I don't know much about the history of the product, maybe there's a wikipedia entry?

I remember in something like '96 or '97 when ESRI acquired it and released it to much fanfare, giving practically everyone a free copy.

In the early 2000's the product manager (possibly the former owner before ESRI bought it?) complained to me the retail giants would no longer stock it on shelves without some big marketing commitment and was hoping I could sell it through MP2Kmag.com

Not sure what happened in the demise, BusinessMap 5.0 came out and I think a year later they decided to announce the product was discontinued.

Any other insights or comments much appreciated!

Eric

In the summer of 1995 Esri purchased my company, Chrona Software. For the next fourteen years we developed and sold BusinessMAP products through various retail outlets. Unlike most of Esri's other products BusinessMap was developed offshore, sold through retail channels, and the team I managed worked out of Dallas rather than Redlands, California.

In December of '09 Esri sent letters to customers informing them BusinessMAP was being retired. Except for the independent developers and me, all members of Esri's BusinessMAP group were reassigned. I left the company and started TexMobile, Inc., a web based GIS subscription service designed to serve the BusinessMAP customer base. The service is BusinesWebMap and a free version can be accessed at TexMobile (http://businesswebmap.com). This is a product review Product Review: BusinessWebMap by TexMobile - Directions Magazine (http://www.directionsmag.com/articles/product-review-businesswebmap-by-texmobile/234089) done by Directions Magazine.

Bill McNeil
TexMobile, Inc.
TexMobile (http://texmobile.com)
bmcneil@texmobile.com