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Technology Stocks : WDC/Sandisk Corporation

WDC 173.61

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12:23 PM EST

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To: Frank Haims who wrote (8003)	11/7/1999 10:14:00 PM
From: Ausdauer	Read Replies (2) of 60323

Frank and Thread, I read a feature article last weekend in Wired magazine about Sony and its research think tank. The cover of the November issue stated... *"Sony's Plan to Trash the PC"* Sony CEO and president Nobuyuki Idei is shown (with a Navy blue blazer and a paislry power ascot) on the title page holding a 4 MB Memory Stick on the end of his finger. The article follows with a relatively detailed look at the CSL (Computer Science Laboratory) and how it plans to revolutionize home electronics with various gadgets that will function as Internet appliances and free us from the ball-and-chain known as the desktop PC. The article makes a point that Sony has made a commitment to basic research (that will "exceed Xerox PARC") in addition to a futuristic vision of our daily lives. There is a lot of attention given to robotics including the AIBO dog (who will function as a babysitter sometime during the next century) and a chap who plans to create an army of automatons capable of winning the World Cup in soccer. There is a graphic in the center of the article which chronicles Sony's "Product Revolution" beginning with the original Walkman prototype in 1978 and ending with such things as a Memory Stick handheld phone and automobile navigation system. Sony has many grandiose ideas including a consumer electronics OS called "Aperios" which is supposed to be superior to Microsoft WindowsCE. THE PART THAT REALLY BOTHERS ME STATES THAT... ...another Sony creation, The Memory Stick, aims to replace the disk as the portable storage medium. The size of a piece of chewing gum, but able to offer more storage space than a CD, it can easily move data -music, video, and other types of information- between appliances. And Sony's components will connect via Apple-designed FireWire, which Sony has branded i.Link... The reason it really bothers me is because it suggests that Sony created flash memory and is revolutionizing removable digital storage. One thing that had been mentioned during a SanDisk c.c. last Fall was the fact that Sony doesn't have any in-house expertise in flash memory. As I see it, the Memory Stick is really a flash memory chipset combined with an ATA controller and wrapped in purple plastic. Essentially it is a CompactFlash card that has been shaped into an alternate form factor. And while Sony can add certain unique functions to the design (such as an electronic write protection switch and a proprietary serialization feature), it cannot deny the fact that it was technology designed by SanDisk and other flash pioneers that facilitated the creation of Memory Stick. I think that many writers for various periodicals have failed miserably in doing their research. I am looking forward to the day when I open a magazine and see a feature article on Dr. Eli Harari and his research colleagues that gives credit where credit is due... sandisk.com ...and maybe even recognizes the potential impact of CompactFlash and the MMC form factors in our daily lives. Ausdauer SanDisk...See the Bigger Picture

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