Gobe Software
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | 2002Template:Fix/category[citation needed] |
| Fate | DissolvedTemplate:Fix/category[citation needed] |
| Headquarters | , United States |
| Products | Gobe Productive |
Gobe Software, Inc was established in 1997 by former developers of ClarisWorks, creating and marketing an integrated desktop software suite tailored for BeOS. The company eventually took on distribution responsibilities for BeOS itself.[2]
History
Established in 1997 by ex-ClarisWorks engineers and the creators of the original Styleware for the Apple II, Gobe’s founding team comprised Bob Hearn, Scott Holdaway, Tom Hoke, Scott Lindsey, Bruce Q. Hammond, and Carl Grice, many with prior experience at Apple’s Claris division. Their mission was to develop a cutting-edge integrated office suite akin to ClarisWorks but designed specifically for the BeOS platform. This vision materialized with the release of Gobe Productive in 1998.
In 2000, after Be Inc. decided to outsource BeOS publication, Gobe assumed publishing duties for North America, Australia, and select Asian markets. Soon after additional international publishers were engaged, Be Inc. ceased further BeOS development to concentrate on "Internet Appliances," which stalled the platform's growth. Since publishers like Gobe did not have access to BeOS source code, they were unable to advance the system or add critical drivers needed to rival platforms such as Microsoft Windows or Linux. During this timeframe, Gobe also published the "Corum III" role-playing game for BeOS, developed by Hicom Entertainment/Next Generation Entertainment.
Following Be Inc.’s collapse and the subsequent decline of BeOS, Gobe shifted focus to producing versions of its software compatible with Windows and Linux. The Windows edition launched in December 2001; however, due to insufficient funding after the 2000 market downturn, Gobe halted operations in 2002. In 2008, company leadership collaborated with development and distribution partners across Greater Asia with plans to introduce a new product targeting the Indian market by early 2010. By August 2010, the Gobe Productive website was taken offline and later acquired by Indian film producer ErosNow.
Gobe Productive
The premier offering from Gobe was Gobe Productive, a sophisticated integrated office suite for BeOS that combined word processing, spreadsheet functions, and vector graphics capabilities, paralleling products like ClarisWorks and Microsoft Works.
The initial release of Gobe Productive v1.0 for BeOS occurred in August 1998, followed by version 2.0 in August 1999 and a minor update v2.0.1 in February 2000.
After Be Inc.’s dissolution, Gobe expanded its software lineup by developing versions compatible with Windows and Linux platforms. Version 3 for Windows was released in December 2001, aiming to reach a wider user base beyond BeOS.
Additional Gobe Team Members
- Dave Johnson
- Ben Chang
- Joël Spaltenstein
- Kurt von Finck
- Daniel Maia Alves
- Cheyenne Tuller
- Tomy Hudson
See also
Further reading
External links
- Gobe Corp. (archived)
- Be, Inc. feature (archived)
- Review of Gobe Productive 2.0 – Ars Technica
- ↑ Hearn 2003.
- ↑ Tarr, Scott (March 2001). "Alt OS". Maximum PC. Vol. 6, no. 3. p. 48.