Micro/Answer for Cornerstone
by Infocom
From what little information I was able to dig up on the Web, it looks like Micro/Answer was a joint effort between Informatics and Infocom, released a few months after CS itself (July 1985). It was used to extract data from mainframe database formats to a PC client running Cornerstone, using Informatics' Answer/DB product.
One article I found in a German computer mag priced it at $550, more than Cornerstone itself, even before the price drop. Answer/DB, the mainframe side, had a cost of $30,000. Based on the low sales of CS, and estimating that even fewer customers would need such a translation tool, I can't imagine that more than a few hundred of these were ever sold, if that. It is extremely scarce, and not mentioned in any of Infocom's product literature that I've seen. (I'd never even heard of it until a former Infocom employee auctioned this one on eBay.)
The package measures 9.25" 8.75" x 2.5", a little smaller than the blue Cornerstone case. System requirements aren't given, but the German article says it needs 256K of memory and two 360K floppy drives. Alas, the contents are forever sealed behind an impenetrable layer of shrinkwrap. If anyone ever comes across an already-opened one, let me know!
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