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

To: Ockham who wrote (42745)	1/7/1998 6:05:00 PM
From: Linda Pearson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 58324

Ockham, welcome to the thread. I see you just signed up yesterday for SI. Have you been lurking? Thank you for an interesting synopsis/opinion. This should provide others looking to invest in this company with some interesting details... Linda P.S. is anyone else having problems sending their posts??

To: Ockham who wrote (42745)	1/7/1998 6:39:00 PM
From: Cogito	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 58324

>>The Zip drive is not the standard. If it were, it would already be included in most new pc's, and Iomega would be a cash cow instead of a high-growth, high-risk startup. In fact there will never again be a "The Standard."<< Ockham - I agree with much of what you say. I have maintained all along that Iomega will not, and doesn't need to replace the floppy with Zip. Several different things have already replaced most of the floppy's functions. However, since floppy drives still have some utility, and because they are dirt cheap, we should continue to see them included in PCs for many years to come. Meanwhile, Zip sales continue to roll along, floppy or no floppy. One point I have to quibble about, though, is the idea that Iomega is a "startup." They've been in business for more than 10 years, and they're bringing in well over a billion a year in revenues at good margins. Hardly a mere "startup." - Allen

To: Ockham who wrote (42745)	1/7/1998 7:29:00 PM
From: FuzzFace	Respond to of 58324

<For these reasons, the most important announcements this year were that Norton had a Zip Recovery product, and that BIOS programmers were making the Zip bootable. > Very well put. In fact, your entire line of reasoning is very good.

To: Ockham who wrote (42745)	1/7/1998 7:50:00 PM
From: jackson	Respond to of 58324

Ockham, IMHO the only thing that prevented the Zip from moving closer to the standard was the ability to boot from the drive. I believe with the introduction of the ATAPI Zip, they have increase their appeal to the OEMs and we should see more "Zip built in" in the future Jack D.

To: Ockham who wrote (42745)	1/7/1998 9:12:00 PM
From: Philip J. Davis	Respond to of 58324

Ockham, Very succinctly stated. >>For these reasons, the most important announcements this year were that Norton had a Zip Recovery product, and that BIOS programmers were making the Zip bootable<< I couldn't agree more. I just wish they would hurry up and do it. Wasn't there a Micron announcment recently that said they would soon discontinue installing the 3 1/2" drive as the a: drive and instead substitute an internal Zip drive as a standard feature on their full line of computers? You are ablsolutely right about the Zip not being "the standard". Not now. Inclusion rates in the vast majority of new pc's confirms this. Honestly, though, when was the last time you needed to use the 3 1/2" floppy drive, other than to install software, or to reboot? Practically everyone who wants a new computer, buys one partly because they want internet access. Internet access obviates the need for the software distribution on a 1.44MB scale. The internet can do this very well. Exchanging data in amounts greater than 10MB or so, is still a job well suited for the Zip. Not very practical over the internet, though it can be done if you have plenty of time. Not until internet data transfer rates increase significantly, will Zip relinquish this niche. I think you minimize the effect of an installed base. Isn't the large installed base of Zip drives one of it's features? Philip

To: Ockham who wrote (42745)	1/8/1998 5:41:00 PM
From: David S.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 58324

Don't have too many problems with your argument yesterday. But you made some history shortcuts that twist your logic. 5.25 and 3.5 floppy were not introduced as a package. Rather, there have been a whole series of different floppys which both paralleled and succeeded one another. The first floppys were 8' and only held about 300 kb. The first IBM PC and clones came out with dual 5.25" floppys (around 1980). Once a hard drive was added (the XT) the second 5.25 floppy became optional. Apple introduced the 3.5 hardcase floppy in the early 80's and stuck with that till now - although there was one or two capacity upgrades. The PC stayed with the 5.25 exclusively for quite a while and it was only 5 to 7 years ago that some machines had both a 5.25 and a 3.5 and gradually, the 5.25 dropped out of the picture just a few years ago. Thus the standard, so to speak, for removeable storage was not in fact a standard other than it used a floppy magnetic media within a sturdy or stiff case. There were many floppy types. And there were all kinds of resulting problems using files between machines having different floppy types. ... Zip and or Clik can and may become the new standard for removeable storage in that over the next 5 to 10 years it can supplant and do away with the need for a floppy drive. But this will likely be a gradual transition and Iomega could end up with multiple competitors. The key here is wide distribution and use. With about 12 Million drives as a head start, Zip can be the standard as long as the price goes way down. KE knows this and he will drive the price of the drive and the disks down to expand the market. Regards, David S. Long on Intel and Iomega