Ten MOST WANTED

Rank Last  Qtrs.   Item                        Comment
      Qtr. on List 
 1    1      4     Page-layout program         Could be last quarter on list
 2    5      2     JPEG compression            Do it in software?
 3    U&C*   2     SCSI OD                     Third-party solution?
 4    4      4     World-class service/support New pricing plan a mixed blessing
 5    U&C*   2     $99/MIPS workstation        Magic price/performance barrier
 6    8      2     Slab with slots             Some are calling it a "brick"
 7    6      3     Reasonable RAM/storage      Pricing on configured Turbos a help
 8    2      4     CAD software                Movement from Axsys and Graphisoft
 9    -      1     Better sysadmin support     Licensing, configuration management
10    7      2     NeXT portable/notebook      May be a long wait

Up and Coming

  
Item                                   Comment
Low-cost, entry-level system           But don't give up screen size
Multi-user project-management software Standard IPC application
Choice of keyboards                    UNIX users prefer the old one
Built-in MIDI ports or card            Could be a great music box
Extended text object                   Custom apps need advanced features
Expanded marketing message             Beyond custom apps
Time-based media standard              Better than QuickTime
NeXTstep port to SPARCstations         Great hardware needs great software

Still Active

Item                                   Comment
On-line NeXT info system               Huge opportunity
16-bit color upgrade path              Reward original buyers
End-user relational database           Custom apps not for everyone

In the Bag

 
Item                              Date Removed      Comment
NeXT marketing message            Nov. 1991         Custom apps
3-D graphics/animation            Jan. 1992         3-DKit in NeXTstep 3.0
Inexpensive color printer         Jan. 1992         NeXT Color Printer
NeXTWORLD Expo                    Jan. 1992         First of many
OS distribution via CD-ROM        Jan. 1992         When 3.0 ships
NeXTstep port to Intel PCs        Jan. 1992         Due in summer
NeXT support for Mac floppies     Jan. 1992         NeXTstep 3.0
Services for linking applications Jan. 1992         3.0's object linking
Hypertext authoring system        Jan. 1992         Craftman, HyperCube due