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Wednesday, November 20, 1996 Iomega was down $1/2 Tuesday, closing at $22 1/2 (-2.17%). TODAY'S RECAP: Let's see now... last Thursday, Iomega closed at $23 per share. The following day, Friday, it closed at $22 1/2. Then Monday, it was back up to $23, only to return to $22 1/2 again yesterday. What is this, an investment, or a Wall Street version of Pong? The Comdex trade show got most of the attention in our Iomega folder Tuesday, and most of today's I/T is made up of reports from the floor of that exhibition. Below you will find information on Iomega's presence at the show from shareholders who are on the scene. Since some of today's posts involve some unsubstantiated rumors, let us offer our usual warnings against accepting what is said here without reservation. Please remember that all reports of agreements between Iomega and other companies should be viewed with a skeptical eye until confirmed or denied by the companies involved. 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++Perros reports live from Comdex. And now, the Best of the Board...Started 3 am ET 11/19/96.
1++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subj: Comdex Monday Date: 96-11-19 08:26:10 EST From: Perros
Got there less than 1 hour before close. Watched the Iomega multi-media presentation first. Two guys and a gal, music, clever lyrics, and video. Nice job. As I decide not to elaborate on the female participant, I'm struck by a question : Anybody have some cold water handy? After a little re-orientation, I grabbed a big, yellow Iomega bag, of which I saw many all around comdex, and stuffed some buttons and literature. I had just enough time to browse around before close so I hit the n.hand display. There was a digital camera with the n.hand drive built-in internally - no brand name, of course. If I'm able to go back tomorrow, I'll have to hit the Kodak booth and see if one of their digital cameras looks hauntingly familiar. :) The rep told me that the idea was to get OEMs to build-in the drive to make the device n.hand ready. Built-in like that it seemed to take up very little space and was constructed very elegantly. Browsed the whole layout for a couple of minutes before the loud voice from up above (you don't suppose......nah) announced the closing of comdex day one.
Time to sign off. Gotta go plan my strategy for scoring a T-shirt. :)
Perros 2++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subj: Re:DISAPPOINTED Date: 96-11-19 10:32:27 EST From: BigWitts
<<After the anticipation of the last couple weeks and the general attitude of this board, there's nothing that IOMEGA can do to impress anyone or change the current market moves. Folks are hanging their heads and throwing in the towel again. I guess the LS 120 and swan and flash memory are blowing IOMEGA out of the water and people are swarming to stores to buy those drives to add on their machines and OEMS are falling over themselves to add a swan drive or LS 120 and don't forget IOMEGA insiders are bailing. What a joke. For once I have to agree with the posters who decry hyping-- yes this board has hyped itself to believe that Comdex would be a wondrous turn around. It's just one more step, one more brick in the wall sealing out swan and LS120. Take it easy everyone.>>
Just to bring you up to speed.....I was at COMDEX yesterday....absolutely no one was hanging their head. IOM was by far the busiest booth I saw....with 100- 250 people in it at all times and a great deal of interest from the attendees. Really good job done by staff on the main floor with company reps taking care of business on the 2nd level. KE spent a representative amount of time in the area. IMO...it was the most active and energy charged area in the show....
The n.hand display included mock ups of cameras, cell phones and a see-thru casement of a physically working drive. There was substantial interest in this area....making it generally difficult to get up to the table.
There were about 10 OEMs displayed across a long table with big yellow signs clearly indicating IOM products inside and what they can do for you. Approximately 5 ongoing live presentations of Zip - Jaz and Ditto. Each location consistently had the interest 10 - 20 people.
It was the busiest booth with the highest energy level I saw at the show. In contrast....twice I went by the Syquest booth to see less that 10 people there....reps included.
Oh yeah....IOM even had a live group singing on a stage (part of the booth area), with seating for about 50. These are the kind of things that make a show successful.....and IOM had a definite presence....surely nothing for one to hang their head over....
Regards...
BlckMarlin 3++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subj: Re:Press Conference? Date: 96-11-19 13:00:20 EST From: BlckMarlin
<<So, when is the rescheduled press conference? Does anyone know?
Thanks, Joe>>
I spoke with an IOM PR rep yesterday at the show at 10:45am. I asked where the 11:00 announcement would made. She was unaware of any scheduled announcement at that time and indicated that she would know if one had been scheduled. She then briefed me on the two announcements that had been released earlier in the morning.
I don't know where the rumor started that there was an important announcement scheduled for 11:00am Monday. I recall someone posted it on Saturday. It's too bad some have interpreted that information/rumor as something imminent and are now disappointed.
The show is only on its 1st. day.....give it a chance to progress. What I saw was very encouraging and certainly doesn't warrant the disappointing postings I have seen on this board since yesterday.
