Tim, A very evenhanded response. I thank you..........
I do have a couple of comments though (I know...so what else is new ? <G>).
I do not twist information. Occasionally the language is used with the intent of emphasizing facts. However, the basis in fact (to the absolute best of my knowledge) is never absent.
My purpose in bringing up the FTC and SEC investigations was to illustrate that this company has a least given Federal agencies good reason to conduct investigations. Whether regulatory action or litigation was found to be prudent, there had to be good cause for conducting the investigations to begin with. If Camelot's operations were not at least on the ragged edge of legality, there would have been no reason to even initiate any kind of investigation at all. This type of investigation is costly, agency budgets are low, they simply do not launch investigations based upon whim. In any case most corporations can and do exist for decades without ever being formally investigated by a government agency, Camelot is around for 5 years and has multiple investigations conducted into it's business practices...
Do you see my point?
Keep in mind there are many things that a solid corporation would never do, not because it is illegal, but because it is unethical and/or immoral, or because they know that the court of public opinion will find them out! Camelot's management on the other hand does not seem to have any idea what those concepts mean, or at very least they have underestimated the consequences of alienating the public (check the sales figures for the last few quarters, look at the stock price Steven). Perhaps the FTC did not pursue legal action, but, when considering any accepted definition of "ETHICS" no one can defend Camelot's decision to market the original Digiphone product when they KNEW that it plain would not work for the vast majority of users. Nor can any of the instances of false press releases and blown product release deadlines be defended. ( the most recent of which was the promised release of Digiphone 2.0 in December 1996...where is it?)
BTW, perhaps Camelot considers the SEC investigation closed ( more info from investor relations Tim?), but I do not believe that the SEC has formally closed any of it's inquiries into Camelot's business practices!!
Additionally there are several "Class Action" suits in progress or getting organized, that are based on consumers and investors getting screwed by Camelot's premature release of products, false advertising, and media hype. ( Tim, you were decieved again, the joint demo you claimed Camelot was doing with USR, IS no more than being at the same show, no fromal buisnes arangements, no alliances, no contracts, notwhithstandig the cleverly misleading wording on Camelot Europe's web page)
Taken in sum, it is hard to ignore all of the evidence, nor should one ignore it when making a decision on the suitability of Camelot for investment! Almost inevitably this kind of behavior by a human being or any corporation has extremely negative results!!
Danny W. taking off for a SIX WEEK VACATION, when the company is obviously struggling. You believe this? Did this come from one of the gung ho, true believers at camelot investor relations ( no bias here of course)? You believe this?? Come on Tim!
OK OK let's assume for a moment that it is true (exceedingly unlikeley, but for the purposes of discussion only). What kind of statement does this make about his concern for the company's well being? The founder and business genious going on a SIX WEEK vacation durring what has to be considered a crisis! Right...
We are in total agreement about both the current state and potential for this industry. This is not directly the issue for the purposes of this forum. The real issue is whether Camelot will be in the position to benefit from any growth in this sector. My thoughts are that Camelot has shown extreme ineptitude in making any sort of good decisions about marketing, and have clearly shown the inability to produce a competitive product. This does not bode at all well for their chances be around to partake in any of the coming growth in this industry.
Steven, from a purely logical standpoint, why would anyone invest in such a shaky corporation with such a shoddy record, when there are so many more attractive investments out there? |
