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Technology Stocks : Disk Drive Sector Discussion Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gus who wrote (1971)	12/31/1997 8:46:00 PM
From: Stitch	Respond to of 9256

Gus, I dont think I was clear enough in my post. Let me try to clarify. I still think that the sub $1k PC is going to open a lot of new doors. In fact it has. But it is still a PC. And many average consumers find that platform too unfriendly for it to become as pervasive as a VCR. Hell...I still have to reference the manual when I program my VCR. I wish I had data that showed the percentage of sub $1K PCs sold to folks who were buying a sewcond unit for the kids, etc. I suspect a lot. But I think the low cost PCs go a long away getting new feet wet and its probably a huge boon to the Internet. But I know of several housholds that sit on their AOL accounts already, virtually doing nothing. At the first sign of difficulty learning something they just let it gather dust. Frankly, if it were not for professional neds, I am not all that sure I would be PC literate. So, the upshot? The low cost PC will convert new users. Some of those will get hooked and will upgrade. Some small injection to data storage will come from WEBTV and other proprietary appliance platforms. But lack of standards will prevent appliances from making a huge impact in the near term. A more compelling demand curve can be found in Netcentricity apps (disk arrays) and upgrades. IMHO. Best, Stitch

To: Gus who wrote (1971)	12/31/1997 9:04:00 PM
From: Stitch	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 9256

Gus; <<The trend is clearly towards cheaper and faster boxes.>> Can I take the definition here of trend at the face value in your statement? Or,do you mean more models are being offered in the sub $1K category? Do you mean incrementally more users (market)? Then I agree. But if you mean a trend away from functionality, and away from what we know as a PC plaform, then I disagree, at least for the near term. There will continue to be growing needs in what John has characterized as 3D apps but lets clarify it as simply higher performance. I think very cheap PC boxes which go to first time users are a marvelous way to seed a market for susbsequent purchases that will climb the performance ladder. But I also wish I knew how many of the cheap models are going to "second" pc situations versus first time users. Know of any research? Clearly the cheaper boxes going to the corporate segment are netcentric. I guess we dont care if the storage is in the box are at the other end of a cable do we? I am prompted to ask "what else is new?" This is a trend thats been with us forever isnt it? Lower cost, more bang for the buck, etc. etc. So, the question becomes exactly what John asked. How are DD makers going to meet the price demand? Well, they have already given us a great historical performance in this regard. But a corollary to that history of more bang for the buck is a shrinking of players. I think there is a little more shrinkage to come. Do you agree? best, Stitch