Media Vision

For the Japanese video game developer, see Media.Vision.
Media Vision Technology, Inc.
defunct
Industry computer audio industry, computer and video game industry
Founded 1990 (1990)
Defunct 1995 (1995)
Headquarters Fremont, California USA
Key people

Paul Jain, CEO
Russell Faust, COO
Steve Allan, CFO
Dan Gochnauer, VP of Engineering
Wayne Nakamura, Director of Manufacturing
Bryan J. Colvin, Director of Hardware Engineering
Tim Bratton, Director of Strategic Marketing
Jim Gifford, Director of Software Engineering
Doug Cody, Senior Software Engineer

Ken Nicholson, Director of Game Software Development
Products computer sound cards, computer video cards, computer multimedia kits, computer games

Media Vision was an American electronics manufacturer of primarily computer sound cards and CD-ROM kits, operating from 1990 to approximately 1995 in Fremont, California. Media Vision was widely known for its Pro AudioSpectrum PC sound cards—which it often bundled with CD-ROM drives—and its spectacular growth and demise.

Company history

Media Vision was founded in May 1990 by Paul Jain and Tim Bratton. Early employees also included Russ Faust, Sandy Pfister, Dan Gochnauer and Bryan Colvin. As Mr. Bratton recalls, he wrote the company's business plan while an engineer at National Semiconductor and studying for his MBA at Santa Clara University. Mr. Jain and Mr. Bratton used the plan to raise $1 million in funding and by July 1990, after returning from the MPEG standard committee meeting in Porto, Portugal, Mr. Bratton joined the company as its first full-time employee. Mr. Faust and Ms. Pfister joined soon after. Mr. Jain remained at National Semiconductor for another month and joined the company full-time in August 1990. Within its first two years of operation, Media Vision had become the second-largest producer of personal computer sound cards, providing strong competition to Creative Labs.

In 1992, Media Vision was the first company to publish Microsoft Windows with Multimedia Extensions on CD-ROM; having beaten Microsoft to market with its own product, Bill Gates's assistant telephoned and ordered two copies. During the same year, the company acquired Pellucid, Inc., a computer graphics company, and began producing a line of high-performance video graphics cards for the PC. Media Vision became a publicly traded company in late 1992.

New logotype, new image

Media Vision logotype (1990–1993)

In 1993, Media Vision updated its logotype to reflect its expanding product lines and broad foray into technologies beyond computer audio. Perhaps one of the biggest endeavors was the company's leap into software publishing with the creation of its Multimedia Publishing Group. CD-ROM titles such as Critical Path, Quantum Gate, and Forever Growing Garden were often bundled with its multimedia kits. The new logo reflected the company's desire to be known as a cutting-edge multi-media technology company. During the same year, the company expanded business operations into Europe with the establishment of Media Vision GmbH in Munich, Germany.

Financial scandal

Media Vision could not sustain its meteoric rise. On May 17, 1994, CEO Paul Jain resigned as Media Vision quickly became the subject of the longest-running securities fraud case in Silicon Valley history. The investigation and trial lasted nearly a decade, resulting in criminal charges filed against Jain in 1998 and ultimately his indictment on 27 counts of financial fraud (Wired) and the incarceration of Jain and CFO Steve Allen ().

The collapse of Media Vision cost investors and bond holders US$200,000,000.

Media Vision ultimately became Aureal Semiconductor. When the company changed its name to Aureal, it sold all product lines, key technologies, and trademarks related to the old Media Vision to SVT Shiva, Inc. (SVTI) of San Jose, Calif. SVTI then created a new division called Media Vision Innovations, Inc. to sell existing inventory. The new division also developed and sold a few new multimedia products under the Media Vision name. SVTI agreed to purchase audio chips from Aureal for the first two years as part of the deal.

Media Vision products

Media Vision's products included PC adapter cards, other hardware, and computer games.

PC adapter cards

MediaVision Jazz16 LMSI

Other hardware

Software

Internal structure

Internally, Media Vision was dominated by its large engineering and marketing departments, roughly equal in size and reporting to the Chief Operating Officer Russell Faust. Director of Manufacturing Wayne Nakamura also reported to the COO.

Engineering

The company's engineering efforts were headed by VP of Engineering Dan Gochnauer, formerly of the Sperry-Rand Corporation.

Hardware

The Director of Hardware Engineering was Bryan J. Colvin, once an early employee of Apple Computer, where he designed much of the Apple IIc.

In addition to Component Engineer James Persall, the engineering staff included electrical engineers:

Software

The Director of Software Engineering was Jim Gifford. Reporting to him were:

The development of SCSI device drivers was outsourced to Trantor Systems.

Sales & marketing

Marketing staff included:

See also

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/9/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.