The Spirit of Innovation!

Out of the tens of thousands of students that pass through the University, only a select group have the vision and courage to take the risk of creating their own degree—one that nobody has ever heard of and that might not even lead to a job. This idea frightens most students.

I am so fortunate and grateful to the University of Utah, the Bachelors of University Studies program, and Dr. Shaw. This new program allowed students to design their own University degree.

I was enrolled as a Computer Science Major and was teaching computer programming labs as a teacher's assistant in both Merrill Engineering and the Business School. I noticed that business students and engineering students had completely different ideas about developing computer applications. Their thought processes, communication styles, and problem-solving approaches were distinct.

I didn't fit into either group, but I could easily communicate with and understand both. That's when I envisioned becoming the middleman. I felt I could interview business people, analyze and understand their information and functional needs and requirements for a new computer application, and then design the system in a format that engineers could easily use to code the software.

I proposed this concept to Dr. Shaw, who became my sponsor in the B.U.S. program. I titled my degree "Analysis of Computer-Based Systems." A couple of years later, Dr. Shaw informed me that my B.U.S. degree was being used as a template for the University to develop what turned out to be one of the most popular and highest-paying degrees for graduating students. It was called Management of Information Systems.

In the summer of 1992, John visited his programmer buddy Clark Whitehead, who was in charge of the University’s Administrative computer operations. During that visit, Clark’s programmer staff showed John a very small, very pixelated digital video clip about the size of a postage stamp. John was quoted saying, “this is the future.”

Immediately after, John shut down Digital Performance, his first company providing government information systems consulting. He started taking classes in the Windows Operating System and Advanced BASIC programming language.

He experimented until he figured out the algorithm to play these small digital video files full screen in smooth, natural motion. Equally important, John’s algorithm could play the video files on off-the-shelf Windows 95/NT personal computers. Consumers did not need to purchase accelerator boards to plug into the PC, which was often needed for the high graphic demand of playing gaming software. John’s program is believed to be the first full-screen video player software with advanced features such as real-time resizing for the Windows 95/NT environment. It is unknown if Apple had such a full-screen video player at that time.

John founded ImageMind Software in 1994. Before releasing ImageMind’s first product, the graphic designer told John he needed a company logo. John did a short meditation, and an image of the VHS video record viewport came to mind and became ImageMind’s logo.

The year was 1993. When one door closes, another opens for me, and this time was no exception. I caught my next vision when my old University classmate showed me a small video playing on a PC—something I had never seen before. I restructured my life around that single moment. I learned the Windows operating system, refreshed my knowledge in the Advanced BASIC programming language, and studied the hidden program libraries within the Windows operating system.

I consulted with Microsoft technical programming support about writing Windows screen savers. The tech team was very helpful in providing the general idea until they heard of my plan to create a full-screen video screen saver. The technical programmers told me that it was impossible to play video full screen in Windows. I replied, “Not on my PC.”

My full-screen video screen saver gave many customers their first full-screen digital video viewing experience on a Windows PC. The screen saver allowed users to select various short video clips to play as their Windows screen saver. The videos I used were donated by KUED at the University of Utah. I digitized parasailing videos, galloping horses, nature scenes, and colorful fish swimming, among the six clips that were shipped with the product.

My video screen saver was unique because it did not require customers to buy additional PC hardware to play video. It worked on off-the-shelf Windows 95/NT PCs. The product was first sold in Egghead stores across the USA and later expanded distribution into various electronic retail stores.

Why were screen savers important? On early personal computers, any text or image would burn into the PC monitor if displayed for more than a few minutes. Therefore, Windows would automatically start a program that displayed moving images and line drawings on the screen. Playing video was certainly a much more sophisticated screen saver of the time.

The retail product included eleven 3.5” diskettes. Each video clip lasted only seven seconds due to the required file size and limited PC disk storage

The year was 1995. I had successfully released my first retail product, the Full Screen Video Screen Saver for Windows 95/NT, in EggHead stores. Many magazines reported on the product. Now, I wanted to redo my video screen saver using the most impressive video in the world. Of course, that belonged to none other than the Discovery Channel, known for its beautiful, creative, and visually stimulating nature and wildlife videos.

