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Technology Stocks : SYQUEST -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Heber C. Pierce who wrote (5004)	12/9/1997 1:23:00 PM
From: Dale Stempson	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 7685

Heber, Soon enough I expect we'll begin to see head-to-head product comparisons that include the SparQ. Perhaps then we will have real word speed data that we all can agree on. I suspect that the speed issue is more or less a non-issue for the SparQ as it appears to fit comfortably in the "fast enough for most everyone" range. More critical will be any discussion of product quality (IMO). BTW, the Zip may be a bit dated today, but I think you need to reconsider, when you say it's too slow and too small to be practical anymore. The still growing Zip unit sales would appear to contradict your opinion. With 10+ million Zips out there, compatibility is a very real practical concern, as is initial cost. Regards - Dale

To: Heber C. Pierce who wrote (5004)	12/10/1997 11:55:00 AM
From: Cogito	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 7685

>>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