Miscellaneous, and partly Off Topic:
I don't get the chance to post as often a some of those on this most enjoyable thread, but I'm gonna play catch-up with this post:
1. It is easier to call this an "enjoyable thread" at $70 than it was at $5.
2. Being ahead of the curve but behind the cutting edge, I have a Nikon Coolpix 900 (not the much-ballyhooed 950). I love it to death. Being more of a computer geek than a photography geek, and having no plans to print prints, I enjoy even the lowest resolutions of the camera (they look fantastic on my 17" monitors), and when I want to "wow" myself or others, I indulge in the Big Picture. This does not make me a good SanDisk customer, as my CF needs are well met with the very small cards that I have. Still, if one of you would like to mail me a 64 meg card just to change my mind, I won't complain.
3. I work half-time at home and half-time at a software company in Toronto. As for the latter, there are younger people (I'm 41) around me all of the time, and their skill level and computer competency is humbling. Many of these young, extremely knowledgeable people are into CF for both digital cam and MP3 reasons, and I overhear many conversations about the next gadgets that they plan to acquire as soon as payday comes. Here's the news: they talk about capacity, capacity and capacity. They do not talk brand name nor even technology (the latter is surprising, considering the level of expertise in the bunch) and it is clear that they would eagerly jump to any medium that gave greater capacity and faster uploading. On occasion, I put in a good word for SanDisk and CF. They basically respond with a "what has it done for me lately?" kind of answer. Just as in their toys, the media that the toys use is disposable in their eyes: as soon as something even slightly better comes along, they will abandon all past allegiances. For this market, you had better be big, fast, better, and cool.
4. This is no time to start a Mac versus PC war, and I won't even begin to throw the first stone. But, hats off to Art and those who hang with their old machines. As a perk of my profession, I have the latest and fastest and best, and I do admit to liking that (and boasting about that, which is surely obvious...sorry). BUT -- I have never thrown away an old computer, and my trusty 133 remains in use as the most stable, gadgeted device in my house. True, my obscenely expensive laptop can run circles around it, but where else can I rely on Quicken, TurboTax and Duke Nukem?
5. For those that have used both pcmcia and -- what is it called -- imagemate? Which is better? I truly enjoy using the SanDisk pcmcia adapter with my CF cards, but am I missing something?
6. Am I the only one who has thought of SanDisk as one of the few truly Y2K-proof technology stocks? Now, I am not talking here about reality, but of perception and panic. In reality, many of the issues that will be unduly penalized in the next few months shouldn't be. But with SNDK, there is not only no downside, but we sidle up to the millenium in the Xmas buying season. Read: digital cams, MP3 players, etc. If this stock isn't way over $100 by October 1, I will be shocked. And the better news is that it should stay there. Pre-January logic will do the heavy lifting, post January earnings will justify the push.
Okay, enough for now, and back to lurk mode.
- Don |
