Do you see any pure plays with the 'appliance computing or digital communications' areas that are worthy of looking into at this time?
Too many to count, so I struggle with the gist of your question. The revolution in “digital communications everywhere” has been going on long enough to create huge business opportunities in telephony (wired and wireless) and networking in organizations of all shapes and sizes. Networking is extending to the home, auto and everywhere else I can think of.
Meanwhile, the Street, so enchanted recently with the entire communications space, systematically fell out of love with all the players, starting with operators, then the companies providing semiconductors for networking, then network equipment makers, and finally anybody that has any association with optical fibers, the backbone of the Internet. But that's just a temporary blip since the revolution in digital communications is still very young, with decades left of rapid growth.
The revolution in appliance computing is much younger and immature than the one in communications. Consequently, it is easier and more interesting to identify pure plays in appliance computing. The network storage space has notable pure-play successes already. Look for most PC peripheral manufacturers to gravitate to non-PC appliance computing over time – if only because essentially that is what most PC peripherals are anyway.
I presume you realize the enormity of opportunity that awaits companies able to participate in the convergence of these revolutions, not pure plays in each revolution individually. The convergence occurs on client (consumer) devices, throughout all types of network equipment, and on so-called server appliances designed to offload specific server functions. WIND dominates the convergence of both revolutions in all three venues.
Probably more to the point of your question are out-of-the-box startups that are introducing exciting appliance computing products to the market. Cieva, the digital picture frame company, exemplifies pure plays in this emerging category. Pingtel, the IP phone company, is another.
I read an article the other day that indicated already there are about 45 or 50 companies developing MP3 players, with the market expected to boom to more than a billion dollars in a couple of years. (MP3 players may be a yalp in waiting.) Want to know who some of these companies are, what MP3 players exist and how they compare on the basis of features? Check out info about MP3 players as well as many other digital appliances being introduced to the market at:
livemanuals.com
If LiveManuals succeeds at becoming the de facto standard for describing how consumer appliances operate, the site above soon will become the best source for identifying products and companies in the consumer end of the appliance computing space. (This makes eSim an interesting play in itself.) eSim has an informative presentation on the Oct 30, 2000 official launch of LiveManuals accessible from the site. BTW, I haven’t set up my personal LiveManuals folder yet, but I will shortly.
Allen
Full Disclosure: I was a private investor in Emultek, the predecessor of eSim, before it went public in 1998. |