Keep up the faith!.....The story is getting better every day.
Regards
BlckMarlin 4++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subj: A Jazz Encounter Date: 96-11-19 16:20:48 EST From: TedRooney
I know this is not a good time with all of the Comdex excitement going on. I may be bringing absolutely no new information to the table, but I had a chance encounter that I found encouraging, and I want to share it. Since I've never posted, I feel I have the right to ramble at least once (I've certainly endured my share of rambling on this board :-)
I was sitting at a Starbucks sipping on some of God's finest (To be expected from any red blooded American.......OK, I'm a stock holder :-) in Studio City, CA, and I noticed a Zip disk on a neighboring table. I began grilling the owner (To be expected of any red blooded IOM holder). This is the information that I was able to glean from him:
He is a film composer. He creates film scores. He runs with the big boys/girls in Hollywood. His next movie to come out via Universal will be <<Drive>>. He uses the Jazz drive to store his stuff. He said that one disk holds about 90 minutes of music. He said that he loves it. He's had no problems, though he's heard of people that have (Unfortunately, I didn't ask him about that).
What he said that really caught my attention was that he is amazed how fast Jazz has become standard (His words) with people in the business. "Especially for something that just came out last year. Now EVERYBODY (My emphasis) uses it. No on comes to a meeting without a Jazz disk in his brief case." So from his point of view, Jazz is the defacto standard for music storage among film score composers. Granted, that ain't the largest market in the world, but this is a very picky group of people who can't afford to make mistakes. Too much money is on the line. It impress me is that at the same time Jazz is a product that is affordable to the masses, it is also the device of choice among a group of pros who can afford the best.
I asked him if he'd heard of recordable CDs. He pulled out three of them that had been sitting underneath his Jazz disk. He said that they are great. I asked why, then, he still uses the Jazz. He told me that because the CDs aren't re-recordable the use is limited to copying and distributing his work, and because the disks themselves are cheap, he can afford to be liberal in this use of them, but the Jazz is necessary for it's rerecording capabilities. He said he is always adjusting and fine tuning his work on the Jazz Disks. He couldn't do that with the CDs. He also mentioned that when transferring stuff from a Jazz disk to a Recordable CD, the systems have to be very consistent and in sync (Not sure exactly what he meant by this) or the whole process will be screwed up. He said the Jazz drive has never failed him in this process. Every transfer he has made has been successful.
Is any of this information interesting? Anyone else have new stories about Jazz in the marketplace? I'm starting to think that Jazz, rather than Zip, is the <must have> when I get my new computer . (BTW. Any recommendations as far as Mac/Mac Compatible? I'm looking at around 180mhz models :-)
Peace through foolishness,
A Fool for him, TR. 5++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subj: lIve from Comdex/RonaldM348 Date: 96-11-19 18:25:14 EST From: Demo01
Swan is under glass!!!!! CEO Kim Eden is supposedly demonstrating to potential customers a working unit in a closed off space(He is doing this personally). Absolutely no working units shown to public. Claim OEM shipments first quarter-retail second quarter.
Syquest: Syjet shipping pushed back to January. Ripping off Iomega at every turn. Iomega: Huge booth with upstairs. Upstairs is for brass and customers only. This area(upstairs) was very busy both Monday and Tuesday. I saw Dave Dunn up there today.Did not see KE.
Have much, much to report. Look for a lengthy report late Wed. night. Ron Mason 6++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subj: What a day!!!! Date: 96-11-19 20:39:43 EST From: Cynicalguy
Fellow Fools:
I just spent the entire day on the floor of Comdex, most of it in Iomega's massive booth.
About the booth itself. The booth is probably the biggest and most impressive of the entire show. Above the booth is a level where only the suits go. Talk about deal making! While I was there executives from most of the major firms went up there to conduct business. About what-who knows.
I was told by my friends at Iomega that Kim Edwards was interviewed by CNN this morning. Was it live or taped? I was in transit at the time. I heard it went well and he showed the next generation Zip (the faster one) and the n-hand. Please help me here-I wasn't there.
I don't know where to begin-there is so much to tell. And I don't want anyone asking where the info came from. If I could tell you my sources the info wouldn't be worth your time to read given that it would be nothing you couldn't read in the paper (does that make sense? Dorfman didn't name his sources and he always knew what was going on-and no I am not comparing myself with Dorfman). Speaking of that and questioning one's sources-I had a long discussion with McConathy. The fact that someone questioned his source on the Apple rumor is laughable. McConathy seems to know the people at Apple very well. :)
Dell is a done deal. The Zips have just finished the evaluation stage are have been approved for use in the new lines of Dell computers.
