Date: Tue, 13 May 1997 17:50:56 -0400 From: dennis <dennis@etinc.com> To: Michael Smith <msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au> Cc: msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au, hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: if_de.c ???? Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970513175052.00ad7c24@etinc.com>
next in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
At 11:45 AM 5/13/97 +0930, Michael Smith wrote: >dennis stands accused of saying: >> > >> >Uhh. Dennis, pride doesn't pay the bills. Pride doesn't buy hardware >> >for you to support. >> >> It this a line from Animal Farm? > >No. Are you a redneck? A computer programmer redneck from NY...yeah.... :-) > >> >Vendors answer the phone? Hah! You gotta be dreaming. I've been >> >hounding vendors for chip programming details for years, and the scene >> >really hasn't changed a lot over time. The "nice" people still make >> >data free, the "nasty" ones still hoard it jealously. >> >> Would be nice, wouldn't it? > >Indeed. > >> Certain things you're just not gonna get...so deal with it. Do you >> think that SMC is gonna build another card with DEC-like chip when >> anyone with a $500. layout program can clone the board and steal >> their market? > >I can't see why not. They've been doing it for the last 15 years, I >can't see them stopping now. If they do, I can see a lot of people >giving them the Diamond/Matrox/Microchannel shoulder. Because they posted $1.40 loss per share last quarter, and haven't had a profitable quarter in a year. Because their stock, which was trading at 28 at the start of '95, is now hovering around 8. Because no matter what you think their economies of scale are, they cant compete with Taiwanese labor costs, and cant turn a profit selling against boards that sell for $35. >(And if you actually _use_ a $500 layout suite, I feel _really_ sorry > for you. And I have less faith in your products 8) We haven't built a single chip board yet....what I was saying that you *could* with the simplist of layout programs. > >> Its getting so easy to clone hardware, particularly >> with single chip solutions, that you're going to see big vendors >> refuse to use parts that have public specs...like you said, you >> gotta pay the bills, and it doesnt pay to build hardware with >> readily available hardware with public specs. > >There's no money in vanilla hardware, regardless of whether it uses >publically-specified parts or not. The money is in image and software. Image? I've heard lots of ppl talk about the clone cards on this list, but how many are buying new SMC cards (who have access or the clones?). Why would anyone pay SMCs price for a card that is exactly the same as a clone...particularly when the clones have a lifetime warranty? Some will, but most won't, and they are riding the "image" and "efforts" of companies like SMC that are losing money. In 1987, Western Digital was selling 20,000 ethernet cards a month (a huge number at the time) for $150. and losing money. The market is much bigger now, but the margins are infinitesimal. db
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?3.0.32.19970513175052.00ad7c24>