The Learning Company

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The Learning Company
Company type Public
NYSE: TLC [1]
Founded1980;44 years ago (1980) (as The Learning Co.)
Palo Alto, California, U.S.
Founders
Defunct1995;29 years ago (1995)
FateAcquired by SoftKey
Headquarters,
U.S.
Key people
Warren Robinett (co-founder)
ProductsEducational games
Website learningcompany.com

The Learning Company (TLC) was an educational software company founded in 1980 in Palo Alto, California and headquartered in Fremont, California. The company produced a grade-based line of learning software, edutainment games, and productivity tools. Its titles included the flagship series Reader Rabbit , for preschoolers through second graders, and The ClueFinders , for more advanced students. The company was also known for publishing licensed educational titles featuring characters such as Arthur, The Powerpuff Girls, SpongeBob SquarePants or Sesame Street.

Contents

On December 8, 1995, the company was acquired by SoftKey in a hostile takeover bid, at which point SoftKey assumed the Learning Company name and brand.

History

The Learning Company was founded in 8 May 1980 by Ann McCormick; Leslie Grimm; Teri Perl; and Warren Robinett, a former Atari, Inc. employee who had programmed the game Adventure . [2] They saw the Apple II as an opportunity to teach young children concepts of math, reading, science, problem-solving, and thinking skills. Part of the original funding for the company came from a National Science Foundation grant.

TLC produced launch titles for the PCjr, announced in late 1983. [3] From 1980 through 1984, it created a line of 15 widely acclaimed children's educational software products, which were sold through the U.S. retail and school computer software channels.

In the first half of 1985, the board hired as CEO Bill Dinsmore. Shortly thereafter, Reece Duca, a founding Partner of the Investment Group of Santa Barbara (IGSB), became a member of the board of directors and purchased shares from several founders and original venture firms. In late 1986, Duca was elected chairman of the board. At that time, IGSB became The Learning Company's largest shareholder.

Between March 1985 and September 1995, TLC's revenues grew at a 36% compounded rate from $2.4M to $53.2M and profitability increased from breakeven in 1985 to a 20% pre-tax margin. The leading families of products were the Reader Rabbit series for ages 2–8, the Treasure Mountain Reading-Math-Science series for ages 5–9, the Super Solver series for ages 7–12, the Student Writing & Publishing Center for ages 7-adult, and the Foreign Language Learning series for ages 15-adult.

TLC went public on April 28, 1992, in an IPO led by Morgan Stanley and Robertson, Stephens & Co. From 1992 to 1995, TLC achieved 16 consecutive quarters of revenues and profits growth, never experiencing a down quarter or year. TLC's early struggles, followed by 10 consecutive years of outstanding performance, were the subject of case studies at both Harvard and Stanford universities.

SoftKey acquisition

On December 8, 1995, TLC was acquired by SoftKey for $606M [4] in a hostile takeover bid, and a large percentage of the staff was fired. After the acquisition was complete, SoftKey changed its name to The Learning Company and continued to use its brand. The Learning Company née SoftKey was subsequently acquired by Mattel on August 7, 1999.

Software

Note: When The Learning Company purchased Broderbund Software and MECC, they gained the rights to the long-running Carmen Sandiego and Trail series, respectively. Only those games created during the ownership of The Learning Company are included here.

Carmen Sandiego series

The ClueFinders series

Fisher-Price series

Created and published by Davidson & Associates / Knowledge Adventure and re-released by The Learning Company.

Reader Rabbit series

StarFlyers series

Super Seekers games

Super Solvers series

Trail series

Zoombinis series

Other games

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.

<i>The ClueFinders</i> Childrens educational software series

The ClueFinders is an educational software series aimed at children aged 8–12 that features a group of mystery-solving teenagers. The series was created by The Learning Company as a counterpart to their Reader Rabbit series for older, elementary-aged students. The series has received praise for its balance of education and entertainment, resulting in numerous awards.

