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

To: Stitch who wrote (4960)	11/10/1998 4:30:00 AM
From: Pierre-X	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9256

I'll offer my opinion on the floppy replacement backward-compatibility issue, since I seem to have a somewhat variant view (as usual). <g> I'm of the personal opinion that, in a desktop machine, backward compatibility is NOT IMPORTANT. Zip will rule the desktop for the forseeable future by virtue of its large installed base. Why? Because 1.44 drives cost $12! (The price of one Zip DISK.) A desktop vendor would simply be stupid to risk the ire of procurement heavyweights simply to shave $12 from a machine. For this reason, I think HiFD will fail. It doesn't have enough of a capacity advantage to make it separately compelling. Since space and power are neglible constraints for desktops, slapping a 1.44 in there is a no-brainer. I'd wager that support costs related to the floppy drive are also insignificant for this venerable, long-proven technology. (Note that the floppy-less iMac is not aimed at the enterprise market.) In notebook land, the story is different. Space, power, and weight are large, ugly demons in this universe. Combining capabilities into a single device makes sense, and explains why LS-120 units are gaining a foothold with most of the large OEMs. What are the chances of squeezing a CD-RW unit into a notebook? Then one could do away with floppies and floppy replacements altogether--a very clean solution, it seems to me. What dyu think?

To: Stitch who wrote (4960)	11/10/1998 4:59:00 AM
From: Dale Stempson	Respond to of 9256

>>> I really wonder if the OEMs feel so strongly about backward compatibility still? Something tells me that Sony's HiFD plan has gone through a redirect in the recent past. <<< Stitch, The following are comments taken from a recent (10/12) Computer Retail Week article: "An internal version of the HiFD is scheduled for release in Q1 1999, and Sony is talking with potential OEMs. There is no firm date as to when the drive might appear as an option or standard on PCs, said Dirk Peters, marketing manager for Sony's value-added products. The company also declined to comment on when the drives would be included in Sony's Vaio PC line." techweb.com It's been ages and they're still just talking with potential OEMs? With no comment on inclusion in their own Vaio line, perhaps Sony is one of the boxmakers they're trying to convince! Regards - Dale