I have been doing a lot of research on the company Zonbu since the last Post. It turns out that Zonbu is (or was) a company with very few people in it. The Person presented as the face of Zonbu has started several companies in the past. But he has't been very sucessful at it if you think of success as being a long term event for the company. All of his companies have ultimately failed in five years or less. Even the one he sold during the DOT.COM boom. This is not a very good track record. I don't think that he should expect a call from Warren Buffett anytime soon. Buffett doesn't invest into companies that don't have a long track record of time and experience.
I have been around the block a few times in my life. I consider myself an average guy. And like many people, I'm certainly not dumb, but, also like many people, I have had to work hard at things in my life. That's why I have been known to say --- I may be stupid, but I ain't dumb. Well, Zonbu took people to be dummies. Don't you hate that?
I hate it when companies do that (don't you?). Let me explain:
Zonbu was set up to be a company which employed very few people. Their whole purpose in life was to sell a computer as a service (see my previous post). A sort of "CLOUD COMPUTING EXPERIENCE"!
Well, if you read my previous posts, you can tell that I think that this is JUST STUPID. And I truly believe that people may be dumb! but they are NOT STUPID! They just need to be pointed in the best way to consume goods, materials, and services. They'll figure out the rest.
Zonbu was trying to sell a cloud computing system. They offered a cheap computer and tried to sell a service of online storage. This is something I know a little bit about. It really doesn't take much to set up a server system these days. It takes, say Three People. These folks obviously have to know about the right software to use for the server system. You also have to have a physical place for the servers to sit. Say an office closet which can be rented for about $200US per month depending on where you live (obviously). Now, I haven't looked into Zonbu that closely, as of yet, but I have a sneaking suspicion that that is EXACTLY what they did. I did a little sluthing (very little) and found out that they have a place of business listed BUT NO ADDRESS.
After the servers are set up and running, customer service was set up via an Online Forum. They Probably had some people be forum monitors from home to answer any technical questions. This is just a guess on my part, but that is normal nowdays. This is known as an ONLINE Shell company. And the owners thought that they could make millions on it. Problem is that these types of companies almost always fail because the people running them are cheap, greedy little bastards!
Let me repeat that --- These types of companies ALMOST ALWAYS FAIL! IN my collage days these types of companies would have been known as FBN for Fly By NIGHT because they almost ALWAYS go under in a short period of time --- Overnight perhaps?
There is a reason a guy like Warren Buffett invests with people who have built up a company over a LONG! period of time. Because that company already has INVESTMENT in it by the owners. It has investment in it of TIME AND MONEY by people who care about sucess! Zonbu owners are missing these elements!
Let me state at this point that I don't know any of the people who established and ran Zonbu. Not personally or otherwise. They may be very nice people and, in fact, I hope that they are for their sake. However, experience tells me that these people tried to do this Zonbu Cloud Computing Business on the CHEAP! This is not against the law. It's not even immoral! But in terms of success it almost never succeeds.
You see, my measure of success, like that of Warren Bufett, is a long term profitable business which pays people (not just the owner) WELL! Enough for people to make a REAL LIVING ON AND PROVIDE FOR THEIR FAMILY! This is not Zonbu.
If you've read my previous entires you have figured out that I don't think very highly of these types of business ventures. Why on earth would someone pay a fee for something that they could OWN? Like their own DATA! I have never understood this way of thinking. And this is why I think that cloud computing is not going anywhere fast! Just ask Zonbu!
Here is an example of a growing market of the internet which allows people to re-take control of their lives: VOIP! (Voice Over Internet Phoning)
Why is VOIP so successful? There are many reasons, but I believe that there is one overriding reason. Because VOIP allows a household to better control its own internal cost. This is why the telephone company's (you know them, AT&T, Qwest, Verizon, etc.,...) land-line subscriptions have declined by OVER thirty three percent in the last year alone. Let me restate that folks --- the telephone companyies LOST over 33% of their land-line business last year! It's that simple folks. You pay less and get more with VOIP!
But even VOIP is over priced! YES! You read that right! VOIP is overpriced! In my last blog I wrote about many trends in the computer industry. Now it's time to put these trends to work for US! Yes, YOU and ME! To better control your household's expenses (who doesn't like saving money in this economy?) take your old Zonbu and make it into --- Drumroll please --- A Skype telephone server! Look, its something you ALREADY OWN! You paid for it! It's YOURS! Instead of letting it be a big paperweight let it do something for you like reduce your monthly telephone bill from $35/month (Land-Line), or $25/month (VOIP) to just over $6 plus change. YES! You read that right. Let me state that again --- $6 plus change per month for UNLIMITED telephone service in North America. And you thought that your Zonbu machine was worthless!
They'll be more to come, so keep reading.
