>>The zip is simply too slow and too small to be practical any more.<<
Heber -
That depends on what you're using it for. Here's an example.
My wife is a cartoonist and illustrator. She frequently delivers work to magazines on Zip disks. The files are too big for floppies, but still fit comfortably on a Zip. Often, the magazines don't return the Zip disks. She finds that irritating, but it would really piss her off if she was using 33 dollar SparQ disks.
And of course, the magazines all have Zip drives, so compatibility is an issue.
What this should tell you is that there are practical uses for Zip drives and disks, and bigger isn't always better in every application. That's why I don't see SparQ as a Zip killer. They're not designed for the same applications.
As of right now, the SparQ is a much better value than Jaz. However, when (not if) Iomega lowers prices on Jaz drives and media, SparQ will be hard pressed to compete with it. Especially since Jaz offers the user a compatible upgrade path to higher capacities.
Does this mean Iomega will make less money on Jaz? Perhaps so, although everyone also predicted that they would be losing money on Zip when they lowered prices, and that hasn't proved to be true. More likely, sales will increase as production costs continue to decline, for both Zip and Jaz.
- Allen |
