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Wednesday, November 05, 1997 Tuesday, Iomega closed at $28 15/16, up $3/8 (+1.31%). TODAY'S RECAP: Curiosity has been piqued in recent days by Iomega's "big announcement" -- two hands counting down from ten fingers on the Iomega home page. Naturally, speculation has run rampant, and a few of the more detailed suggestions are printed below. Other posters devoted time to discussing the laptop Zip, comparing the SparQ to Zip and highlighting news about other Iomega products. Enjoy! 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++ BHM ALA shares the opening and URL for a recent PC World article on the
Ditto Max.
Recap written by TMF Weekly; posts
compiled by TMF Weekly. As always, the following posts represent the thoughts of our contributors, not those of The Motley Fool.
And now, the Best of the Board...Started 9:01pm ET 11/3/97. 1+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Subject: Backup Bonanza: Iomega Ditto Max
Backup Bonanza: Iomega Ditto Max Choosing the right capacity in a backup drive can seem as tough as picking lottery numbers. With hard drives jumping from an average of 2GB a year ago to 4GB today--and perhaps to 8GB next year -- it's hard to choose an affordable backup unit that won't soon be outdated. Iomega has a novel solution with its new $199 Ditto Max and $299 Ditto Max Professional drives. Backup Bonanza: Iomega Ditto Max
http://www.pcworld.com/cgi-bin/database/body.pl 2+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Subject: Re: Sparq vs Zip? << Most people pay $300 for that package. The drive retails typically for $149. The disk 10-pack retails typically for $149. That both are available at select outlets and warehouse stores for $99 doesn't mean much to most consumers. >> Who says it doesn't? :) I bought my Zip for $169 at the Price Club warehouse in Feb. '96 when they were typically retailing for $199 around here in Southern California and even more elsewhere. The $99 Zip drives I see are advertised in the LA Times and Orange County Register, the most expensive ad buys in Southern California newspapers. That means those places are moving merchandise of all kinds and know the Zip will bring the folks in. At other outlets I've seen prices at $129 and the $149 you mention. Mail order catalogues cover the same range. You can add a Zip to your new Dell computer for $99 or buy one by itself from Dell and other OEMs for $189 plus a three-pack (online price).
If I were buying one today I'd get the cheapest possible, although I would definitely shy away from refurbished models. I know plenty of people will settle for the $149 for convenience's sake but my bet is that a whole lot of drives are being bought for less than $149. I'll grant you the $149 for the 10-pack and call it $250 for a Zip drive+1.1 gb (you still get that free Zip disk with the drive). So let's call it a close finish for the starting point for a SparQ vs. Zip purchase. Then the question becomes, for the consumer: Do I need a whole gig for the admittedly advantageous price of $39 or do I just need a 100 megs at a time for $12-$15 on a disk I know is already compatible with 10 million other machines? Value doesn't always win out, witness the EZFlyer's resounding failure despite a distinct megabyte advantage. Function (I really need about 100 megs that are easily and safely portable, safety being a hidden cost factor) and familiarity (I know a lot of people with Zips) also serve to slice into the SparQ's price edge. But, really, it's worth reading the SyQuest spin on this product again. I got the definite feeling that this is aimed at the Jaz and the higher end of portable storage, so arguments about the impact on the Zip are moot anyway. At least IMO. Paul Loop 3+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Subject: MCSE's for zip I've had the recent pleasure of doing a "home-brewed" 5 node network at my law office. As part of this wonderful experience, including learing how to fish UTP 5 cable thru walls and over the muckity-muck in the false ceiling, I got a book aimed at WIn95 and the networking essentials portion MCSE certification (Microsoft Certified System Engineer). Quite helpful for the novice Win95 peer-to-peer LAN manager...but I stray from the point. In the book, the authors sing the praises of installing all the files for Win95 on a server or (here comes the punch-line) a Zip disk. Now, I haven't read very many MCSE books or other technical tomes, but a mention like this, specifically about Zip (and not appearing in your picture: Syquest, Avatar, LS-120, various MO drives, or CD-RW) is encouraging. More to the point: the authors are not some freaked out technojunkies - I mean MCSEs are (sometimes) respected, right. 