Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!dimacs.rutgers.edu!seismo!uunet!decwrl!adobe!heaven!glenn
From: glenn@heaven.woodside.ca.us (Glenn Reid)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: Should I get a NeXT?
Keywords: mac, next
Message-ID: <414@heaven.woodside.ca.us>
Date: 8 Feb 91 19:46:26 GMT
References: <87442@unix.cis.pitt.edu> <15875@milton.u.washington.edu>
Reply-To: glenn@heaven.woodside.ca.us (Glenn Reid)
Distribution: usa
Organization: RightBrain Software, Woodside, CA
Lines: 32

In article <15875@milton.u.washington.edu> mrc@Tomobiki-Cho.CAC.Washington.EDU (Mark Crispin) writes:

>It is not likely that there will ever be much of a third-party
>software market for the NeXT.  It's too much of a fringe market, and
>likely to remain that way.  The proprietary status of NeXTstep and the
>limited platforms on which it is available scares many vendors away.
>We're seeing this now.

We're seeing Lotus, Ashton-Tate, WordPerfect, Adobe Systems, IBM, and
a slew of other vendors embracing NeXTstep.  Just who do you see being
scared away?

Also, look at Sun Microsystems, who have the quintessential "open system."
In fact, they embrace standards so thoroughly that they often
change their strategy every six months or so.  THAT is what's scares
away vendors.  I wish I had a nickel for every developer I heard say
something like "We're not going to develop for UNIX until the vendors
sort out all their incompatibilities and problems."  In the meantime,
people are developing for NeXT because it's proprietary, and not likely
to change on whim.

I love the word "likely" in your posting.  It is not likely that there
will ever be a market, and it's likely to remain that way.  Just what
does "likely" mean?  All you need to have a third-party market is an
installed base of machines, and people are buying NeXT machines at a
record pace.  I'd say it's pretty "likely" that that will result in a
good market for third-party software.

-- 
 Glenn Reid				RightBrain Software
 glenn@heaven.woodside.ca.us		NeXT/PostScript developers
 ..{adobe,next}!heaven!glenn		415-851-1785 (fax 851-1470)