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

To: John Coltrane who wrote (3400)	2/20/1998 2:02:00 PM
From: lml	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 4679

John: Thanks for your posts. First, I am not a Voodoo owner, nor a gamer. I'm a holder of DIMD because I believe the multimedia experience of the computer is about to get a "shot in the arm" from 3-D graphics, DVD peripherals, video, etc. As such, although I believe both DIMD and CREAF will benefit from this impending trend, my view of things here is not necessarily WHO has the best card, but rather which stock will appreciate more from this impending upsurge in demand for enhanced multimedia experience. You state "[y]ou gotta realize the first buyers will be sophisticated or at least experienced purchasers. An announcement won't fool them, nor will it fool me." You sort of hit the nail on the head here. I'm trying to understand the gamer's mind here when it comes to shoving out $200-300 for a graphics card -- how much of it is cerebral & how much is emotional? When I first read about the "rush to market" by CREAF, I wondered how much testing has gone on here? How much weight is being given to quality control? It appears that CREAF's sole motivation in rushing to market is to beat out DIMD in order to capture the heart of 3-D gamers salivating the first release of a Voodoo2 card without much weight given to quality control. Is this a "sophisticated" purchaser? Today's news release by DIMD on heat-related problems with the 3dfx chip doesn't surprise me as it is consistent with my preceding comment. Granted, the release is a shrewed maneuver by DIMD to chill the demand for the first Voodoo cards to market, I also believe it is also demonstrative of the quality control now instituted by a company that has been learned its lesson by releasing problematic cards in the past. Further research has also lead me to the conclusion that DIMD's market is not exclusively gaming enthusiasts, but the larger, growing market for newcomers to the 3-D experience as well as the growing sub-$1000 PC market, which will eventually be quite a fertile ground for add-ons. [I believe this is where INTL's 740 chip will come into play.] Moreover, there appears to be numerous other board makers coming out with a 12MB Voodoo2-based board. I'm sure DIMD recognized this high-performance segment of the market, but initially, & maybe imprudently, chose to focus on the mainstream market where its sees greater potential growth. In summary & getting back to the heart of the issue here, I think there will be two camps of serious gaming enthusiasts in want of the Voodoo2 board. Some will rush out & buy the first Voodoo boards on the shelves; others will wait until all the dust, bullsh-t, & market-jousting settles before moving up the next level. Time will tell.