{{Short description|Software distributor and magazine publisher in the 1970s and 1980s}} {{Infobox company | logo = | name = Lifeboat Associates, Inc. | type = | slogan = | foundation = 1976/77 | location = New York City | key_people = Larry Alkoff, Tony Gold | num_employees = | industry = Software | revenue = | products = T/Maker, The Boss Financial Accounting System | website = }}
'''Lifeboat Associates, Inc.''', was a New York City company that was one of the largest microcomputer software distributors in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Lifeboat acted as an independent software broker marketing software to major hardware vendors such as Xerox, HP and Altos. As such Lifeboat Associates was instrumental in the founding of Autodesk<ref>[http://www.fourmilab.ch/autofile/www/autoframe.html Walker, John. (February, 1994). "The Autodesk File". Fourmi Lab. Retrieved 2013-08-27]</ref> and also financed the creation of ''PC Magazine''.
==Overview== Lifeboat was founded in 1976<ref name=10-K-1996>Programmers Paradise Inc., Form 10-K, for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1996 [https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/945983/0001005150-97-000222.txt]</ref> or 1977 by Larry Alkoff and Tony Gold.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=IT4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1 Lifeboat Associates Rescues Alien Hardware], ''Intelligent Machines Journal'', December 11, 1978</ref> By mid-1981 the company had same-name affiliates in England, Switzerland, France, Germany, Japan and Oakland, California.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=3j4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA2 Lifeboat Launches Offices in CA, Japan], ''InfoWorld'', May 25, 1981</ref> ''PC Magazine'' in 1982 wrote that Lifeboat "has published and marketed more CP/M application programs on more 8-bit machines than anyone in the world",<ref name="pc19820607">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w_OhaFDePS4C&pg=RA2-PA159 | title=The Microsoft/Lifeboat Battle Cry | work=PC Magazine | date=June–July 1982 | accessdate=21 October 2013 | pages=159–162}}</ref> and in 1983 ''InfoWorld'' said that Lifeboat was the largest publisher of microcomputer software in the world.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ui8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1 Does corporate America need CP/M?], ''InfoWorld'', August 15, 1983</ref>
Lifeboat Associates combined many roles, including publisher and distributor, and actively solicited authors for software products that met its standards.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=dpKltAUoYAAC&pg=PA55 A New Factor in Software Distribution], ''Computerworld'', Sep 27, 1982</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=dT4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA25 As an author this might be your most important line.], Lifeboat Associates advertisement, ''InfoWorld'', Feb 1, 1982</ref> {{asof|1983}} 20% of revenue was from dealers, and the rest from direct retail sales to mail-order customers from a mailing list of 160,000. Lifeboat converted software between CP/M disk formats; companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Xerox paid it to compile software catalogs included with computers. Proprietary products were 25% of revenue.<ref name="rosen19830222">{{Cite news |date=1983-02-22 |title=Appendix I; Some stories behind the statistics |url=https://cdn.oreillystatic.com/radar/r1/02-83.pdf |access-date=2025-06-05 |work=The Rosen Electronics Letter |pages=11-21}}</ref>
The company distributed T/Maker (written by Peter Roizen), one of the first spreadsheet programs designed for the personal computer user, which went a step beyond the similar VisiCalc program by offering text-processing capability,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Rz4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT4 Lifeboat Distributes T/MAKER], ''InfoWorld'', Nov 10, 1980</ref> and The Boss Financial Accounting System (written by John Burns), a $2495 package for CP/M users. It was one of the first accounting programs for micro-computers.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Mj0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA35 InfoNews/Software], ''InfoWorld'', Sept 14, 1981</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=JT0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA13 Computerize your bookkeeping without terrifying your bookkeeper.], Lifeboat Associates advertisement, ''InfoWorld'', Oct 5, 1981</ref> In addition Lifeboat Associates started collecting and distributing user-written "free" software, initially for the CP/M operating system.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.pc-history.org/pc-software.htm |title=The Birth of PC Software |work=pc-history.org |year=2008 |quote=One company Lifeboat Associates made a big business out of providing application software versions that ran under CP/M in almost any type of 8080 or Z80 computer. |accessdate=11 September 2011}}</ref> One of the first was XMODEM, which allowed reliable communication via modem and phone line.
In June 1986, Voyager Software Corp acquired Lifeboat Associates. Later in 1986, Programmer's Paradise was started by Voyager Software as a catalog marketer of technical software. In 1988, Voyager acquired Corsoft Inc., a corporate reseller founded in 1983, and combined it with the operations of the Programmer's Paradise catalog and Lifeboat Associates, both of which marketed technical software for microcomputers. In May 1995, Voyager Software Corp. changed its name to "Programmers Paradise, Inc." and consolidated its U.S. catalog and software publishing operations in a new subsidiary, Programmers Paradise Catalogs, Inc. and its wholesale distribution operations in a new subsidiary, Lifeboat Distribution, Inc.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/945983/0000945983-96-000006.txt |title=Programmer's Paradise Form 10-Q First Quarter 1996 }}</ref> In July 1995, Programmer's Paradise completed an initial public offering of its common stock.<ref name=10-K-1996/><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.answers.com/topic/programmer-s-paradise-inc |title=Programmer's Paradise, Inc.: Information from Answers.com |work=answers.com |year=2011 |quote=Programmer's Paradise was incorporated in 1982 as Voyager Software Corporation and started out as a wholesaler and reseller of educational software. Backed by the venture capital firm of Hudson Technologies and other investors, the company expanded in 1986 when it acquired Lifeboat Associates, which had been founded a decade earlier to publish software and act as a wholesale distributor. |accessdate=11 September 2011}}</ref> Programmer's Paradise, Inc. changed its name to Wayside Technology Group, Inc. in August 2006.<ref name=10-K-2006>Wayside Technology Group, Inc., Form 10-K, for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006 [https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/945983/000089457907000124/wt821901.htm]</ref>
==Products== * T/Maker (Table Maker) – one of the first spreadsheet programs designed for the personal computer user<ref>Susan Lammers, ''Programmers at Work'', Microsoft Press-1986. p. 198. The Visicalc spreadsheet program was released while T/Maker was still under development.</ref> * The Boss – Financial Accounting System * ''Software Bus-80'', also known as ''SB-80'' – a version of CP/M-80 for 8080/Z80 8-bit computers * ''Software Bus-86'', also known as ''SB-86'' – a version of MS-DOS for x86 16-bit computers
==See also== * Software Bus
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official website|www.waysidetechnology.com|name=Official website of Wayside Technology}}
Category:Defunct software companies of the United States Category:Companies established in the 1970s Category:1970s establishments in the United States