Unable to adjust to NeXT's shift in market focus to custom applications, RightBrain Software and Appsoft put their software titles on the block and prepared to cease operations.
In the first of several expected transactions, Anderson Financial Systems signed a letter of intent to acquire RightBrain's PasteUp page-layout program. RightBrain President Glenn Reid also said that Portola Valley, California-based Trilithon Software will acquire several RightBrain utilities, while another buyer is set to acquire the as-yet unreleased ExactlyWrite word processor.
At press time, Appsoft announced that it will cease sales and support of its NEXTSTEP applications by October 15, 1993. To clear inventory, the company cut prices on Appsoft Draw, Image, and WriteNow by up to 90 percent.
Acknowledging that it was a "hard decision" to close RightBrain, Reid said that "the market has not improved adequately since NeXTWORLD Expo and shows no signs of doing so in the end-user segment. It appears to me that NeXT is not interested in the individual user's dollar, and has no plans for marketing to them."
"It is sad to see companies leave a platform they helped establish, but I'm encouraged by the high degree of developer interest in acquiring their products," said Julie Saffren, NeXT's manager of developer relations.
Terms of the PasteUp acquisition were not disclosed. Anderson Chairman Greg Anderson said his company will continue to sell and support PasteUp in its current form but would deliver a new version with high-end features, such as table-of-contents generation, long-document support, and multiple master pages, in the second quarter of 1994.
He plans also to create an API (application programming interface) so that a low-cost version of the program could serve as a rendering engine for custom apps.
"PasteUp is great for doing graphic design, but we also want to use the technology to benefit people doing custom apps," Anderson said.
The PasteUp acquisition represents Anderson's first foray into shrinkwrapped software. Until now, the Springhouse, Pennsylvania-based company has focused on ObjectWare, custom development, and consulting for financial services.