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

To: Sam who wrote (4533)	9/26/1998 1:07:00 PM
From: Stitch	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9256

Sam, <<Shugart Calls Conner 'Crazy' For Starting New Company>> Friggin reporters. The headline says he calls him crazy, but his remark included "or he knows something I do not know" is down at the bottom of the article. He went on to say that Finis had done that before. I can only assume he refers to Conner Peripheral's success built on the 3.5 inch which Seagate shelved for a prolonged period and was late to market. But he referenced Finis' prescience in drum beating for the 5 1/4 inch form factor much earlier when a Seagate co-founder. I know about this well as Seagate's decision cost me my job at the time when it swept the company I worked for right out from under my feet. Something I couldn't help but remember when Al went on to exhort folks to "be kind to one another" in his Diskcon speech. The cancellation of a 4.3 million dollar order came from Seagate on a copied form letter, over the fax, with no explanation. It came just a few weeks before the initial specified deliveries and after we had spent the money for hard tooling of the 3.5 inch. We had also spent several months of development, multiple meetings, and multiple sampling. The notice arrived 7 weeks after qualifying, 4 weeks after the final po was cut, and 3 weeks before initial deliveries. It cost another company their existence as well. A major supplier to us of raw materials who also had a huge investment in hard tooling. All paid for on an expedited basis. Seagate would not meet with us for 2 weeks after we had received the form letter. They stonewalled us on cancellation charges and tooling costs. And Al wants to tell us to be nice to one another. Poor Al...I admire what he has done over the years and believe him to be a true visionary but he is the wrong guy to exhort me to be kind. He should go tell it to Bob Sandy and Tom Mitchell, two of the biggest pricks that ever walked the face of this earth. And he should look into a mirror and say, over and over again, "how easy it is to preach the gospel, after stealing the good book." For myself I figure it was a business gamble that did not pay. I thought it at the time and still think it today. But that does not mean it was done well by Al's Seagate. I am also tired of the Ernest joke, though I still love dogs.<G> best, Stitch