i>Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?</i> (1996 video game) 1996 video game

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? is a 1996 video game part of the Carmen Sandiego franchise. It was the third version of the game, after the 1985 original title of the same name and a 1992 Deluxe version of said game. The game's release coincided on the heels of the end of the PBS game show, and features QuickTime videos of Lynne Thigpen reprising her role as "The Chief". This was the last version of the game to follow the "classic" formula of the series, but much of the game, especially the "warrant" portion, was heavily redesigned. The Deluxe Edition released in 1998 added speech welcoming the player to each country and an "ACME Global Language Link-Up" satellite which quizzed the user on the local language. Players also received a spy watch and "an introduction to 12 foreign languages".

<i>Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?</i> (1985 video game) 1985 video game

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? is an educational video game released by Broderbund on April 23, 1985. It is the first product in the Carmen Sandiego franchise. The game was distributed with The World Almanac and Book of Facts, published by Pharos Books. An enhanced version of the game was released in 1989, which did not have the almanac-based copy protection and instead used disk-based copy protection. A deluxe version was released in 1990, and featured additional animation and a reworked interface from the original version. Some of the bonus features included digitized photos from National Geographic, over 3200 clues, music from the Smithsonian/Folkways Recordings, 20 villains, 60 countries, and 16 maps. CD-ROM versions for DOS and Macintosh were released in 1992, and a Windows version was released in 1994.

littleBits Electronics company in New York, United States

littleBits is a New York City-based startup that makes an open source library of modular electronics, which snap together with small magnets for prototyping and learning. The company's goal is to democratize hardware the way software and printing have been democratized. The littleBits mission is to "put the power of electronics in the hands of everyone, and to break down complex technologies so that anyone can build, prototype, and invent." littleBits units are available in more than 70 countries and used in more than 2,000 schools. The company was named to CNN's 10 Startups to Watch for 2013.

Carmen Sandiego Days have been popular across United States schools since they were first held in 1988. Inspired by the Carmen Sandiego franchise, these days see schools hold week-long Carmen Sandiego-themed events, aided by packs and prizes originally provided by Broderbund, and later by the franchises' subsequent owners after The Learning Company's acquisition of Broderbund in 1998. The 30th Carmen Sandiego Day took place on January 8, 2018.

Bethany Koby is an American designer and inventor. She was the co-founder and chief executive officer of the insolvent business Tech Will Save Us.

Masha Nazeem is an Indian inventor was born and brought up from Nagercoil in Kanniyakumari district. In 2005 during her eighth grade she designed a hi-tech train toilet that gained her two national and one international awards.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Inventor Fills Girls' Desire for Their Own Gadgets". New York Times . 1999-09-30. Retrieved 2013-09-25.
  2. 1 2 "Inventor of the Week: Janese Swanson". Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on 2003-03-02. Retrieved 2013-08-29.
  3. 1 2 "Beyond Pink and Fluffy: Janese Swanson". Smithsonian Institution. 2005-03-03. Archived from the original on 2005-03-16. Retrieved 2013-08-29.
  4. 1 2 "Guide to the Janese Swanson Innovative Lives Presentation and Interview". National Museum of American History . Retrieved 2013-09-25.
  5. ↑ "Innovative Lives: Janese Swanson, Beyond Pink and Fluffy | Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation". invention.si.edu. 3 March 2005. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Halliday, Kelsey (24 April 2017). "Janese Swanson". Women, Art & Technology. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  7. ↑ Slatalla, Michelle (30 September 1999). "Inventor Fills Girls' Desire for Their Own Gadgets - NYTimes.com". The New York Times . Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Janese Swanson - Art & Design Educator". Lean In. Archived from the original on 2013-10-23. Retrieved 2013-09-25.
  9. ↑ "Welcome". The Art Apprentice.
  10. ↑ "Special Achievement Awards: "The Incredible Shrinking Students"". iVIE Awards. 2008.
  11. ↑ "Educators Program Fact Sheet". SIGGRAPH. 2007.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.