NeXT, Inc. (later
NeXT Computer, Inc. and
NeXT Software, Inc) was an American
computer company headquartered in
Redwood City, California, that developed and manufactured a series of computer
workstations intended for the
higher education and business markets. NeXT was founded in 1985 by
Apple Computer co-founder
Steve Jobs, after he resigned from Apple, along with his coworkers. NeXT introduced the first
NeXT Computer in 1988, and the smaller
NeXTstation in 1990. The NeXT computers experienced relatively limited sales, with estimates of about 50,000 units shipped in total. Nevertheless, their innovative
object-oriented NeXTSTEP operating system and development environment were highly influential.