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Bitstream Inc.

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Original synthesis to sit alongside the encyclopedia article below. Not part of Wikipedia; verify facts on Wikipedia when precision matters.

Bitstream Inc. is a defunct American digital typography and technology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was an early pioneer in digital font development for personal computing and print, operating three core business lines: digital font licensing and technology, the MyFonts font e-commerce platform, and variable data publishing software (Pageflex).

Key moments

  • 1981Bitstream Inc. is founded as one of the first independent digital type foundries
  • 1992Open-licensed versions of Bitstream Charter and Courier are released to the X Consortium, supporting open source computing projects
  • 2000sMyFonts grows into a leading online marketplace for independent font designers
  • March 2012Bitstream Inc. is acquired by Monotype Imaging (now known simply as Monotype)

Bitstream held a unique competitive position in the global digital font industry, with the following key traits:

  • As an early entrant to digital typography, Bitstream secured an early-mover advantage by digitizing thousands of classic typefaces when most traditional foundries were slow to adapt to computer-based publishing.
  • The MyFonts platform democratized font distribution, allowing independent creators to reach global customers directly, a niche that larger industry players ignored for years.
  • Diversification into embedded font technology for consumer devices (printers, mobile devices, set-top boxes) and publishing software gave Bitstream multiple revenue streams beyond retail font sales.
  • Industry consolidation ultimately favored larger competitors like Monotype, which held a broader portfolio of high-profile licensed fonts and stronger global distribution capabilities, leading to Bitstream's acquisition in 2012.

Bitstream Inc. was an American type foundry that produced digital typefaces. It was founded in 1981 by Matthew Carter, Mike Parker, Cherie Cone, and Rob Friedman, all former employees of the Mergenthaler Linotype Company.[2] It was located in Marlborough, Massachusetts. The font business, including MyFonts, was acquired by Monotype Imaging in March 2012.[3][4] The remainder of the business, responsible for Pageflex and Bolt Browser, was spun off to a new entity named Marlborough Software Development Holdings Inc.[5][6] It was later renamed Pageflex, Inc following a successful management buyout in December 2013.[7]

Products

Bitstream created a library of "classic" fonts (usually under different names for trademark reasons) in digital form. For example, Times Ten was released as Dutch 801, Akzidenz-Grotesk as Gothic 725, Aurora as News 706, Antique Olive as Incised 901, Bembo as Aldine 401, Berthold Block as Gothic 821, Bodoni Campanile as Modern 735, Choc as Staccato 555, Codex as Calligraphic 421, Cochin as Engravers' Oldstyle 205, Coronet as Ribbon 131, Eurostile as Square 721, Frutiger as Humanist 777, Gill Sans as Humanist 521, Kabel as Geometric 231, Memphis as GeoSlab 703, Metro as Geometric 415, Mistral as Staccato 222, Melior as Zapf Elliptical, Optima as Zapf Humanist, Oscar as Formal 436, Old English Text as Cloister Black, Peignot as Exotic 350, Perpetua as Lapidary 333, Plantin as Aldine 721, Profil as Decorated 035, Palatino as Zapf Calligraphic, Rockwell as Geometric Slabserif 712, Syntax as Humanist 531, Torino as Industrial 736 and Univers as Zurich. The Bitstream font collection is most widely used through its inclusion with the CorelDRAW software, as well as other Corel products such as WordPerfect Office.

The company received extensive criticism for its strategy of cheaply offering digitisations of pre-existing typefaces that it had not designed. While technically not illegal, font designer John Hudson would describe its selling of large numbers of typefaces on CD at discount prices as "one of the worst instances of piracy in the history of type".[8]

Bitstream developed a number of fonts on its own, such as Amerigo, by Gerard Unger Charter, by Matthew Carter, Carmina by Gudrun Zapf, Chianti by Dennis Pasternak, Iowan Old Style by John Downer, Arrus by Richard Lipton and the freeware Bitstream Vera family of fonts.

One of their best known fonts is Swiss 721 BT, which is a Helvetica clone with condensed versions and a rounded version. It was among the first digitally available Swiss family typefaces, being designed for that purpose in 1982.

Another Bitstream product is Font Fusion, a font rasterizing engine developed jointly with Type Solutions, Inc., which was later owned entirely by Bitstream.[9]

The multi-byte character set was named Bitstream International Character Set (BICS).

History

The company had a high level of involvement in BeOS, with older BeOS releases using a Bitstream renderer, and the latest development releases from 2001 using Font Fusion. The OS, including its freeware releases, included a large number of Bitstream fonts, including their clones of Times New Roman, Helvetica and Courier.

On December 2, 1998, Bitstream Inc. announced acquisition of all outstanding stock of Type Solutions, Inc. In addition, Sampo Kaasila, its founder and president and the creator of TrueType, agreed to join Bitstream's team as Director of Research and Development.

In January 1999, Bitstream launched MyFonts, an open marketplace offering fonts from various foundries and a forum where users could interact with type experts.[10]

In January 2009, Bitstream introduced the BOLT Browser, a Java ME-based Web browser for mobile phones. It was distributed free of charge to consumers and was built using the company's ThunderHawk mobile Web browsing technology for mobile network operators and handset manufacturers. The product was discontinued by the end of 2011.[11]

See also

  • Bitstream Vera
  • Bitstream Charter
  • Bitstream Cyberbit
  • MyFonts
  • ThunderHawk
  • Bolt (web browser)
  • Corel
  • TrueDoc
  • Mike Parker (typographer)

References

  1. Company Profile for Bitstream Inc (BITS) retrieved 2008-10-21^
  2. An Interview With Matthew Carter Print, 2011-03-02, retrieved 2024-04-04^
  3. Monotype Closes Purchase Of Bitstream's Font Business For $50 Mln; Lifts FY View Market Headlines web site, NASDAQ, 2012-03-19, retrieved 2012-03-26^
  4. Monotype Imaging Completes Acquisition of Bitstream's Font Business press release, Monotype Imaging, 2012-03-19, retrieved 2012-03-26^
  5. Monotype acquires Bitstream's font business in $50m all cash deal PrintWeek, Haymarket Business Media, 2011-11-14, retrieved 2012-03-26^
  6. Marlborough Software Development Holdings Inc. to Commence Trading on Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board on March 19, 2012 Under the Symbol "MBGH." press release, Bitstream, Inc., 2012-03-16, retrieved 2012-03-26^
  7. Marlborough Software Development Holdings Inc. Acquired in Management-Led Buyout www.businesswire.com, 9 December 2013, retrieved 2015-11-20^
  8. Luc Devroye. Bitstream Type Design Information Page, retrieved 22 February 2016^
  9. Bitstream Myfonts.com Web site, Bitstream, Inc., 2010-03-02, retrieved 2010-03-02^
  10. About MyFonts.com, Inc. www.myfonts.com, retrieved 2025-06-25^
  11. Bolt WebBrowser about page the about page for the boltbrowser.com, Bitstream, Inc., 2 February 2009, retrieved 1 February 2023^