T3D Re: Storage

[Oliver Dean <3d-image@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Greg Wageman wrote (speaking of the makers of the ORB removable disk
drive):

> Who are these guys, and what guarantee do you have that they won't go
> the way of SyQuest in a year's time?

No guarantees at all!  First of all, the inventor of the ORB is
apparently the same man who engineered the SyQuest stuff (see the web
site at <http://www.castlewood.com> for company info), so his hardware
probably works but his marketing track record hasn't been all that
great. 

On the other hand, remember that SyQuest was the only game in town for
years, just as Iomega is now.  It took only a few years to topple
SyQuest when Iomega came out with a slightly slicker line of drives and
an equally slick ad campaign coupled with a large number of sales
outlets.  The same thing could happen to Iomega if and when something
comes out like the solid state terabyte storage Bob Weir mentioned in
his message (see "Re: approximations" thread).  In this industry, there
are no guarantees that ANY staorage hardware company will still be
around three years from now, no matter how strong it is now! 

> If I were to buy another removable hard disk, it would probably be an
> Iomega product, as they seem to have the market pretty much sewn up (and
> show no sign of going belly-up anytime soon).  But by the time I fill up
> the 5 SyJet carts I now have, holographic storage should be out. :-)
> 
>      -Greg W. (gjw@xxxxxxxxxx)

I hear where you're coming from!  However, my financial situation is
such that I need the substantial cost savings that ORB provides compared
to Iomega products.  And with the rapid advances being made in storage
technology, probably BOTH the ORB and Iomega technologies will be
obsolete in a few years, so I have no incentive to pay more for the
Iomega product line now.

Cordially,
Oliver Dean


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