Page "Lotus Improv" Paragraph 19

Improv's disappointing sales and eventual cancellation on the PC platform has been used as a case study in numerous post-failure analyses of the software market.

Sales on the NeXT platform could be explained by NeXTs limited marketshare, but the failure on the PC was another issue.

Among the favored explanations are the fact that, unlike the release on NeXT, the Windows version faced strong internal resistance from 1-2-3, and corporate immune response became a serious issue.

Lotus ' sales and marketing teams, well versed in selling 1-2-3, did not know how to sell Improv into the market, so they simply didn't, selling the well known and understood 1-2-3.

Other explanations include the fact that Microsoft Excel was being offered as part of the Office bundle at marginal rates that were tiny in comparison, as well as several mis-steps during introduction, like the lack of a macro language or undo.

Joel Spolsky blames it on the design itself, claiming it was too perfectly aimed at a specific market and lacked the generality that Excel featured.