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Re[2]: [OM] OT: Lordly Companies and mass-ware

Subject: Re[2]: [OM] OT: Lordly Companies and mass-ware
From: Dave Haynie <dhaynie@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 09:39:52 -0500 (EST)
On Wed, 13 Jan 1999 01:14:50 EST, Scj9000@xxxxxxx jammed all night, and by 
sunrise was overheard remarking:

> In a message dated 1/5/99 11:25:39 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> dhaynie@xxxxxxxxxx writes:

> << As we were talking about last
>  fall with the currently defunct state of SyQuest, if you're on Quest or
>  SyJet discs, you might seriously think about picking up a backup unit 

> Be not so rash yet about SyQuest..word thruout is that Iomega was negotiating
> when another buyer stepped in in the latter half of December. 

IoMega would not be such a good buyer, I suspect. They might want some
of the SyQuest products, but they're unlikely to want to support too
many redundant formats (eg, Jaz 1MB/2MB versus the incompatible SparQ or
SyJet, etc). 

However, another company would certainly be interested in maintaining
SyQuest products, at least those they felt could be kept profitable. Two
companies doing this sort of thing is much better than one -- they keep
each other honest.

Part of my point is that, due to the panic about SyQuest, you can find
very good deals today -- SparQ drives down in the $25-$35 range, etc. If
you intend to use this format and have lots invested in discs, buying a
backup drive is a good idea. If SyQuest goes away for good, you want the
backup unit (especially for a SparQ, which have something like a 35%
in-field failure rate, to date) since you don't be able to get for
forever. If it's back in production under another company, the prices go
back up to $150 or whatever they think is profitable that week. So, if
you're committed to the format, there's not much to lose today in
picking up a discount drive.

> This is supported by the fact that the web site was reactivated as of
> Dec 31 as was customer service.
> I think we'll still see some future innovations out of Syquest yet.

I would be nice to see them survive somehow. However, the simple fact of
their web site being back up doesn't say too much about the company.
Assuming they haven't cured their bankruptcy proceedings internally (
which, I think, is a good bet, since if they had, they would likely be
shouting it from the rooftops -- there's no information about their
current status up there), there's a good chance that a liquidator may
have been behind this resurrection. After all, maintaining a healthy-looking
SyQuest keeps customers happy and potential customers positive, letting
the web site die maintains the appearance of the company dying. This is
important if they're trying to sell off the company (as a whole or as
individual bits of property and IP), since it'll ultimately influence
what kind of offers they may get. 

Not that it's useless to users. I found out about their problems in
November or December when I went looking for current SparQ drivers. Now
that I can get them, maybe I'll stay a little happier with the SparQ
drive. Though I'm not looking for more discs, or putting anything
critical on them, until I believe there's a future for the medium.

--
Dave Haynie  | V.P. Technology, Met@box Infonet, AG |  http://www.metabox.de
Be Dev #2024 | NB851 Powered! | Amiga 2000, 3000, 4000, PIOS One



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