With rumors flying thick and fast that a hoped-for sale to Sony Corp has fallen through, Cosmo Software hasn’t answered the phones all week and its web site (http://www.cosmosoftware.com/) has been off the air since Tuesday afternoon. The VRML division of beleaguered Silicon Graphics Inc has been on the auction block since January at least (CI No 3,389). A letter of intent signed between SGI and Sony last week seemed to offer fresh hope to Cosmo’s weary staff (CI No 3,440), but president Kai-Fu Lee made it clear at the time that many details remained to be settled and that the deal was far from done. If the rumors are correct and the sale has collapsed, things look very bad for Cosmo and, by extension, the wider VRML community. SGI was a pioneer in establishing VRML standards and Cosmo has been a key player in developing the technology. Could the division survive on its own? The sale of rival InterVista to Platinum Technology and the modest re-entry of blaxxun Interactive to the US market each suggest in their way that demand has yet to reach critical mass and that developers need continued investment. If Sony doesn’t buy Cosmo, SGI may very well kill the initiative. That would be an ignominious and undeserved end.
