[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Educom (a collaboration among universities to explore the use of technology in higher education) launched a "Valuable Viable Software" (VVS) task force in the 1990s, to evaluate the success of different kinds of software being used for teaching in universities.
Steve Ehrmann, a member of the task force, is widely credited with coining the term "worldware" to describe multipurpose software already in widespread use outside universities.
Writing in 1995, Ehrmann explained the term as follows:[8] Worldware is developed for purposes other than instruction but is also used for teaching and learning.
When interviewed for a virtual round table in 2009, Ehrmann explained that worldware (and its student editions) had many advantages over typical instructional software:[10]It was much more likely to be known in advance to the students and to the teachers.
A large market was paying for worldware, so the cost per user to develop, market, support, maintain, and upgrade worldware typically was low while the cost per user for courseware was usually high.