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Wednesday, November 13, 1996 Iomega was down $3/4 Tuesday, closing at $23 (-3.16%). TODAY'S RECAP: Little happened to excite observers of the removable drive industry Tuesday, save for a routine announcement from SyQuest that it would be displaying its new, 3.5-inch, 1.5 gigabyte SyJet drive at the Comdex computer trade show next week in Las Vegas. Left with nothing fresh to chew on, contributors to our Iomega board mulled over old news, including last week's "n.hand" announcement and the recent large insider options sale by Iomega's marketing VP, Tim Hill. In one interesting thread below, ~Tester tjc~, discusses the emerging new Global Positioning System (GPS) technology and considers how Iomega's new n.hand device could be incorporated into it. Just another day of Fools watchin' the disks spin in cyberspace... INDEX: Use the Search or Find feature of your word processor to locate the article number (Find: 1++, 3++, etc.) -- or use AOL's Edit>>Find in Top Window Feature. If Find in Top Window is dimmed, just click on some text, anything, in the IOM Today window and try again.
1++EBLUESTONE discusses a review in the New York Times of the Olympus Sys.230
drive. And now, the Best of the Board...Started 3 am ET 11/12/96.
1++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subj: Revenge of the NY Times Date: 96-11-12 09:39:13 EST From: EBLUESTONE
L. R. Shannon in the Peripherals column of the New York Times Science Times Section, reviews the Sys.230 Storage from Olympus Image Systems:
<<was obviously inspired by the Zip Drive, and it has advantages over it<<
It is obvious from his column that this is a Me-Too product and it is obvious what the disadvantages are: it is bigger, heavier, more difficult to operate (to remove from drive), and costs more than Zip ($389 versus $149). It is hard to tell from Shannons article exactly what the advantages are.
If you remember, Mr. Shannon had difficulty installing the Zip drive when he first reviewed the product over a year ago and a half ago (if memory serves ). He couldnt get the Zip working on his computer, even though he could install it on a borrowed computer. After several days, in a fit of frustration, he shook his computer, and that seemed to have worked. That generated quite a few email messages from the MF board, some of it was unkind - to say the least. Most concluded that it was a loose cable of some kind (maybe from his computer), and it was no fault of the Zip Drive. 2++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subj: Dataquest Report Date: 96-11-12 11:58:35 EST From: Cynicalguy
Dataquest
I am pretty excited by the new Dataquest report. I will post the highlights.
<<This announcement is one that introduces the technology so that perspective users and OEM's may understand its capabilities as new personal, handheld products are designed. Shipments could begin as early as September 1997>>
<<The most interesting aspect of the n-hand is that the diskettes will be compatible with future generations of the Iomega Zip drive. Iomega will likely produce a caddy that will hold and position the tiny cartridge for insertion into a Zip drive...this means that information can be acquired by a handheld device and transferred easily to the desktop or a personal computer>>
<<The applications for the n-hand are as numerous as your imagination will allow. Any consumer electronics handheld product is likely to be further enabled by such a device.>>
<<Iomega has not reveled pricing for the drive, but such a product must lie somewhere between the $18 cost of floppy disk drives and the $80 OEM cost of high-capacity floppy drives. The annual digital camera market is likely to reach 6 million units by the end of the decade, smart phones are believed to be a 2 million per year market around that time, and automotive global positioning could consume as many as 15 million to 20 million units in 1999.>>
<<Iomega has done its homework again. THE N-HAND PRODUCT LINE WILL QUICKLY ECLIPSE THE ZIP MARKET. (that wasn't in caps in the report-my emphasis-just so excited about a product that will make Zip and Jaz secondary (wink)). It doesn't take much figuring to see that the $10 media market for digital photography could be on of the biggest thinks to hit the information storage industry.>>
<<Compatibility will the Zip drive adds frosting to the cookies. The increased customer base that will result for from consumer electronics will give an extra added "kicker" to the Zip drive market, opening up a much broader demand base.>>
<<Working prototype product should be available for viewing at COMDEX this month.>>
<<Once again, the gang from Utah has proved to be creative and unafraid to break with the traditions of the computer storage market. Dataquest believes that the n-hand will be a sure success and could create an entire new segment of the storage industry>>
GO IO!!!!!!!!! Cynicalguy Bill Bronsteen the plan coming together the NEW beginning of the beginning 3++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subj: Options Date: 96-11-12 12:39:55 EST From: Karljo
Let me try to add something to the discussion on options. Someone said that Hill didnt own the stock and they are absolutely correct. A block of options typically gets issued at a strike price, either market price or a discount to the market at the time they are issued.