Haggis!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Zonbu Followers
Well, it's been almost 4 hours now and I have been thinking about my first post. I know that Zonbu --- what a name, who thought that name up anyway? --- is having a hard time of things lately. After all, you don't just let people out of their contracts for no reason at all. And that has happened.
But, What if...........!
I follow a few trends in the IT industry and have even been involved in a couple in the past.
Trend one:
Flash memory is getting cheaper and better by the month. Its price decrease is consistent with Moore's Law. In five or more years Flash Memory, the kind used in the original Zonbu Mini Computer, is going to become really cheap! Eventually it is going to become so cheap that we'll be able to go into a Wal-Mart (a store that I really don't like, but that's another story) and buy a 128GB Flash Memory Card for, say $30 US. Or a 256GB Flash Memory Card for $50US? That would be a good deal, by the way. A very good deal indeed!
Trend Two:
Zonbu selected, for it's initial device, the Via C7m Chip. Via is not an industry leader, at all, except in the realm of low power chips.
A bit of history:
The C series of chips, which Via now owns the IP to, was originally produced by none other than Cyrix Corporation. Cyrix was a company started back in the late 1980s. In the 1990s Cyrix tried, unsuccessfully, to compete with Intel and AMD. Needless to say, this business model didn't work out so well. Eventually Cyrix failed and the company, and it's IP, was sold off. The C series chip IP was bought by Via. And so Via started slowly updating these chips and it's technology. So we arrive at today with Via, the C7m series chip, and Zonbu.
What happens when Via starts to put several CPU cores onto it's low power chips? This is going to happen eventually. Instead of a single core they will eventually put two, then four, then eight and so on cores onto these chips. Granted, the C series chips are going to become slightly hotter, but technology will deal with that problem also. A chip with four 1.5 GHz cores on it would have the processing power of a 6 GHz CPU. Now, thats some processing power by anyone's measure. And this is happening, or is certainly on its way. Either way, it is going to happen.
Trend Three:
RAM. RAM, or Random Access Memory, is becoming cheaper and better all the time. This is an old story by now, so I won't go into it.
But:
So what happens when the price for RAM has become so low that a company can greatly boost the performance of it's computers by just adding ALOT of RAM into the computer? Theoretical arguments aside, you can do alot more with RAM in the computer than what is done today. But I digress.
Trend Four:
Linux and OSS. Open Source Software is growing up and becoming useful. For instance, in the field of Operating System (OS) development there is much work being done to advance OSS OS(s) so that they can take full advantage of the number of CPU cores present on a processor chip. Everyone's heard of Ubuntu and Fedora. Take a look at Morph OS, or Haiku. Some would argue that these OS(s) are derivative works of the original Amiga OS (another story which I won't get into here). But here is the point: these OS(s) are becoming VERY USEFUL as FULL products in and of themselves! And the associated software to do real WORK using these OS(s) is becoming JUST AS USEFUL. As an example, just look at how far Open Office has come as a project/product.
Trend Five:
Skype. Becoming bigger and better than ever. And now they have entered into OSS with Skype for Linux. Oh! oh! oh! It has been determined that Skype is already inside of at least 40 million computers! in the US alone! with over 400 MILLION downloads worldwide.
Trend Six:
Asterisk. For those of you who don't follow this stuff Asterisk is an OSS Linux Phone PBX. I won't go into much detail here but, suffice it to say, Asterisk has teamed up with Skype and they are working on an Asterisk for Skype project to enhance both products. Asterisk has been downloaded over 200 million times.
Trend Seven:
Energy efficiency. This part Zonbu got right! Everything in society has to become and should be more efficient. Especially computers.
And combining all of these trends into a product makes for an even better idea.
The BIG! Idea:
Given the current Zonbu Mini computer and Zonbu's attempt to sell the computer as a service, I think that Zonbu is on to something which they haven't figured out yet, and may never. What they are really onto is not selling the computer as a service --- Bill Gates would like to try to do that. At least he figured out that Microsoft should NOT be taken down that path and suffer the same fate which Zonbu has. No, Zonbu is on to something more powerful and bigger then they ever could imagine and probably haven't.
What I think that they have missed is:
Replacing the Audio and Video Telecommunications Industry as we know it. Telecoms (Verizon, Qwest, etc.,...) look out!
There is a company who has such a business model which they think will do just that - replace the Audio/Video Telecommunications business as we know it for our Homes and Businesses. Their name is Ooma (you can find them at ooma.com). They have a problem though. When you want to acquire an Ooma (ooooma-as they say) device you have to pay alot for it as compared to, say, Open Source Software. OSS is normally given away for free to people and companies to use. But if you want a warranty with OSS software and Tech Support, that! you have to pay for McGrue! The problem for Ooma is this: Ooma has to place a proprietary machine into every household (or at least a hellofa lot of them) for it's system to work and gain traction. But computers have ALREADY been placed into most households WORLDWIDE giving OSS products like Skype and Asterisk a clear advantage.
