UPDATED: I reversed the order and fixed some formatting
From: Charlie Hayes
To: info@u3.com
Subject: U3 benefits?
I was reading through your list of benefits, and I can't find anything different about U3 devices over normal USB Memory drives:
Application mobility:
Any well-written application can run on any type of disk already.
U3 smart software works on any U3 smart drive:
Same as above, 99% of software isn't tied to a specific drive.
Intuitive user interface and application launcher:
Windows Explorer launches applications already, why are you adding another layer? Almost every application launcher in existence is Unintuitive and ugly. The Windows shell already has this functionality anyway!
Private and protected computing:
Already built into Windows using NTFS. Encryption programs have been available for 20 years, how is any of this new?
Seamless launch and exit:
Almost all existing applications have "seamless launch and exit".
Multiple applications on one device:
How is this different than any other USB memory device?
Always mass storage:
I have never had or used a USB storage device that was anything but USB Mass Storage
Easy Deployment:
You can already deploy your application to any type of memory without a special API, now your requiring developers use your API to get the same functionality that was available without it. This is harder, not easier.
-Charlie Hayes
From: Nathan Gold
To: Charlie Hayes
Subject: RE: U3 benefits?
Hi Charlie:
Why don't you give me a call when you have a chance or tell me how to reach you and we can talk.
Until next time,
Nathan Gold | U3 LLC | Sr. Director, Business Development |
From: Charlie Hayes
To: Nathan Gold
Subject: RE: U3 benefits?
If it's ok, I would rather communicate via e-mail.
-Charlie
From: Nathan Gold
To: Charlie Hayes
Subject: RE: U3 benefits?
Hi Charlie:
Actually, since the product is not yet released, you have not signed up as a developer, and we don't have a signed NDA with you, I can only have brief telephone conversations about this technology. Once the product is released to consumers in the stores later this month, I will be free to discuss anything and everything with you via email, smail, or any method you choose.
Until next time,
Nathan Gold | U3 LLC | Sr. Director, Business Development |
From: Charlie Hayes
To: Nathan Gold
Subject: RE: U3 benefits?
I think you misunderstand my interests.
As an educated consumer, I desire a market where companies compete by listing unique features of their products to differentiate them. I do not wish for companies, such as yours, to utilize buzzword marketing in an attempt to persuade un-educated consumers away from competing products. The end result of such marketing is a market where consumers are confused and unconfident in their purchases.
Your current product literature lists universally common features as unique to your product. 100% of current USB Memory devices offer 100% of the features you are touting as unique to your product.
If your product actually has unique features, you may wish to reconsider your marketing tactics and update your product literature to reflect those unique features. If customers such as myself see products such as yours in the store bullet pointing common features, they will simply skip to the more easily identifiable unique features of product such as the price/size ratio and aesthetics of the device in question. If your product only lists unique features, it will most likely be considered more often.
I plead with you to refrain from littering the market with clones that deceitfully list features as unique when they are not.
Educated consumer and developer,
Charlie Hayes