4+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Subject: O'Grady likes Laptop Zip From O'Grady's Powerbook website at www.ogrady.com (November 1, 1997): <<On the bright side, I have been using a pre-release seed unit of the VST Zip 100 drive in a PowerBook 3400 for the past few months, and have been impressed with the implementation and with performance. Full compatibility with desktop Zip drives is supported, and appears to be perfect in the limited testing I have done. The VST PowerBook Zip drive came complete with an automated seven-language installer, a universal version of Mac OS 8 pre-installed, and the usual Iomega Tools applications for read/read-write password protection of individual Zip cartridges. With respect to productivity, the expansion bay pioneered by Apple, and particularly the expansion bay Zip drive, is probably the most significant enhancement to PowerBook productivity in recent years and an incredibly useful peripheral.>> Regards, Bill Polk 5+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Subject: 10 Fingers
Ten fingers extended high
Comdex is coming we know
they are counting down no doubt
Iomega can Market we know
My guess is it isn't too lame
Whatever it happens to be
It seems too much to hope
Whatever it is that they say 6+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Subject: 9 fingers up The IOM "Big Announcement" page has been updated to show 9 fingers. Is launching an Ad campaign considered a "Big Announcement" .......I can't believe it would be 10 million Zips is big news because it's a major milestone....but... .....a Big Announcement? To me it would be anti-climatic A major OEM going "standard" and maybe making the floppy the option? ......that would be a Big Announcement A major OEM (or a group of them) announcing n.hand products .....that would be a Big Announcement for sure A new product, maybe DVD related .....that would be big, especially if it was DVD-RAM and priced under $500 A big price cut on zip drives and/or disks .....not so big an announcement Iomega has been doing it all along A major launch of the Laptop zip .....that would be a Big Announcement The launch of the 15mm and 12.7mm laptop zips at the same time .....that would also be big A new product that we haven't considered yet .....another paradigm shift in storage solutions, but what could that be I am leaning toward a pre-comdex announcement regarding n.hand, and when I think about that possibility I can't imagine it is anything technical (like a working drive) I think it would have to be a product announcement, and actually I think it would be more then one. Probably involving HP or Fuji or Kodak or 3 Com (pilot) or Minolta or ...... well there are a lot of possibilities. The best scenario I can imagine is a family of products, PDA's, Cameras, GPS maybe, and possibly a caddy or other device that allows easy transfer to a desktop PC. Maybe it just involves one company adopting n.hand as a standard for all it's handheld consumer devices, a company that is intent on capturing a large share of this new emerging market. Mostly I think the next 9 days will pass so slowly that it will feel like being 11 years old again waiting out those last few days before Christmas, it will feel like forever. 7+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Subject: Re: 9 fingers up Junkyard writes: <<I am leaning toward a pre-comdex announcement regarding n.hand, Probably involving HP or Fuji or Kodak or 3 Com (pilot) or Minolta or ...... well there are a lot of possibilities.>> As I said yesterday, I think an n.hand announcement is as good a guess as any. As pure speculation, I'm inclined give an HP connection more weight. We know that: 1) HP's Greeley, CO works is developing an HP-original digital camera to replace the Konica co-brand they sell now. HP -- a company not well known in consumer electronics -- likely feels compelled to deliver a knock-out product with a high level differentiation and superior engineering. And they, perhaps more than others, have the know-how to make n.hand work right (see #5). 2) HP has strong R&D ties to Iomega; IO's Chief Technolgy Officer, Doug Clifford, is the former head of HP's Mass Storage R&D. Clifford, who was well-respected at HP, undoubtedly continues to have close connections with his former company. 3) HP has invested a lot in its PhotoSmart initiative, and plans to bring to consumers a COMPLETE solution ranging from cameras to printers, scanners and PCs... The one thing they don't control is mass portable storage... The DO recommend Zip as a storage medium on their Photosmart Web site, BTW. 4) HP is an Iomega OEM -- the first big one -- and is happy enough with Zip to make it an option in its new line of Omnibooks. This is a huge vote of confidence, IMO. 5) As the first big OEM, HP likely would have had an early crack at n.hand. As a computer company, they're more likely than Kodak or Fuji to understand, appreciate and see the potential for the technology. All speculation, of course, IMHO. _______________________________ End Report. Posts covered through 9:00pm ET 11/4/97. _______________________________
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