So, what happens when you have a machine like the Zonbu Mini Computer which has the resources like the ones mentioned above and truly sells for $100 to $200US? And it is loaded with a Skype/Asterisk product which lets people use the regular telephone lines which currently exist in their homes (the audio phone system which is NOT going away anytime soon!)? It also allows them to continue to use their regular digital phones which they have had for several years? And! this computer could ALWAYS BE ON! ECONOMICALLY! It WILL NOT eat you out of house and home with its power consumption! Because it sips electricity! And all you are doing with this product is replacing an older computer which people already have and use because they know they need it in their household! And this machine contains 8GB of RAM with a 256GB CFM (Compact Flash Memory) Card --- bought at Wal-Mart no less --- which you can pop in or out and replace as needed, and a Four Core (1.5GHz each) 6 GHz CPU which runs everything?
Well! My friends, thats what you call a WINNER PRODUCT! Which EVERYONE will want!
Zonbu is just a little ahead of the game. It produced a product which was not as beefy as the one envisioned above, but Hey! At least they are playing the Game! Its just that they didn't play the RIGHT GAME. Everyone wants to OWN & CONTROL their data because of MONEY and TRUST! I don't trust the other guy therefore I am going to take MY money and buy a computer that I CONTROL. And I am NOT going to pay a service, no matter how insignificant, for keeping MY INFORMATION! Regardless what people say about Linux and OSS --- this is what Linux and OSS is really all about - CONTROL! Give it to Janet Jackson! She figured it out back in the 1980s!
Some people will pay for a service (as Zonbu found out) but not MOST of the people. However, they WILL pay for a machine which lets them control costs of their household.
Or, In baseball terms:
When Zonbu got a hit in the game that they thought they were playing they ran to Third Base instead of First! And they'll probably never figure it out! Foreigners!
Any thoughts?
BLFER
But, What if...........!
I follow a few trends in the IT industry and have even been involved in a couple in the past.
Trend one:
Flash memory is getting cheaper and better by the month. Its price decrease is consistent with Moore's Law. In five or more years Flash Memory, the kind used in the original Zonbu Mini Computer, is going to become really cheap! Eventually it is going to become so cheap that we'll be able to go into a Wal-Mart (a store that I really don't like, but that's another story) and buy a 128GB Flash Memory Card for, say $30 US. Or a 256GB Flash Memory Card for $50US? That would be a good deal, by the way. A very good deal indeed!
Trend Two:
Zonbu selected, for it's initial device, the Via C7m Chip. Via is not an industry leader, at all, except in the realm of low power chips.
A bit of history:
The C series of chips, which Via now owns the IP to, was originally produced by none other than Cyrix Corporation. Cyrix was a company started back in the late 1980s. In the 1990s Cyrix tried, unsuccessfully, to compete with Intel and AMD. Needless to say, this business model didn't work out so well. Eventually Cyrix failed and the company, and it's IP, was sold off. The C series chip IP was bought by Via. And so Via started slowly updating these chips and it's technology. So we arrive at today with Via, the C7m series chip, and Zonbu.
What happens when Via starts to put several CPU cores onto it's low power chips? This is going to happen eventually. Instead of a single core they will eventually put two, then four, then eight and so on cores onto these chips. Granted, the C series chips are going to become slightly hotter, but technology will deal with that problem also. A chip with four 1.5 GHz cores on it would have the processing power of a 6 GHz CPU. Now, thats some processing power by anyone's measure. And this is happening, or is certainly on its way. Either way, it is going to happen.
Trend Three:
RAM. RAM, or Random Access Memory, is becoming cheaper and better all the time. This is an old story by now, so I won't go into it.
But:
So what happens when the price for RAM has become so low that a company can greatly boost the performance of it's computers by just adding ALOT of RAM into the computer? Theoretical arguments aside, you can do alot more with RAM in the computer than what is done today. But I digress.
Trend Four:
Linux and OSS. Open Source Software is growing up and becoming useful. For instance, in the field of Operating System (OS) development there is much work being done to advance OSS OS(s) so that they can take full advantage of the number of CPU cores present on a processor chip. Everyone's heard of Ubuntu and Fedora. Take a look at Morph OS, or Haiku. Some would argue that these OS(s) are derivative works of the original Amiga OS (another story which I won't get into here). But here is the point: these OS(s) are becoming VERY USEFUL as FULL products in and of themselves! And the associated software to do real WORK using these OS(s) is becoming JUST AS USEFUL. As an example, just look at how far Open Office has come as a project/product.
Trend Five:
Skype. Becoming bigger and better than ever. And now they have entered into OSS with Skype for Linux. Oh! oh! oh! It has been determined that Skype is already inside of at least 40 million computers! in the US alone! with over 400 MILLION downloads worldwide.
