IBM to Retire Lotus Name
December 20, 2012
Say, does anyone remember Grapevine Search for Lotus? If you do, IBM’s current plans for its Lotus software may inspire a moment of nostalgia. EWeek tells us, “IBM Drops Lotus Brand, Takes Notes and Domino Forward.” It is not unusual for IBM to absorb its acquisitions like an amoeba, effectively wiping out their individual identities. Nothing personal, it’s just business. The time has finally come for Lotus, acquired in 1995, to face the Blob. Reporter Darryl K. Taft writes:
“IBM’s dropping the Lotus brand might be viewed as a historic moment for old-timers, but also as a business-as-usual move by an industry giant. Lotus has been around since 1982, initially as the Massachusetts-based Lotus Development Corp., which released its famed Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet in 1983. IBM acquired Lotus in 1995 for $3.5 billion, primarily to get hold of Lotus Notes, then a wildly popular groupware system developed by Ray Ozzie’s Iris Associates that was eating into IBM’s profits. . . .
“The death of the Lotus brand is significant in the history of IT, as Lotus technology can be counted among the most notable enterprise software brands in the world. However, that brand was and is not nearly as notable as the IBM brand.”
Well, yes, I’d say that’s an understatement; as the article points out, IBM is second only to Coca-Cola in worldwide brand recognition. The company certainly has every right to leverage that advantage with its Lotus-spawned technology. We may be permitted a moment, though, to reflect on Lotus‘ passing, and on its important place in software history.
Cynthia Murrell, December 20, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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