Chronicles Revisited Podcast

9. They're Still a One-Product Company


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During the early seasons of Computer Chronicles, Ashton-Tate was one of the Big Three business software companies together with Microsoft and Lotus Development Corporation. Ashton-Tate made its name with dBase II, a database application that quickly became the gold standard in its field. Unfortunately, Ashton-Tate never managed to grow its success beyond its core product, so when later versions of dBase failed to meet customer expectations, the company declined into irrelevancy.

  • Computer Chronicles Revisited, Part 43 -- Trip Hawkins, John Merson, Ben Anixter, and Richard O'Brien
  • Computer Chronicles Revisited, Part 88 -- Double Helix, PFS Professional Write, and R:BASE
  • Computer Chronicles #302 -- Slowdown in Silicon Valley : Part 2
  • Computer Chronicles #430 -- Business Applications: Part 4
  • Edward M. Esber, Jr. -- Personal Website
  • Ashton-Tate Corp. v. Fox Software, Inc. (1991)
  • '30 Years Ago: The Rise, Fall and Survival of Ashton-Tate's dBase' (eWeek, 2013)
  • dBase, LLC
  • Podcast Music: 'Scenic Detour' by Melody Ayres-Griffiths

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Chronicles Revisited PodcastBy S.M. Oliva