E-Man, My Thoughts...
Your guess here is as good--if not better--than mine. At the end of this tome, you may wonder: Why on earth did I ask this guy for his opinions?
One would think that "box guys" would be clamoring for new revenue streams and participation in transactions and secure e-commerce features, etc. (And, to be certain, though they came to this game a little late, they HAVE done interesting deals with portals and sold buttons on their keyboards, etc.) I've got to confess, though, I don't think these guys are, in general, that big on thought leadership and innovation. I know this runs counter to the popular imagination that lumps all technology companies under the category: innovators or "new thinkers." I've had some fairly disappointing experiences with "box guys" over the years--as a vendor. There's a lot of me-too. And incremental thinking... or, worse, excremental thinking.
But, there's another way of looking at this. "Clamoring" can be done in a lot of ways... that aren't necessarily public. I would like to think that, once apprised of the technology and its potential and that we've got the partners to deliver the goods (both content-wise and technology-wise), that more than one major PC maker would be more than happy to entertain joint sales pitches from WAVX and given supply chain spokes. (In fact, that was said to be the case in at least one press release from last year.)
Plus, if you're a PC company struggling with razor-sharp margins and near-to-complete commoditization of your offering, would you want to be telegraphing any punches right now? Hell, no. Nobody--NO-BODY--with the exception of HP--is talking about getting some "vig" from transactions. Yet, all and all, it's a fairly un-revolutionary thought... especially if you've been following the revenue-sharing and pay-for-performance world of online advertising.
But, back to HP. I am, to say the least, very intrigued by the words of their Ann Livermore. HP is going to be aggressively doing different types of deals, tapping into alternative revenue streams, and getting their cut in e-commerce transactions. They're gonna do deals--major events, for example--where they put their skin in the game--consulting and hardware and software (QoS, for example)--in exchange for a cut from the premiums that get marketed... and maybe even the advertising sales. That's fascinating. And that "meme" seems perfectly in keeping with WAVX's value proposition.
A final thought for now. Depending upon where we are in getting real product for sampling, etc... do remember that NEC was supposed to be one of our first adopters. This year, it was claimed. I've not heard anything about that since the original release. That name could not have been dropped without lots of permission. And, just as I have been following closely discussions about HAUP (and, my God, upon listening to it, I realized their recent CC was, as SR reported, a WAVX love-fest), I am waiting for some omen from NEC.
Best Regards,
c m |
