To put more flesh on the bone, there were apparently about 40,000 NeXT users in 1993, many highly loyal. https://books.google.ie/books?id=QDsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54&l

To put more flesh on the bone, there were apparently about 40,000 NeXT users in 1993, many highly loyal. https://books.google.ie/books?id=QDsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=next+80,000+nt+critical+success&source=bl&ots=WIERCpziId&sig=1TydheJMHteXy0jyqv5PobsOKmM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2rw8VdurMsyy7Qbsh4GwBQ&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=next%2080%2C000%20nt%20critical%20success&f=false https://books.google.ie/books?id=QDsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54&lpg=PA... So while the NeXT system certainly wasn't a mass-market hit and the company struggled financially, it wasn't quite as quirky and deeply obscure as it may seem nowadays.