> Once one uses a Zip drive instead of the normal floppy drive, they will NEVER except under threat of life use their 1.44 drives again. They WILL buy Zip disks. Of that you can be sure. <
I tend to agree. I don't want to use my 1.44 floppy again. To that end, I am in the market for an IDE ZIP to permanently install in my home PC, allowing me to leave my PP ZIP hooked to my work PC, and only have to transport the disks. I will never again buy a PC without a bootable ZIP inside.
And now for something completely different: my IOM bearish side - yes Rocky, I have one. First the disclaimers: I am just like you people, no special knowledge, and all of what follows is just my musings and desires. I am long IOM 2000 shares and will stay that way until IOM hits 30 which I believe will happen sometime late this year, then I'll reevaluate based on the info that comes out between now and then.
That's Ed the investor speaking. My techie heart wishes IOM would jettison JAZ. I think it is a drain on the more important dual stories of ZIP and N-Hand. Why? Two years ago, 1GB was great. Now it is uncomfortably downscale to my techie heart. I want more, better, faster. In my Panglossian dreams, in a quid pro quo, IOM would jettison Jaz, and Syquest would jettison their EZ-230. This would allow Syquest to rise from the ashes with their Syjet and Rocket lines, save IOM the cost of a possibly futile defense of a product they don't really seem to have their heart in (no new announcement to offset Rocket does not bode well for Jaz), give the market what it really needs with ZIP (a new floppy standard) and what it wants with Rocket - great gobs of space. 1GB is just too little for this day and age. And Jaz seems to have some reliability problems. I know, that last one is a disputed point, but I can't help thinking there is too much smoke for there to be no fire, even if it's just in the trash can. Also my investor side says IOM doesn't need Jaz in the long run, but to maintain credibility, cannot yet jettison it. And Syquest is in the same position, i.e. stuck, with EZ-230. The poor thing hasn't a chance, even though it is technically better. The techie in me actually wants Zip to win, in spite of it's slight inferiority, because it is almost a standard now, and to have Syquest gain market share now would probably set back the adoption of the next floppy standard by years. I am tired of waiting. This war of the super-floppies must end, the sooner, the better. Of course that means ZIP wins. Fine. In VCRs, Beta was technically superior to VHS, but who misses Beta now? The difference wasn't all that great, and the same is true of ZIP vs. EZ-230. Jaz vs. Rocket is another story. Oh for the best of all posssible worlds: IOM at 100, Syquest at 50, a bootable ZIP and a bootable Rocket in every PC, and an N-hand digital camera in every home, by mid-1998.
Doctor? Did you say something?
Ok. it wasn't exactly bearish, but it was as critical of IOM as I get. <g> |
