George Fletcher, managing director of Nantucket UK Ltd, the UK arm of Clipper developer Nantucket Inc, described the Wall Street Journal hatchet job on Ashton-Tate’s former boss Ed Esber (CI No 1,411) as a tough article that did not really account for the difficult position that Esber was in – namely, the protracted delays in getting dBase IV right and the resultant pressure to come out with a product at all costs – even though that product was not up to scratch. Fletcher now reckons that the only way out of its present woes is for Ashton-Tate is to be purchased: the only problem is that the current Ashton-Tate’s main asset – a customer base of around 2m – is, in itself, difficult to value at that price. In the meantime, Fletcher is relieved to report that dBase IV compatibility has become less of an issue for users of Nantucket’s Clipper applications development language and environment, and its performance is buoyant in all of its existing markets. Clipper version 5.0 is runnning behind schedule (CI No 1,300), but Fletcher is adamant that it will not be released until it is ready.
