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Technology Stocks : Ampex Corporation (AEXCA) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gus who wrote (4270)	1/2/1999 11:25:00 AM
From: flickerful	Respond to of 17679

a concern raised by RH... [agreed, gus: they are an invaluable resource.] digital entertainment, through which RH recognizes, in no small way, that "the maturing of the Web has altered our take on these markets" and so therefore, digital hollywood may no longer be a prospectively all-embracing title.....makes the following statement: Of all the industries in our Digital Entertainment universe, music appears to be the most unprepared for change... further, ..." most of the music industry refuses to accept: that consumers can now control intellectual property. In the digital world, the companies that stand to profit are those that can dictate where consumers go to get content." the critical issues may not be ignored: newfound consumer ability [Diamond Mutimedia] and increasingly available content [the Beastie Boys].... " the Beastie Boys' actions suggest that the labels' role will change dramatically with the growth of digital formats like MP3." my concernis this: could we not, with minor alterations, simply replace Dolby with Ampex in the following....Few companies are as familiar with the impact of new standards as Dolby Laboratories. More than three decades ago Dolby Labs ushered in a new era in audio technology, but in recent years the company...... A plan for the Internet, however, is still glaringly absent from Dolby Labs' strategy. ok..... at least, we would appear to have a plan. but yes, waiting for bandwidth to "arrive" is a foolish, and probably futile, strategy.... the longer we languish in silence, however, the more remote the chance remains for any first to market rewards for a company historically associated with innovative firsts. it seems an awful waste to me.

To: Gus who wrote (4270)	1/2/1999 11:57:00 AM
From: Hal Campbell	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 17679

Excellent overview, Gus. As always. <<1999 has a distinct "river meets the sea" look and feel to it. Strong cross-currents, undercurrents, debris, etc>> Doesn't it? Well said. Having recently increased my stake, I admit to have reverted to gambling here. For several reasons, the riskiest investment I have ever made. My guess, in cash flow terms, is that with any continued decline in revenues AXC has maybe a year and a half to keep burning their actual cash ...after that they would be operating on their still substantial borrowed funds. Of course in the meantime ....if in these last few years they have been working on concepts and projects beyond KM and 19mm and the lawsuit - as they have hinted several times - and if those plans are finally revealed and catch the fancy of the market? Well quite an upside could be achieved independently of profits and immediate cash flow. Dreaming of the latter when the silence finally ends. It'll take more than another acquisition to achieve that. Will take some clearly defined plans, or better yet ( my hope) some striking deals already struck. When the silence ends. It will won't it? <g>

To: Gus who wrote (4270)	1/3/1999 2:03:00 AM
From: B. A. Marlow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 17679

Great stuff in and linked to your post, Gus. Read it all. One thing that strikes me from your material--especially from Red Herring and the Ray Dolby bio--is that today, the action really is audio, not video. Here's a line that stayed with me: <<"One thing I do know is that more Web sites will use more audio," Dolby says. "I finish playing with RealAudio and go to a Weh site that's silent, and it's dull by comparison.">> Since audio is the genesis of Ampex (and bandwidth constraints will remain the scourge of Internet video for the time being), it seems that--at least for now--Ampex ought to be rolling out an Internet audio initiative. Perhaps in conjunction with others (again, BCST comes to mind), it should be showing corporate America how to put audio broadcasting to work (and sell subsystems and services along the way). And to build consumer mind share for the future, it should get its logo emblazoned on everybody's Web site, and on RealPlayer and Media Player, not to mention some proprietary software tools as well. Let's face it, Internet sound is still terrible, and it's more than just a bandwidth/compression issue. There's no user flexibility or "post production" control. And buffering is all messed up. Microsoft and RealNetworks obviously need help. The MP3 thing is a tempest and up for grabs and--as flickerful emphasizes--Dolby seems to have nothing (visible) going. Meanwhile, Ampex is just sitting there with its hands in its pockets? What am I missing? BAM