Berkeley Systems

Revision as of 18:52, 9 April 2025 by imported>SavvySage (Added chapters to History section; added Gallery heading)
Berkeley Systems, Inc.
Berkeley Systems logo from 1989 to 2000, as depicted in the opening sequence of You Don't Know Jack (1995)
Berkeley Systems logo from 1989 to 2000, as depicted in the opening sequence of You Don't Know Jack (1995)
Logo used from 1989 to 2000
Formerly Boyd's System Design (1985-1986)[1]
Berkeley System Design (1986-1989)
Company type Private
Founder Wes Boyd
Larry Boyd
Joan Blades
Founded 1985
Defunct? December 2000
Fate Folded into Flipside.com
Area Worldwide
Headquarters Berkeley, California, U.S.
Products After Dark (1989-2000)
You Don't Know Jack (1995-2000)
Number of employees 120 (1997)
Parent Sierra On-Line (1997-2000)
Flipside.com (2000)
Subsidiaries Berkeley Access (1995-1996)
File:Red quip with construction helmet.svg HEADS UP! This page is under construction.
Pardon our dust—not all information is available.

Berkeley Systems was a software company co-founded in 1985 by Wes Boyd, Larry Boyd, and Joan Blades. The company got its start in accessibility, specifically making products for the Macintosh designed for partially sighted or blind people, most notably inLARGE and outSPOKEN.

Berkeley's first consumer product was Stepping Out, a virtual desktop product released in 1987. However, the company is best known for their After Dark screensavers and were the original co-developer and publisher of You Don't Know Jack.

The company was later acquired by CUC International in 1997, and integrated as a division of Sierra On-Line.[2] Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, Berkeley Systems ended up becoming part of Flipside.com in 2000, before quietly folding at the end of that year.[3]

History

Early years (1985-1989)

After Dark (1989-1995)

You Don't Know Jack (1995-1996)

Bezerk (1996-1997)

Sale to Sierra (1997-2000)

Absorbed into Flipside.com (2000)

Software developed

As Berkeley System Design

  • inLARGE (1986)
  • Stepping Out (1987)
  • Stepping Out II (1988)

As Berkeley Systems, Inc.

References

  1. National Institutes of Health, "New Grants and Awards", Pg. 3 (Summer 1985) https://books.google.com/books?id=YcK1nG7efQQC&pg=PA3
  2. Wired, Kaitlin Quistgaard, "CUC Buys Content Maker Berkeley Systems" (April 2nd, 1997) https://www.wired.com/1997/04/cuc-buys-content-maker-berkeley-systems/
  3. Berkeley Systems, "Lookin' for Berkeley Systems? It's now a part of flipside.com!" (Archived December 5th, 2000) http://web.archive.org/web/20001205214100/http://www.berkeleysystems.com/
  4. Raised Dot Computing, "Berkeley System Design is Now Shipping OutSPOKEN", Raised Dot Computing Newsletter Vol. 8 Number 81 (November/December 1989) http://www.duxburysystems.org/downloads/library/news/new81.htm
  5. 5.0 5.1 Berkeley Systems, "More Products" (Archived June 25th, 1997) https://web.archive.org/web/19970625105612/http://www.berksys.com/products/other/other.html
  6. Berkeley Systems, "BERKELEY SYSTEMS LAUNCHES THE VERY SHAGADELIC AUSTIN POWERS OPERATION: TRIVIA" (May 25th, 1999) https://web.archive.org/web/20000711234727/http://www.berksys.com/news/newsroom/austinships.html
  7. Sierra On-Line, "BACKSTAGE PASS™ IS THE STAIRWAY TO MUSIC HEAVEN" (November 16th, 2000) https://web.archive.org/web/20010709024856/http://www.sierra.com/corp/mr/release/0,2760,504,00.html