I approached the Discovery Channel several times at tradeshows without getting any meetings. Finally, they asked me what I wanted. I explained my video screen saver product and the new CD-ROM technology that had just been introduced to the market, replacing diskettes with faster read/write and high storage capabilities. This allowed video to be packaged for longer play times with better resolution and more variety. The Discovery Channel agreed, and I began programming Great Moments of Discovery Full Screen Video Screen Saver at my Salt Lake City condo in 1994.

The year was 1996. My video screen saver products captured the attention of investors Mr. Stevens and Mr. Creer, who proposed an investment into ImageMind. This gave me the opportunity to develop new innovations. I could incorporate my video player algorithm into new and first-to-market products, giving many people their first experience of creating their own digital video and sharing it with others.

I designed and programmed my next software product called Video Express Viewer for my company, ImageMind. Video Express Viewer was a first-version, full-featured digital video player for Windows 95/NT. The software featured many new video playing options not yet seen on the market. I later designed the product to resemble a TV remote control with many advanced features, including video view password protection, real-time resizing, and special effects on control buttons not seen in any other software product of the time.

The enhanced version was supported by the talented programming efforts of Craig Johnson and Stan Williams, with Jeremy Gehring responsible for the Internet website and online distribution, customer support, and software testing.

Video Express Viewer was on shelves in various retail stores next to my video screen saver product. However, as the popularity of the Internet grew, ImageMind released a limited-featured free version that could be downloaded from the Internet. After the popular tech TV show CNET reported on Video Express Viewer, download sites with the limited version crashed due to user demand. Other networks, such as FOX Tech Report, also covered Video Express Viewer.

The retail box also had a special story. Over lunch, I drew a picture on a napkin of video coming out of a computer monitor to reflect Video Express Viewer’s feature. The napkin was given to a graphics artist who took a picture of the computer monitor on my desk for the graphic used on the retail box. Video Express Viewer was shipped on CD-ROM, which included some of the Discovery Channel video clips from the Great Moments of Discovery Full Screen Video Screen Saver that I had already developed.

Today in 2023, home users enjoy average Internet connection speeds of 8.6 megabytes per second, and YouTube reigns as the most popular streaming video sharing portal. However, in 1996, Internet speeds were a mere 14.4 kilobytes per second, 28.8 kbps, and 56 kbps. So, YouTube was not possible. Or was it?

In 1996, I, John F. Cruz, and ImageMind developed Video Express Album. Video Express Album was a digital content hosting web portal similar to YouTube, allowing people to create an account and upload either recorded or imported personal voice or video files. These files could then stream over the Internet, allowing friends and family to watch without downloading. Sounds like YouTube, doesn’t it?

Video Express Album was a brilliant product vision. However, this product was at the mercy of the slow Internet speeds of the time. User-created content was still too much of an obstacle for most home users. Thus came another lesson in my journey: you must innovate to the market conditions.

The year was 1997. "DOT COM" was the phrase used to talk about tech companies. The Internet was evolving. Connecting to the Internet required a modem for most home users. Faster connections started to become available, but they were very expensive. The most popular app on the Internet was email. Pictures were shared as file attachments, but large files still took considerable time to download.

I believed I could take email to the next level by creating a system that sends full-screen video emails as easily as sending text emails. I knew the ins and outs of streaming technology. I conceived a streaming video email service whereby people could record a private video message, send it to anyone anywhere in the world, and there was no need to download a file to play the video. This could change the entire concept of the email industry.

While the potential for making email personal with video was immense, video conferencing ultimately captured the market's attention.

By 1997, my ImageMind team and I had developed numerous software products for digital video playback. Many of the products I designed gave people nationwide their first video viewing experience on Windows 95/NT personal computers. ImageMind products also provided many customers with their first experience of recording and sharing their own personal audio and video files.

As the Internet was developing, major companies were exploring ways to ergonomically share media online, leading to the development of video streams on the Internet versus full file downloads.

This technology was unknown to many in the consumer market, except for the power users who jumped on the latest technologies. ImageMind quickly incorporated this new technology into its product development, capturing the attention of media and customers who appreciated the simplicity of use that ImageMind designed into its products.

