 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Nasdaq: BEOS | |
| Industry | Computer hardware Computer software |
| Founded | c. October 1990; 35 years ago (1990-10) |
| Founder | |
| Defunct | March 15, 2002 (2002-03-15)[1] |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Headquarters | Menlo Park,California, United States[2] |
Key people | Jean-Louis Gassée (CEO) |
| Products | BeOS,BeBox,BeIA |
Number of employees | 98 (as of 1998)[3] |
| Website | be.com at theWayback Machine (archived October 9, 2001) |
Be Inc. was an American computer company that created and developed theBeOS andBeIAoperating systems, and theBeBoxpersonal computer.[4] It was founded in 1990 by formerApple Computer executiveJean-Louis Gassée, who also served as the company's CEO, and was based inMenlo Park,California.
The company's main intent was to develop a new operating system using theC++ programming language on a proprietary hardware platform; although the result received a mainly positive reception, it had little commercial success. BeOS was initially exclusive to the BeBox before being ported to thePower Macintosh and then to theIntelx86 architecture. After a stint inInternet appliances with BeIA, Be's assets were purchased byPalm, Inc. in 2001.
Be was founded by formerApple Computer executiveJean-Louis Gassée in 1990 withSteve Sakoman (with capital fromSeymour Cray) after being ousted by Apple CEOJohn Sculley.[5] Legend says that they started building a prototype computer the day after Gassée left Apple Computer, on October 1, 1990.[6] Soon joined also Erich Ringewald, lead engineer inApple 'Pink' OS team, as CTO,[7] and joined by a number of other ex-Apple Computer employees.[8] Originally named Be Labs[9][10] based inSan Jose,[11][12] Gassée and his team worked behind closed doors for over four years before publicly revealing their product.[13]
According to several sources includingMacworld UK, the company name "Be" originated in a conversation between Gassée and Sakoman. Gassée originally thought the company should be called "United Technoids Inc.", but Sakoman disagreed and said he would start looking through the dictionary for a better name. A few days later, when Gassée asked if he had made any progress, Sakoman replied that he had got tired and stopped at "B." Gassée said, " 'Be' is nice. End of story."[14] Its original slogan wasOne processor per person is not enough.[15]
The prototype computer evolved into having fiveAT&T Hobbit processors.[6] By about 1992, Be had started developing akernel and interface for the hardware, what would eventually become theBeOS.[8] By 1994 the project was nearing completion, but the sudden discontinuation of Hobbit (AT&T exited the processor business due to weak sales) forced Be to look elsewhere. Eventually, the company adopted thePowerPC platform, and ported the then-yet unreleased BeOS to PowerPC.[8]
In October 1995, theBeBox personal computer was released by Be,[14] with its distinctive strips of lights along the front that indicate the activity of each PowerPCCPU, and the combined analogue/digital, 37-pin GeekPort. Due to its impressive power and showcase of multimedia applications, the BeBox received much attention at launch, especially by fans and enthusiasts ofAmiga.[16][17] The company's financial state was not very good after years of development,[8] but in April 1996 managed to secure funding from "several leadingSilicon Valley venture capital firms".[18]
Toward the end of 1996, Apple Computer was still looking for a replacement toCopland in their operating system strategy. Amidst rumours of Apple's interest in purchasing BeOS, Be wanted to increase their user base, to try to convince software developers to write software for the operating system. Be courtedMacintosh clone vendors to ship BeOS with their hardware,[19][20] andPower Computing became a licensee in November 1996.[21] Eventually, the two final options for Apple wereBeOS andNeXTSTEP –NeXT was chosen and acquired due to the persuasive influence ofSteve Jobs and the incomplete state of the BeOS product, criticized at the time for lacking such features as printing capability. It was rumoured that the deal fell apart because of money, with Be Inc allegedly wanting US$500M and a high-level post in the company, when theNeXT deal closed at US$400M. The rumours were dismissed by Gassée.[22]
By the start of 1997, a combination of hardware and financial problems led to the discontinuation of BeBox and the company's exit from hardware to focus on software. The BeOS software started appearing on someMacintosh clones and was also later to Apple Computer'sPower Macs despite resistance from Apple, due to the hardware specifications assistance ofPower Computing.[23] In 1998, Be acquired StarCode Software which developed thePackageBuilder and SoftwareValet software distribution tool for BeOS.[24] The company also secured new funding,[25] including fromIntel which took a 10 percent stake (soon after BeOS was ported to Intelx86 platform).[26] At the same time, the company received its first major partner manufacturer,Hitachi, to bundle BeOS on some of its products.[26]
In July 1999, Be Inc. had aninitial public offering, listed onNasdaq.[27] However the company continued to struggle with adoption, partly due to the agreements of most OEMs withMicrosoft preventing the offering of BeOS.[27] An anticipated deal with a "major OEM" later in 1999 did not materialize and led to a decline in its stock.[28]
The company introduced theBeIA operating system in February 2000 with a declaration that Be Inc. would shift its focus toInternet appliances. Version 5 of BeOS was given away for free as a download, as BeOS could not take off in the market.[29] At the event,Compaq andHitachi announced that they would release devices running on BeIA.[30]
Be managed to partner with consumer electronics giantSony which adopted BeIA for itseVilla[4] home internet appliance, unveiled atCES 2001.[31] Be Inc.'s stock however had by 2001 declined sharply and there were reports that it would soon run out of cash.[32][33]
Be, Inc. announced on August 16, 2001, thatPalm, Inc. would acquire the company for a sum ofUS$11 million.[34][14] The deal was approved by Be's shareholders on November 13,[35] at which point the company entereddissolution.[36] CEO Gassée went to serve on the board of directors of Palm. Palm was not interested in the desktop operating system market;[35] Palm subsequently spun off a wholly owned subsidiaryPalmSource to develop itsPalm OS and related software, with the Be assets being transferred to PalmSource. It likely used some BeOS code in Palm OS 6.[37] PalmSource (and hence the rights of BeOS) was subsequently acquired by Japanese-basedACCESS.[38]
The Be company (while under dissolution) initiatedlitigation againstMicrosoft for aggressivelyanti-competitive and monopolistic business practices. Joining a long history ofantitrust lawsuits against Microsoft, Be specifically contested Microsoft's prohibition ofOEMs to allow dual-boot systems containing both Microsoft and non-Microsoft operating systems, and thatCompaq had been pressured not to market anInternet appliance in partnership with Be. Be also claimed that Microsoft acted to artificially depress Be Inc.'sinitial public offering (IPO).[39] The suit was settled out of court in September 2003 with a US$23.25 million payout to Be, Inc.[40][41]
After Palm's acquisition of Be's assets,The Register wrote that Be shouldn't be viewed as a failure:[6]
"The fact that the company survived for ten years – and through such dramatic shifts: taking it from being an independent workstation manufacturer, to an alternative Macintosh software platform, through to being an alternative x86 OS, and finally to being an embedded media appliance platform – without a discernible revenue stream is a testament to its engineering prowess, practicality and foresight. [..] For example, in its pomp Be Inc had only a sixth of the engineers of theApple Copland project, and still managed to turn out a working operating system... and quite a good one, at that."
Theopen source operating systemHaiku resumed BeOS's legacy in the form of a complete reimplementation. Beta 5 of Haiku was released in September 2024.[42]
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Authority control databases: Geographic |
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