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Kaleida Labs
Kaleida Labs, Inc., formed in 1991 to produce the multimedia cross-platform Kaleida Media Player and the object oriented scripting language ScriptX that was used to program its behavior. The system was aimed at the production of interactive CD ROM titles, an area of major effort in the early 1990s. When the system was delivered in 1994, it had relatively high system requirements and memory footprint, and lacked a native PowerPC version on the Mac platform. Around the same time, rapid changes in the market, especially the expansion of the World Wide Web and the Java programming language, pushed the interactive CD market into a niche role. The Kaleida platform failed to gain significant traction and the company was closed in 1996.
Kaleida was one of three joint ventures of the 1990s between Apple and IBM, including the Taligent operating system and the AIM alliance with Motorola for the PowerPC platform. ScriptX was one of several similar software platforms that started at Apple in that timeframe. The SK8 system was also aimed at the multimedia market, although it evolved from what was originally a major upgrade to HyperCard. The Dylan programming language was a more full-featured platform, aimed at general programming not just multimedia. Development of all of these software projects ended at approximately the same time.
Announced in 1991, the company began operations in the summer of 1992 with Nat Goldhaber serving as its first CEO. The company was staffed by hand picking members of Apple's QuickTime team, along with members from the big-iron content delivery side at IBM. Kaleida's corporate offices were located in Mountain View, California, at sites near the Shoreline Amphitheater on the east side of U.S. 101. Kaleida was one of the earliest companies to post a corporate website.
The early model for the system was the Kaleida Media Player, or KMP. This was essentially a cross-platform interactive version of the QuickTime Player that would run on the Apple Macintosh, IBM PC clones, as well as set-top boxes and other platforms. It was intended to be a single universal multimedia system. On top of this model was the ScriptX programming language and object library, which allowed developers to make the media files completely interactive.
According to statements made at the Digital World Conference, Goldhaber stated that ScriptX would allow developers to distribute their work on practically any device simply by “hitting a button on a screen and selecting ‘Save as ScriptX’." Grandiose statements were typical, with Goldhaber later stating that "It actually does have some genuine social importance."
Goldhaber's flamboyant style, expensive company payroll, and lack of obvious progress led to negative stories in the press. One executive who described that "the company has spent about $20 million in its one year of existence and that Apple and IBM are loath to continue spending money at that rate. He said Kaleida salaries are high and that the company has too many employees for its current stage of development".
In early 1993, Goldhaber and the board started fighting over stock options and whether the company should go public. On July 18, 1993, the company announced that Goldhaber was being replaced as CEO by Mike Braun, formerly of IBM. The company stated that Goldhaber would remain on the board in efforts to build industry partnerships, but blamed a lack of progress on this front, and Goldhaber's "hands off" management, as the main reasons for the switch. In parting, Goldhaber quipped that different cultures and political maneuverings at IBM and Apple doomed the company from the start.
Following Goldhaber's ousting, the company's focus was narrowed. Plans to build a system for set-top boxes was officially abandoned in April 1994. Kaleida's mission from then on was to complete and support the ScriptX language and multimedia object library, which by this point were very late. Kaleida sought to bundle the KMP as system software with new personal computers. At the same time, CD-ROM developers could ship the KMP with content to support existing Windows and Macintosh systems. As part of the new focus, the company was downsized, with layoffs representing about 20 to 25% of the workforce.
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Kaleida Labs
Kaleida Labs, Inc., formed in 1991 to produce the multimedia cross-platform Kaleida Media Player and the object oriented scripting language ScriptX that was used to program its behavior. The system was aimed at the production of interactive CD ROM titles, an area of major effort in the early 1990s. When the system was delivered in 1994, it had relatively high system requirements and memory footprint, and lacked a native PowerPC version on the Mac platform. Around the same time, rapid changes in the market, especially the expansion of the World Wide Web and the Java programming language, pushed the interactive CD market into a niche role. The Kaleida platform failed to gain significant traction and the company was closed in 1996.
Kaleida was one of three joint ventures of the 1990s between Apple and IBM, including the Taligent operating system and the AIM alliance with Motorola for the PowerPC platform. ScriptX was one of several similar software platforms that started at Apple in that timeframe. The SK8 system was also aimed at the multimedia market, although it evolved from what was originally a major upgrade to HyperCard. The Dylan programming language was a more full-featured platform, aimed at general programming not just multimedia. Development of all of these software projects ended at approximately the same time.
Announced in 1991, the company began operations in the summer of 1992 with Nat Goldhaber serving as its first CEO. The company was staffed by hand picking members of Apple's QuickTime team, along with members from the big-iron content delivery side at IBM. Kaleida's corporate offices were located in Mountain View, California, at sites near the Shoreline Amphitheater on the east side of U.S. 101. Kaleida was one of the earliest companies to post a corporate website.
The early model for the system was the Kaleida Media Player, or KMP. This was essentially a cross-platform interactive version of the QuickTime Player that would run on the Apple Macintosh, IBM PC clones, as well as set-top boxes and other platforms. It was intended to be a single universal multimedia system. On top of this model was the ScriptX programming language and object library, which allowed developers to make the media files completely interactive.
According to statements made at the Digital World Conference, Goldhaber stated that ScriptX would allow developers to distribute their work on practically any device simply by “hitting a button on a screen and selecting ‘Save as ScriptX’." Grandiose statements were typical, with Goldhaber later stating that "It actually does have some genuine social importance."
Goldhaber's flamboyant style, expensive company payroll, and lack of obvious progress led to negative stories in the press. One executive who described that "the company has spent about $20 million in its one year of existence and that Apple and IBM are loath to continue spending money at that rate. He said Kaleida salaries are high and that the company has too many employees for its current stage of development".
In early 1993, Goldhaber and the board started fighting over stock options and whether the company should go public. On July 18, 1993, the company announced that Goldhaber was being replaced as CEO by Mike Braun, formerly of IBM. The company stated that Goldhaber would remain on the board in efforts to build industry partnerships, but blamed a lack of progress on this front, and Goldhaber's "hands off" management, as the main reasons for the switch. In parting, Goldhaber quipped that different cultures and political maneuverings at IBM and Apple doomed the company from the start.
Following Goldhaber's ousting, the company's focus was narrowed. Plans to build a system for set-top boxes was officially abandoned in April 1994. Kaleida's mission from then on was to complete and support the ScriptX language and multimedia object library, which by this point were very late. Kaleida sought to bundle the KMP as system software with new personal computers. At the same time, CD-ROM developers could ship the KMP with content to support existing Windows and Macintosh systems. As part of the new focus, the company was downsized, with layoffs representing about 20 to 25% of the workforce.