WebObjects was created by NeXT Software, Inc., first publicly demonstrated at the Object World conference in 1995 and released to the public in March 1996. The time and cost benefits of rapid, object-oriented development attracted major corporations to WebObjects in the early days of e-commerce, with clients including BBC News, Dell Computer, Disney, DreamWorks SKG, Fannie Mae, GE Capital, Merrill Lynch, and Motorola. However, following NeXT's merger into Apple Inc. in 1997, WebObjects' public profile languished. Many early adopters later switched to alternative technologies, and currently Apple remains the biggest client for the software, relying on it to power parts of its online Apple Store and the iTunes Store — WebObjects' highest-profile implementation.