Trend Six:
Asterisk. For those of you who don't follow this stuff Asterisk is an OSS Linux Phone PBX. I won't go into much detail here but, suffice it to say, Asterisk has teamed up with Skype and they are working on an Asterisk for Skype project to enhance both products. Asterisk has been downloaded over 200 million times.
Trend Seven:
Energy efficiency. This part Zonbu got right! Everything in society has to become and should be more efficient. Especially computers.
And combining all of these trends into a product makes for an even better idea.
The BIG! Idea:
Given the current Zonbu Mini computer and Zonbu's attempt to sell the computer as a service, I think that Zonbu is on to something which they haven't figured out yet, and may never. What they are really onto is not selling the computer as a service --- Bill Gates would like to try to do that. At least he figured out that Microsoft should NOT be taken down that path and suffer the same fate which Zonbu has. No, Zonbu is on to something more powerful and bigger then they ever could imagine and probably haven't.
What I think that they have missed is:
Replacing the Audio and Video Telecommunications Industry as we know it. Telecoms (Verizon, Qwest, etc.,...) look out!
There is a company who has such a business model which they think will do just that - replace the Audio/Video Telecommunications business as we know it for our Homes and Businesses. Their name is Ooma (you can find them at ooma.com). They have a problem though. When you want to acquire an Ooma (ooooma-as they say) device you have to pay alot for it as compared to, say, Open Source Software. OSS is normally given away for free to people and companies to use. But if you want a warranty with OSS software and Tech Support, that! you have to pay for McGrue! The problem for Ooma is this: Ooma has to place a proprietary machine into every household (or at least a hellofa lot of them) for it's system to work and gain traction. But computers have ALREADY been placed into most households WORLDWIDE giving OSS products like Skype and Asterisk a clear advantage.
So, what happens when you have a machine like the Zonbu Mini Computer which has the resources like the ones mentioned above and truly sells for $100 to $200US? And it is loaded with a Skype/Asterisk product which lets people use the regular telephone lines which currently exist in their homes (the audio phone system which is NOT going away anytime soon!)? It also allows them to continue to use their regular digital phones which they have had for several years? And! this computer could ALWAYS BE ON! ECONOMICALLY! It WILL NOT eat you out of house and home with its power consumption! Because it sips electricity! And all you are doing with this product is replacing an older computer which people already have and use because they know they need it in their household! And this machine contains 8GB of RAM with a 256GB CFM (Compact Flash Memory) Card --- bought at Wal-Mart no less --- which you can pop in or out and replace as needed, and a Four Core (1.5GHz each) 6 GHz CPU which runs everything?
Well! My friends, thats what you call a WINNER PRODUCT! Which EVERYONE will want!
Zonbu is just a little ahead of the game. It produced a product which was not as beefy as the one envisioned above, but Hey! At least they are playing the Game! Its just that they didn't play the RIGHT GAME. Everyone wants to OWN & CONTROL their data because of MONEY and TRUST! I don't trust the other guy therefore I am going to take MY money and buy a computer that I CONTROL. And I am NOT going to pay a service, no matter how insignificant, for keeping MY INFORMATION! Regardless what people say about Linux and OSS --- this is what Linux and OSS is really all about - CONTROL! Give it to Janet Jackson! She figured it out back in the 1980s!
Some people will pay for a service (as Zonbu found out) but not MOST of the people. However, they WILL pay for a machine which lets them control costs of their household.
Or, In baseball terms:
When Zonbu got a hit in the game that they thought they were playing they ran to Third Base instead of First! And they'll probably never figure it out! Foreigners!
Any thoughts?
BLFER
Buy - Sell Zonbu
I've been reading quite abit about Zonbu as of late. I am really interested in hearing people tell their side of the Zonbu Mini Computer story. I'm sort of a Linux Geek at heart and want to know more about this subject. But, I am not interested in the company selling me a service. Might I mention, at this time, that I have NOTHING to do with the company in question. I don't own one of their computers - yet, etc.,....
I also want to tell people that I am interested in purchasing a Zonbu Mini Computer! If you want to sell it then I want to buy it. The Zonbu Mini Computer that is. If you do want to sell a:
USED Zonbu Mini Computer
Then you can reach me at:
blfer1960@yahoo.com
I'd be happy to take it off of your hands.
Please do comment. I do want to hear this story. Thanks in advance
BLFER
I also want to tell people that I am interested in purchasing a Zonbu Mini Computer! If you want to sell it then I want to buy it. The Zonbu Mini Computer that is. If you do want to sell a:
USED Zonbu Mini Computer
Then you can reach me at:
blfer1960@yahoo.com
I'd be happy to take it off of your hands.
Please do comment. I do want to hear this story. Thanks in advance
BLFER
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