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Non-Tech : Any info about Iomega (IOM)? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Frank Drumond who wrote (34267)	11/2/1997 8:19:00 PM
From: Gary Wisdom	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 58324

Re: Rocky's death sentence on Jaz . . . Rocky, Seriously, here's a question I have that I would like your response to: I would venture to guess that the Zip drive is very popular amongst the general public as an alternative to passing files around on floppies, especially those that have bigger files. Also, there is no doubt that Zip is also used as a backup medium. Now, I would venture to guess that those "power users" out there have Jaz instead of Zip. Right? In the corporate market, I would guess that desktops have zips, while some of the IT people use Jaz drives for backup or whatever. Now, unless I'm totally off base with the above, explain this to me: Who is the market for a 4.7 GB drive? I mean, PC enthusiasts like myself would have absolutely no use for it. Do you really think I'd give someone 4.7 GB of data? Ok, what about the power user? Again, why would they want one? They might pass around 1 or 2 GB of data (I doubt it though), but 4.7 GB? Ok, what about the IT professionals that are responsible for very expensive corporate networks? What will they use the Rocket for? Transferring data? I doubt it. Ok, what about backup? Maybe. But who and how many would count themselves amongst this group? A very big company would still need mega storage solutions. 4 GB would not be enough. A smaller company might be interested. How many do you really think are out there that would invest in this solution? I guess I am asking you how big you think this market really is? IMO, I really think that for the mass market, Jaz Plus (or whatever its called) will be the biggest removable hard drive that will see any significant volume out there. Remember, the real profitable segment of Iomega's business is the disc, not the drive. How many individuals out there are going to lay out $700 or so for a 4 GB drive? Take that number, and then try to guesstimate a tie rate. It won't come close to what the zips get. Anyway, I am truly interested in your take on this. If I am truly off base, then I will apologize and admit it. I am not an expert in this area (admitting beforehand). Thanks.