Reference Software International
| File:Reference Software International wordmark.svg | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1985 in Walnut Creek, California, United States |
| Founders |
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| Defunct | Template:End date and age |
| Fate | Acquired by WordPerfect Corporation |
| Headquarters | Albuquerque, New Mexico (research and development) |
| Products | Grammatik |
Number of employees | 140 (1992, peak) |
Reference Software International, Inc. (RSI) was a U.S.-based software company operating between 1985 and 1993, with main offices located in Albuquerque, New Mexico and San Francisco, California. The firm concentrated on developing productivity and reference applications, most notably the widely-used Grammatik grammar checker designed for IBM PC DOS systems. In 1993, RSI was purchased by WordPerfect Corporation.
Origins (1980–1985)
Established in 1985 by Donald "Don" Emery and Bruce Wampler—both university educators—RSI emerged from their combined expertise; Wampler taught computer science at the University of New Mexico, while Emery specialized in marketing at San Francisco State University. Prior to RSI, Wampler founded Aspen Software in 1979, which created one of the first spell checkers named Proofreader for the Apple II platform, utilizing a license from Random House’s Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. Influenced by Unix’s Writer's Workbench grammar tool, Wampler developed Grammatik in 1981 tailored for microcomputer use.
By 1983, Aspen Software had grown to a team of 12 employees and sold approximately 80,000 copies of Grammatik and Proofreader before being acquired by Dictronics, recognized for its Electronic Thesaurus software. Subsequently, Dictronics was absorbed by Wang Laboratories, which chose not to advance the software further. Dissatisfied with this lack of progress, Wampler reacquired licensing rights for Grammatik and Proofreader in 1985 from a California-based entity that held rights to a derivative version. That year, Emery partnered with Wampler to launch RSI, focusing on marketing efforts while research and development were conducted in Albuquerque and sales activities were headquartered in Walnut Creek, California.
Growth and Market Presence (1985–1992)
RSI introduced its initial offering in August 1985: the Random House Reference Set, an improved iteration of Proofreader designed for IBM PC and compatible computers. This product functioned as a terminate-and-stay-resident utility compatible with popular word processors such as WordStar and WordPerfect. By the close of 1985, this product had generated $114,000 in revenue. In June 1986, RSI released Grammatik II for PCs, which rapidly gained traction by selling approximately 1,000 units monthly and receiving favorable evaluations from publications including PC Magazine.
In early 1987, Reference Set II was launched featuring enhancements such as user-defined word imports and an extensive thesaurus containing 300,000 entries. Later that year, version 3.0 introduced specialized dictionaries focused on medical and legal terminology through integration of Stedman's Medical Dictionary and Black's Law Dictionary, developed with guidance from legal scholars and a healthcare executive.
The fall of 1988 marked the debut of Grammatik III—a comprehensive rewrite utilizing artificial intelligence techniques to perform grammatical analysis based on syntactic structures. This release was widely praised as the leading grammar checking solution available. By 1989, competitors like Lifetree Software’s Correct Grammar and Rightsoft’s RightWriter entered the marketplace.
By 1990, RSI achieved annual sales totaling $9.7 million. That year saw the arrival of Grammatik IV featuring seamless integration with WordPerfect on both DOS and Windows platforms. In March 1992, after cumulative sales of 1.5 million copies across all Grammatik editions, RSI unveiled Grammatik V which included an updated vocabulary database along with new capabilities such as detection of redundant words. Simultaneously, RSI introduced Easy Proof—a simplified grammar application aimed at beginner writers and home users.
In 1991, RSI became involved in a trademark conflict with Systems Compatibility Corporation (SCC) regarding the use of the Software Toolkit name. SCC possessed prior registration rights and secured a restraining order against RSI. To circumvent legal proceedings, RSI consented to rename their product shortly thereafter.
Decline and acquisition (1992–1993)
At the beginning of 1992, RSI announced annual revenues surpassing $13 million, with a workforce of 120 employees and international branches located in London, Belgium, and Antwerp to distribute localized editions of Reference Set and Grammatik. The company reached its highest staffing level of 140 personnel by mid-1992 but encountered difficulties following the release of six titles that failed to meet sales expectations, resulting in major workforce reductions. By December 1992, the employee count had decreased to 71, including 32 based in San Francisco. On December 31, RSI was approached with an acquisition offer from WordPerfect Corporation, headquartered in Orem, Utah. The transaction completed in January 1993 valued RSI at $19 million, with the remaining staff absorbed into WordPerfect’s organization. WordPerfect maintained Grammatik as an independent product for several more years.