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To: John Stichnoth who wrote (10333)	11/14/1999 12:08:00 PM
From: Mike Buckley	Respond to of 54805

John, My search did reveal that SmartMedia runs about 15% cheaper than Compact Flash of the same capacity. I'm not sure that means anything other than the supply/demand picture is easier for SmartMedia than CompactFlash. I don't know anything about the industry, but pricing relationships are often indicators of product adoption, not quality or performance. It's often the the product being adopted the least that has to have the lower price to get adopted at all. --Mike Buckley

To: John Stichnoth who wrote (10333)	11/14/1999 1:27:00 PM
From: StockHawk	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 54805

>>Who makes SmartMedia?<< I believe that would be Toshiba (the large co. that will be in a joint venture with SNDK to produce CompactFlash) and Samsung. >>My search did reveal that SmartMedia runs about 15% cheaper than Compact Flash of the same capacity.<< This might explain it (although it is a year old): The problem of the memory size with SmartMedia cards is the "interface" to the camera or read device. This is also where one of the main differences between the two dominant types of removable media is be found. With CompactFlash cards, the controller for managing the flash memory modules is housed in the card itself, thus making it somewhat more expensive. In the case of SmartMedia technology, on the other hand, the controller is located in the respective read device, i.e. camera, floppy adaptor or PC card adaptor. As a result, the memory cards are cheaper and the accessory devices for it are in the most part more expensive - the PC card adaptor for CompactFlash costs around 20 EUR, for SmartMedia closer to 100 EUR. Now if the technical specification of a SmartMedia card is not known at the time of developing the controller or the software that controls it, such cards cannot subsequently be used with the device. This is just the case at the moment - the specifications of 16 MBytes cards when most of the cameras now on the market were developed were not yet defined or have since been modified (we have heard differing statements on this). source for the above: digitalkamera.de >>I went into my local camera store << There are so many place to get information on which to base investment decisions. Analysts reports, SEC filings, the media, thread postings, store clerks. Every little bit helps - with some more valid than others. The key is to use many sources and come up with your own conclusions. StockHawk