Apple is a done deal. Looks like the announcement will come at MacWorld San Fran in January. And get this-one of the lines in which the Zip will be offered as an option will have the Iomega logo on the front of the computer whether it has a Zip inside or not. It will also have the bezel for it either way. Apple seems to think it is cheaper to do it this way and Iomega is delighted by the decision.
Sales in Europe are much stronger than expected.
VST is ready to go with their PowerBook Zip. They are just waiting for parts from Iomega now. The price range as of now is $299-349 and $299 is more likely as of today. They have a model for the 190/5300 and also now have one for the 1400/and new 3400 (code named Epic and Hooper) that will come out soon. Expect to see this PowerBook Zips by February.
There was a working version of the n-hand at the booth. It was quite cool to see. The mini-Zip will have an upgrade path in terms of megabytes that is faster than the current Zip. There was also a Kodak camera on display with the n-hand installed. This is not a stand alone product. It cannot exist without another product. Expect to see the n-hand ship soon into the second half of 97 inside other people's product. (speaking of that-I wonder why Kodak is involved in Zips across America?)
The new version of the Mac software (Iomega Tools 5.0.1) is very cool!!!!!! Any complaints I had are now worked out. There are advanced options where one can specify if the Jaz or Zip cartridge should eject or remain in after a restart or shutdown. Also, one will no longer have to use the disk updating software to update older Zip and Jaz disks. The new software driver will automatically update any disk one inserts.
As for Syquest-what a joke! Their booth was small and had Zips and Jaz on display. Thanks for the advertising. They now expect the Syjet to ship in quantity in the 1st quarter of 97. At MacWorld Boston the same man told me to expect that in September. I expect him to tell me April when I see him at MacWorld San Fran in January.
That's all for now. Still have many more things to find out this week-today flew by and was over too soon. Stay tuned.
Cynicalguy Bill Bronsteen You know the rest-no macro on road :(
Short term...well who cares? Long term this is the best damn company out there. Come to Vegas if you need proof. 7++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subj: Comdex Report- short version Date: 96-11-19 23:44:47 EST From: Robra
I got back from Comdex in the wee hours Tuesday morning. I was only able to go for Monday. I have some interesting things to report when I get a chance, but for now I just wanted to reports of IOM advertised on many cabs and some shuttle buses. In addition to cabs, IOM was on ALL (I said ALL) Greyhound buses in Vegas. I'm talking 20 feet of space along EACH side and covering the top half of the rear of the buses. IOM must be paying some bucks for this much real estate!!! I guess they weren't satisfied with those tiny cabs : -).
Additionally, Monday evening I spotted the "ZIP ACROSS AMERICA" bus a couple of times. It is a yellow (background color) with the IOM art (the emblem that sort of looks like a hand and the curly cue with the arrow on the end) covering the whole bus. Additionally, painted on the bus, are the sponsors of Zip Across America. Listed are Iomega, Kodak, Newsweek or Businessweek, and Texas Instruments. I don't remember reading anything about Texas Instruments being a sponsor. Did I merely forget?
Also, I talked with Kim Edwards for about 10 minutes Monday morning shortly after they let the masses onto the floor. Shortly after that, I ran into George Krieger, of Iomega. George is the guy that actually invented both the Zip and the Jaz! We spoke as he inspected the UHC in the Mitsumi booth, the LS-120 in the Maxell booth, and the Syjet 1.5 in the Syquest booth. He is really a good guy and the discussion was very enlightening for me.
I'll give more detail as I have time in the next day or so.
Robra 8++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subj: Re:What a day!!!! Date: 96-11-20 00:05:03 EST From: Vermont8
<<<Apple is a done deal.>>>
Beep. This is a recording
January: Apple is a done deal.
Feb: Apple is a done deal.
March: Apple is a done deal.
April: Apple is a done deal.
May: Apple is a done deal.
June: Apple is a done deal.
July: Apple is a done deal.
August: Apple is a done deal.
Sept: Apple is a done deal.
Oct: Apple is a done deal.
Nov: Apple is a done deal.
I guess if you keep repeating it every month, eventually it'll come true.
<<<Dell is a done deal.>>>
Guess this replaces the "Gateway is a done deal" posts 9++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subj: Re:What a day!!!! Date: 96-11-20 01:29:52 EST From: Robra
<<<There was a working version of the n-hand under glass. It was running a read and write routine.>>>
Bill - that accurately reflects my account of the display, as well.
Some here have mentioned Swan under glass. I didn't have a chance to get over to the Swan booth at the Sands, but as I posted earlier, I did visit the Mitsumi booth. They had an operational UHC playing a video on a PC. I thought the quality of the video was impressive. I would think Mitsumi and Swan have somewhat different designs of this, however, due to the recent alliance my guess is that with Mitsumi's help, the Swan unit is probably not far behind.
Robra
End Report. Posts covered through 3 am ET 11/20/96. _______________________________
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