Last week’s rumors of the imminent demise of Cosmo Software (CI No 3,445) were not exaggerated in the least. On Monday, Silicon Graphics Inc spokesperson John Thompson confirmed that the hoped-for sale of SGI’s virtual reality modelling language (VRML) software division to Sony Corp has collapsed. The companies have mutually decided not to continue negotiations, he said, adding that they had also agreed not to disclose why the talks failed. We will be closing Cosmo down, he concluded, it’s happening as we speak. SGI is reviewing its options with respect to the technology. Cosmo’s work may be reabsorbed into SGI; alternatively, its assets may be stripped for sale. The hundred or so Cosmo employees will be re-deployed within SGI, Thompson says. He paints the decision as an inevitable one, given the absence of a buyer. In April, SGI clearly signaled its intention to refocus on its core business of selling workstations, servers and computers and divesting itself of other concerns like chip fab MIPS and software arm Cosmo (CI No 3,389). Even so, the decision to fold the division has dismayed many in the VRML community – not least because SGI was a pioneer in establishing the technology as an internet standard. Mark Pesce, co-founder of VRML, said he was shocked at the news and concerned about the false impressions it might convey about the future of VRML. I’m disappointed that SGI fumbled their planning so badly. They have 30 million browsers out there, he concluded, how could they not turn that into a market?