I reviewed the new technology called streaming media. Several companies were competing to become the de facto standard at the time. I favored Microsoft’s Windows Media (later renamed NetShow). Microsoft had available developer technical support, which was a big factor. Additionally, I already had a good working relationship with Microsoft HQ and was given early access to Windows Media, which, prior to its official release, was code-named COUGAR.

Microsoft interviewed me for my impressions and experience with where streaming technology was headed. I recalled my first experience of viewing digital video in my friend Clark Whitehead’s office. I repeated my initial vision and said in the interview, “It’s the future.”

Microsoft went on to become the leader in streaming technology. Now, streaming technology is as commonplace as the Internet itself. Streaming media on computers and electronic devices did indeed become the future.

Around 1998, software distribution and apps evolved as the Internet began to offer faster and more stable connection speeds at affordable prices. I decided to change the design of Video Express Email from a retail product purchased in stores to an online service.

The Video Express Email system became its own web portal. Customers could log in, and an ImageMind app, written by Stan Williams and Craig Johnson, would automatically download, allowing customers to record audio or video emails into scalable streaming files. Jeremy Gehring configured the system's graphical presentation and technical operation, as well as setting up the new online payment procedure.

Customers could now buy online and immediately start using the Video Express Email service. This was an attractive distribution model that many software companies also started using. The new version of Video Email began to grow its market share.

Eventually, the Video Express Email system was fully automated. There was no hands-on management needed and no human interaction. The system ran itself until it was turned off due to the hosting server companies shutting down during the DOT COM crash. It was unfortunate that I could not proceed to design the Video Express Conferencing.

When I started my company, ImageMind, in 1993, the Internet was just emerging and was largely unknown to the consumer market, with very slow bandwidth rates. The standard for software distribution was through numerous retail stores, including EggHead Software, Computer City, and CompUSA. ImageMind Software had three retail products selling in these stores: Video Express Viewer, Video Express Email, and Video Screen Saver.

As the software distribution model began to change, ImageMind quickly adapted. With the development of the Internet, email became popular, as did personal websites and online forums. People were going online.  Seeing this trend, I designed the Video Express Portal, which my programming team turned into reality.

The Video Express Portal's main products were now immediately available for online purchase and use. Customers could click, record, and send media emails without file attachments, send up to 10-minute audio messages without file attachments, and embed their own videos on their websites. Added to the product list was media instant messaging, the first of its kind, and a Campaign Manager that allowed marketers to send streaming video email campaigns to a list of emails and report back on who watched the video message.

The year was 2000. Seattle was preparing to implode its famous Kingdome stadium. Microsoft’s streaming division saw this as an opportunity to showcase its advances in streaming technology, called NetShow. They contacted me, as a leading developer using Microsoft’s streaming technology, and I accepted the task of developing a website where visitors could celebrate the upcoming Kingdome implosion.

I designed a website called “Implode a Friend,” which featured world-famous implosion videos that could be emailed to friends and family. When the email was received, a message reading “You’ve Just Been Imploded” would display, and the selected implosion video would start to stream.

The Implode a Friend website became a huge success. Visitors could send implosion videos to multiple friends, and those friends would then visit the Implode a Friend website and send videos to several of their friends. The traffic grew so quickly that the streaming files were moved to one of Microsoft’s largest server hosting partners. The design of Implode a Friend was entirely programmed by ImageMind’s talented programming team.

The “Implode a Friend” website met all of Microsoft’s objectives and successfully supported the now-famous Seattle Kingdome implosion hall of fame.

The "Implode a Friend" website, which I designed, featured world-famous implosion videos that could be emailed to friends and family. When the email was received, a message reading “You’ve Just Been Imploded” would display, and the selected video would start to stream.

The website became a huge success. One person would send the implosion video to four or five people, who would then send it to four or five more people. This viral effect caused the traffic to grow exponentially, bringing significant attention to the implosion event. The streaming files had to be moved to one of Microsoft’s largest server hosting partners due to the high demand.

Stan Williams, Craig Johnson, and Jeremy Gehring supported the development of the website, ensuring its smooth operation and user-friendly experience. The success of "Implode a Friend" marked another successful project for me, showcasing the power of innovative online marketing and the potential of streaming technology.