Even though the options are granted to the individual, they generally can not exercise them right away (nor does it make sense to as they would recognize no profit). They are usually vested over a period of time. Vesting means that the individual gets the right to then exercise the granted options. For example, 1000 options may be granted at todays price but they are vested over 5 years. That would mean that every year the executive would qualify to exercise 20% at the original strike price. They dont have to exercise them and can wait until an appropriate time which meets their financial needs and gives them an appropriate return. Options usually have an expiration date that they must be exercised by.
The profit that the individual makes depends on the difference between the strike price that the options were issued at and the price they were sold for. With options, you can either buy the shares and hold them (I think that this still triggers a taxable income from the IRS perspective) or trade out and receive the profit like it appears Hill did.
FWIW, I dont really care why Hill sold - there may be personal reasons, like a daughter/son going to college, replacing the old clunker, refinancing the house etc. These guys have personal lives and financial pressure the same as we all do, just to a different degree. He may also have decided that now is the time to reap some of the rewards. If the price was low at the time he sold doesnt mean he doesnt have confidence in the company, he just may be lousy with his investments.
As a long term investor I am more interested in the fundamentals of the company than whether one of the executives decides to get some cash. 4++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subj: n.hand and GPS Date: 96-11-12 14:46:01 EST From: Tester tjc
Global Positioning Systems or GPS have been around for 3 to 5 years within the range of a consumer product. Their use has developed first within the Marine industry, then Aeronautics and now Automotive positioning. I have had personal use in all three.
The Marine unit price range is now down to the point that most boat owners have or want one. (Unless their boat is under about 18 feet long) The Marine unit utilizes internal memory in the lower cost units (especially handheld). Users input positions when they are in a locale. They could recall them later from memory to go there again. They can enter longitude and latitude to find a location and store the information of that locale. With the more expensive units the consumer can purchase the map for an area in rom chips and PC media to transfer to the unit. n.hand technology would be a perfect fit for ease of use and cost reduction. In a handheld it would be perfect for the sale of mapping.
Pilots are now using GPS in most small planes. If they don't have it they want it. The information in nautical mapping should be updated annually for pleasure boaters. With the air pilot, it is more frequent. If inexpensive storage is available the standard time to obtain updates would probably decrease. Auto GPS, now being tested and used by some car rental companies is very locale oriented as Ben suggested.
You should understand the importance of updating maps in both the marine and aeronautical arenas. Marine use contends with constantly changing depths and markers and bouys. Restricted areas and dangers are noted on each new chart. More and more GPS is allowing the movement at night and in foul weather. In the fog or driving rain visibility is worthless and GPS is a lifesaver, literally. The same is true with the air pilot. They have to contend with changing airport conditions, restrictions etc too. N.hand doesnt change the technology, it eases the ability and lowers the cost to transfer, modify, update and change and store the "transportation stuff". A large part of the time delay in the growth of this technology is cost. N.hand just made the cost much lower.
GPS technology is probably going to become more pervasive than many others. The technology cost is just declining to the point it is finding its way into the consumer marketplace. Just think, the new car theft prevention systems telling where the stolen auto is located. The fleet of government car pool cars all located in an instant. It can not only tell the driver where the vehicle is but the owner, employer, traffic cop, FAA, Air traffic controller etc. With the proper ruggedness and low cost, n.hand is a potential for every boat over 18 feet, airplane and any automobile driven out of state.
Tom A small plane pilot and boater 5++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subj: More GPS Date: 96-11-12 16:25:00 EST From: Tester tjc
GPS cost for marine use are available as low as 149.00 for a hand held unit. This would not have a map plotter or the preset mapping information (see previous post). This is from an marine discount outfit E&B Marine. Their price on a unit with a map plotter start about $700.00 and up. The data cartridges (I assume they are rom chips) cost from 100.00 to 249.00 depending on detail. One of the cartridges will cover the lower Chesapeake Bay and another the upper portion of the bay to give a geographic idea of the amount of info. I will try to find out the memory amount.
The technology is owned by the US govt. It was developed for the Armed Forces. They send up and maintain the satellites and maintain a margin of error of 50 feet for non military purposes. This is how they send the new smart bombs with their margin of error of inches. The cost depends on how many satellites are used for the triangulation. GPS is basically a receiver and calculator. not expensive technologically. The expensive part is maintaining storing and updating the map stuff.