<i>The ClueFinders Math Adventures</i> 1998 video game

The ClueFinders Math Adventures Ages 9–12: Mystery in the Himalayas is a computer game in The Learning Company's ClueFinders Series, where the ClueFinders try to recover stolen treasures in a small Himalayan village.

<i>Treasure Cove!</i> 1992 computer game

Treasure Cove! is an educational computer game published by The Learning Company in 1992 for MS-DOS, Windows and Macintosh PCs. It is aimed at children ages 5 to 9 and is intended to teach children reading, math, and oceanography. Treasure Cove! is the 9th installment of The Learning Company's Super Seekers games.

<i>Reader Rabbit</i> Video game series

Reader Rabbit is an educational video game franchise created in 1984 by The Learning Company. The series is aimed at children from infancy to the age of nine. In 1998, a spiritual successor series called The ClueFinders was released for older students aged seven to twelve.

SoftKey International was a software company founded by Kevin O'Leary in 1986 in Toronto, Ontario. It was known as The Learning Company from 1995 to 1999 after acquiring The Learning Company and taking its name.

<i>Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Treasures of Knowledge</i> 2001 video game

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Treasures of Knowledge is a point-and-click adventure game in the Carmen Sandiego franchise, released in 2001. For its title, the game does not use the long-standing formula of the previous Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? titles. Instead, the game seems to be based on the structure of the newest version of Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?, which The Learning Company retitled Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time.

<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.

<i>Carmen Sandiegos ThinkQuick Challenge</i> 1999 video game

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<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>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.

<i>Carmen Sandiego Math Detective</i> 1998 video game

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<i>Carmen Sandiego Adventures in Math</i> Video game series

Carmen Sandiego Adventures in Math is a series of five games released in 2011/2012 for the Wii, and is part of the Carmen Sandiego franchise. The style of the games are reminiscent of comic books. The 5-part series were the first English language console games from the Carmen Sandiego franchise since The Secret of the Stolen Drums. These "short, educational detective adventures" were only available as a download through the Nintendo Wii Shop. The games were developed by Gamelion Studios, and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. They could take up to 6 players, and required 600 Wii points. Maths topics included in the games include: Symmetry, Identifying angles, Graphing coordinates on a grid, Logic puzzles, Working with fractions, Solving equations, and Tangrams. The games are designed for elementary learners across grades 3–5.

<i>Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? 3 - New Carmen Adventure</i> 2009 video game

Mais où se Cache Carmen Sandiego? Mystère au Bout du Monde also known as Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? 3 - New Carmen Adventure in English is a French Carmen Sandiego game released on February 18, 2009.

<i>The Oregon Trail 3rd Edition</i> 1997 video game

The Oregon Trail 3rd Edition is the second sequel to the 1985 edutainment video game The Oregon Trail after Oregon Trail II. It was developed by MECC and released in 1997.

Madeline is a series of educational point-and-click adventure video games which were developed during the mid-1990s for Windows and Mac systems. The games are an extension of the Madeline series of children's books by Ludwig Bemelmans, which describe the adventures of a young French girl. The video-game series was produced concurrently with a TV series of the same name, with characters and voice actors from the show.

<i>Reader Rabbit: 1st Grade</i> 1998 educational video game

Reader Rabbit's 1st Grade is an educational video game, part of the Reader Rabbit series, developed by KnowWare and published by The Learning Company on January 14, 1998.

<i>Starflyers</i> Video game series

Starflyers is an edutainment software franchise created in 2002 by Riverdeep under their The Learning Company label. The franchise consists of two games, Starflyers Royal Jewel Rescue and Starflyers Alien Space Chase.

References

  1. "Short Take: The Learning Company moves from Nasdaq". CNET.
  2. "Conversation with Warren Robinett Hosted by Andrew Ervin and Frank Lee Warren". Digital Studies Center, Rutgers University-Camden. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  3. Wiswell, Phil (January 24, 1984). "Coming Soon: Games For The PCjr". PC. pp. 142–145. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
  4. "Softkey Reaches Agreement to Buy Learning Company". The New York Times . December 8, 1995. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  5. "Explore Yellowstone - Macintosh Garden". macintoshgarden.org.