Dearly Departed: Companies and Products That Didn't Deserve to Die

Some products just didn't deserve to die. But they did, because the companies made bad business decisions. We revisit several of our favorites--from minicomputers to software utilities--and mourn the best and brightest that died an untimely death.

Bought to be killed ...

Company: Central Point Software
Born: 1980
Died: 1994
Cause of Death: Acquired by Symantec
Founder: Michael Burmeister-Brown
Most well-known product(s): PC Tools, Copy II PC
Why we miss them: They gave us all of the utilities we needed in a single package, even an alternative shell; reviewers called PC Tools Desktop "a better Windows than Windows" (and at the time it was).
Lasting image/quote: Famous last words: "Success in the competitive enterprise arena was critical to both companies' long-term growth. Symantec's strengths-data recovery and data management-are very complementary to our own. Together we are a stronger enterprise company." -Chuck Boesenberg, CEO and chairman of Central Point, when Symantec acquired the company. Then Symantec killed the Central Point products.

Next: Thanks for the memory (manager)>>

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