Im no expert only a slightly computer literate boater and pilot iom owner
note the importance of mapping info and cost the 100 cartridges are not detailed, probably less than 1 meg (guess)
Tom 6++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subj: Pop. Sci. What's New Issue Date: 96-11-12 18:01:55 EST From: RobinBen1
I'm usually just a lurker on this board, but I just got back from a pretty cool luncheon hosted by Popular Science honoring their picks for this years "Best of What's New Awards." One hundred companies were selected by the magazine and they were also present at the event. You can buy the December issue of Popular Science and see for yourself which products were selected. There were four computer companies present - Gateway, IBM, Compaq and Apple. I'm one of those technically ignorant sorts, but I did manage to get some information from Gateway, Compaq and IBM. Sorry if this info is redundant, I'm a little behind in my reading of this board...
Gateway was showing their Destination model. I spoke with Stacy Hand. He is the Product Marketing Manager for Destination. I asked if they were going to be adding an internal Zip. He said that they don't see a need for it, but a customer can order an external one or an internal tape drive (the internal drive is not currently iomega, but that is being considered for the future). I asked what they were going to be introducing at Comdex and he said all major news has already been announced.
Compaq was hyping their Presario 3020 which came out last month. While the design is pretty cool, I did notice that it doesn't come with biggest, fastest, or most of anything compared with other top of the line computers. The product manager I spoke with was not forthcoming about any Comdex news.
IBM gave me the best information. I spoke with Eldrice Murphy, IBM Product Reviews (don't know what that job title means). They had their Aptiva S on display. Asked about internal Zip - he seemed reluctant to tell me that it will be available in first quarter '97 (will be announced at Comdex). After I offered to buy him a few drinks for additional Comdex info (naturally booze is free at these events), he told me that the CD-ROM drive in the Aptiva S will be replaced with DVD (Ben, is this new). He told me I'd have to come to Comdex myself for additional info.
I also spoke with Canon a little bit. They had a digital camera which sells for $949 and IMHO, took pretty crappy pictures. I asked if there was some way to hook up the camera to the TV to see pix on a bigger screen. There is an adapter that can do that, but they said the quality of the pictures would be worse than seeing it on a computer. Asked about n-hand - they heard of it, but didn't know anything about it.
One totally unrelated product that I saw was an electronic device that decreases vibration. It's a piezoelectric damping module. It's first commercial application is in a new line of K2 skis, but it has lots of other commercial applications (cars, rollerblades, etc). It's made by a company called ACX located in Cambridge, MA. They are not public yet, but are hoping to do so soon - check them out.
Hope this is news to a least some of you.
BTW - I'm in advertising and I've noticed some questions on the topic. Since I'm usually a few days behind reading all the posts on the board, feel free to email me with any related questions.
Robin 7++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subj: Re:n.hand and GPS Date: 96-11-12 23:25:34 EST From: JonTara
<<From: Tester tjc
With the more expensive units the consumer can purchase the map for an area in rom chips and PC media to transfer to the unit. n.hand technology would be a perfect fit for ease of use and cost reduction. In a handheld it would be perfect for the sale of mapping.>>
Why do you think that a $10 nHand disk would be a better choice than a $1 mini-CD-ROM?
Is there any need in a GPS receiver to actually store something on the disk?
If not, the application just doesn't make sense. People, Zip/Jaz/nHand are NOT practical as distribution media, unless media costs come WAY down.
Sorry to sound like a broken record, but this keeps coming up. And I know that somebody will come along and say "but we never said that it was a distribution media". Well, there's your post right above. That's why I keep talking about unsuitability as a distribution media, because people keep wanting to make it so. 8++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subj: On being Consistent Date: 96-11-12 23:32:01 EST From: HYPEMENOT
Weaselboy2
Earlier today, you posted two consecutive messages which, given their content and juxtaposition, really stimulated my curiosity. In the first message, which focused on the Tim Hill matter, you plaintively asked (begged would really be more accurate) the participants here to:
<<< Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please - Pretty please with sugar on top? Please stop this discussion. Please >>>
It is understandable that you are tired of reading about this, since we HAVE beaten the subject to death. Unless some additional new information comes to light, there is no point in those of us who have opposing views continuing to repost them (as someone else eloquently said) ad nausea.
What I find curious, however, is that you then follow up with a second post with your own personal speculation about still another potential benefit of the n.Hand. I didnt bring this up to get into the merits of your idea, but rather to demonstrate another point altogether. And that is, that after maybe 20 or 30 posts about Tim Hills stock sale, you were so bored, disgusted or whatever, that you (understandably) pleaded for an end. Yet you are perfectly content to add another totally speculative post to what now probably totals at least 150 posts on the n.Hand since IOs press release last week!
