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

To: Stitch who wrote (6250)	5/7/1999 3:05:00 AM
From: Frodo Baxter	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9256

Unfortunately, I had nothing to contribute as to your bearing and youthful indiscretions. Geek Adventure #3243209: Regarding CD tracks as a demand driver for storage. Not likely. I just downloaded the new Jukebox from Real to rip my new Star Wars CD. It's a slick package. Alas, it can only rip CDs up to a 96Kbit rate, not the standard 112 or 128Kbit that's usually considered "CD quality". So I retreated to my usual tools, Windac and a more heavyweight mp3 encoder. In any case, it took hours to rip and encode the darn thing. On another note, looks like Quantum tried to pass through a price increase in distribution last week. Nobody bit, and they returned the pricing to normal. According to tit for tat theory, the next move is to unleash a price war as punishment.

To: Stitch who wrote (6250)	5/7/1999 5:18:00 AM
From: Z Analyzer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9256

<<Gentlemen, gentlemen;>> Stitch, You are very kind. We are deserving of so much worse. If I am correct in my assumption that Hutchinson is far and away the technology leader in suspensions, everything you said in your post about lower flying heights and increased precision seems to point to increased dominance for HTCH. Aside from these trends continuing throughout the remainder of the life of Pico heads, Hutchinson has described the next generation Femto heads as "orders of magnitude" more difficult. In your estimation is this and accurate assessment or somewhat of an exaggeration. Frankly, looking at the size of a Femto head, it's truly amazing the things could fly at all, even without carrying the added weight of a suspension. Any thoughts on my assumptions and the conclusion drawn? -Z

To: Stitch who wrote (6250)	5/7/1999 7:35:00 AM
From: CPAMarty	Respond to of 9256

First and perhaps foremost is cost. Cost is king. Technology plays a close second, but you gotta be competitive in your price. (This assumes that quality and time to market are sine qua non) Ok, then what is holding MXTR's price back? I believe that they have a low cost structure. Do they lack the ability to ramp up they latest technology (i.e. time to market)? Or is it fear of dilution for the sale of Hyundai's remaining shares? BTW, have you heard the buyback rumor? messages.yahoo.com

To: Stitch who wrote (6250)	5/7/1999 8:43:00 AM
From: Sam	Respond to of 9256

Stitch, <<he Japanese companies long resisted the move to SE Asia which gave U.S. companies many years of cost advantages. Instead, the Japanese kept their processes close to the design centers and focused on automation instead...[which] may have resulted in a significant advantage for the Japanese firms now that things weigh in favor of using more robotics.>> FWIW, according to Techmeister a couple of years ago, MKE has automated virtually everything in their assembly of drives for QNTM.