[jbellis]

NeXT was not cheaper; Gassee wanted 275M for BeOS, and they bought NeXT for 429.

[rdl]

NeXT was a bigger, more mature company with more assets and revenue, so even if you discount Jobs, buying NeXT for 429mm is less overpriced than Be for 275mm.

[flomo]

On the other hand, NeXT's main source of revenue was WebObjects, something Apple wasn't really interested in marketing. The operating system was pretty much a back catalog item.

[philwelch]

Except WebObjects was used for the Apple Store, and later the iTunes Store.