I think its quite interesting that, despite this very large number of posts, neither you or anyone else that posted messages asking for an end to the Tim Hill discussions, has evidenced the slightest bit of fatigue or impatience regarding this ongoing stream of messages concerning a device that KE (in his CNBC interview) stated he hopes to have out in the hands of OEMs toward the end of 1997!!
If this kind of announcement had been made by an IO competitor, the word VAPORWARE would have been evoked in dozens of messages. But, since it came from IO, it is greeted with endless speculation about potential uses. But there is not the slightest bit of impatience, from you or anyone else, with the vast number of messages and the tremendous amount of time being devoted to this subject. No matter that, assuming there are no HITCHES along the way, it will be a YEAR before the n.Hand appears. No matter that, as MF Ben and others have pointed out, questions of size, cost, stability, etc., may yet prove to be real limitations with regard to many of the applications speculated about here. No matter that, other than the intended price of the drive and the disk (and the 1 7/8 inch square size) that little else is known about the operating specs of the n.Hand
And of course, these are only some of the uncertainties Internal to IO. With a year (or more) before this device is a reality in the marketplace, there is additionally a set of questions regarding EXTERNAL developments, that no one can answer with confidence. Like where will flash memory prices be a year from now (I read last week on this board about an important breakthrough by Sandisk that will materially its cost )? What will be the response of some of the powerhouse players in the flash memory business (again I believe I read here last week that these included Intel and TI)? What about the possibility of a competing miniature storage device surfacing during the coming year?
The point of all this is that there are many unknowns, which IMO, means no one can reach reliable conclusions at this moment in time. Which is why Im amazed that no one seems to think that, at the least, it is premature to be devoting this much time and energy to these lengthy discussions of n.Hand.
HYPEMENOT 9++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subj: Re:On being Consistent Date: 96-11-12 23:52:44 EST From: MF DTurkey
<<<If this kind of announcement had been made by an IO competitor, the word VAPORWARE would have been evoked in dozens of messages.>>>
HYPEMENOT:
You're absolutely right. If this was a SyQuest announcement, Vaporware would be the term of the day. But you've got to take track records into account: when Iomega announced the Jaz drive at PC Expo in June 1995, the had a working model up and running for all to see. When they announced the Laptop Zip at this year's PC Expo, they had a working model up and running for all to see. Quite a bit different from other companies, who's big announcements are sometimes accompanied by an empty shell. How long was it after the LS-120 & SyJet press releases before anyone saw those drives operating? Has anyone seen the Swan drive yet?
Dan 10++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subj: LS120 first hand Date: 96-11-12 23:55:28 EST From: DJIA101362
Just got this post of the SI Iomega board.
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To: Roy Snodgrass (11574 ) From: Minotaur Nov 12 1996 8:09PM EST Reply #11613 of 11627
Greetings.
I've followed this thread for months and have read every IOMG/IOM post on AOL as well.
Roy writes: "Has anyone actually seen an installed LS-120. I have read of only one person who has actually seen an LS-120 installed on a Compaq system."
I've sold approximately 80 Compaq DeskPro systems w/ LS-120 drives pre-installed. Technicians at my shop have installed 12 to date. Granted, that's not very many. But my customers are very pleased with them, my technicians are impressed with the ease of installation & setup, and I was very impressed with the performance of the drive. Is it as fast as a Zip? No. Is the media as inexpensive as Zip disks? No. Very impressive, nevertheless.
The slim-line LS-120 announcement was made approximately two months ago; old news, folks (I'll dig it up if anyone insists). Is it significant? That depends on the extent to which Zips displace floppies as the desktop standard.
If Zip continues to be adopted at the current pace and becomes the desktop standard, 3.5" floppies will be of very limited use (coasters, perhaps?). In this scenario the 3.5" floppy takes its place in history, the LS-120 fades quietly into obscurity, and the Zip is the standard.
However, if OEM's of any significance adopt the LS-120, Swan's new high capacity drive, or any technology other than Zip, there will be no replacement of the "standard", and the 3.5" floppy will remain for some time to come. In this scenario the LS-120 will compete handily with the Zip, particularly in laptops because the LS-120 has greater utility to laptop users if 3.5" floppies are still around.
Which scenario do I anticipate? I'm an IOM shareholder since April '95.
Regards.
End Report. Posts covered through 3 am ET 11/13/96. _______________________________
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