I am talking about Foldera, a company which started as a "developer of web-based organization and collaboration software" and now decided their market is really selling network switches.
I see this as an example of where all this "web-based" craze is going if people keep investing in good ideas with short sighted implementations. Too much money being thrown into companies with no vision, or trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist - or doing it in the wrong way.
I am posting this because I think it's relevant to a topic Ben posted today on "web 2.0 and monetisation".
Want more "fail"? Their new web-site, linked from the press release doesn't even exist yet:
SANTA ANA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Foldera, Inc. (OTCBB: FDRA), today unveiled the Company’s new strategy, management team, market thrust, name and capital structure by issuing the following letter to shareholders.
Dear Shareholder:
We are pleased to announce that Foldera has now successfully transitioned itself from being a developer of web-based organization and collaboration software. We have searched to find the right market, management team and product with which to take the Company forward and we would like to take this opportunity to outline the Company’s future plans.
New Strategic Direction
The Company’s principal market moving forward is with the core network infrastructure of the telephone companies, cable operators and wireless suppliers. The Company has recruited a new management team with a wealth of telecom infrastructure experience and who have already independently completed much of the software development for a High Speed, High Density Carrier Grade Ethernet Switch that will be the Company’s initial product launch. Along with our product development partners, we are continuing to develop the software and hardware in a closely integrated program that will result in timely implementation of the system using components that will exceed all carrier and prospective customer requirements.
There are other players attempting to enter these markets. Cisco Systems (CSCO), Juniper (JNPR), Force10, Alcatel-Lucent (ALA), Huawei, World Wide Packets and Foundry Networks (FDRY) clearly have well-established brand names and large customer bases. However, they also have legacy technologies and cannot re-launch into new markets with products that must be redesigned/re-architected and which would cannibalize their existing product lines. We will compete in the high density, carrier grade 10 Gigabit switch market with a switch that is both extensible and affordably scalable. This will present a ‘new standard’ in the market and the Company will be a ‘first mover’ in this segment.
The Company’s new technology will transform the Ethernet Switching market segment by developing and selling dramatically more cost-effective, scalable solutions for High Speed Ethernet switching with the industry’s first 288 10 Gigabit port Ethernet switch as our initial product launch at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show in Las Vegas in April 2009.
Corporate Name Change
As is appropriate with this major change in the Company’s direction, we have decided to change the name of the business to CeCors, Inc., an acronym for Carrier Ethernet Core Switch and pronounced ‘SeaCores.’ This will become effective in the coming weeks as the Company’s legal name, registrations, trading symbol and marketing materials are changed.
Expanding Management Expertise
The CeCors executive team brings 100+ years of combined management experience in IT and communications technology, manufacturing, sales and marketing. The team has worked together and successfully led a number of liquidity events, such as mergers and acquisitions, as well as IPO’s.
As of July 18, 2008, Jim Fiedler, an experienced and respected leader in the telecom industry, with vast experience in running early and mid-stage telecom networking and services companies, has become Chairman, President and CEO of CeCors. His experience and contacts within the industry will provide exceptional leadership into the future.
Excuse me while I laugh here. Seriously, I think Ben Kepes should look into this and analyse it further because he's the SaaS guy.
Read MoreAfter going unbundled with Orcon's Gold+ Account I was having issues getting online and was recommended an Orcon HomeHub over D-Link DST-502T. The 502T was theoretically more than capable of doing ADSL2+ (as I was running it at home on the same plan already). But at $5 a month, and to solve a problem I thought, stuff it, and got one sent out.
The HomeHub is really just a Siemens SX-763 WLAN DSL Router. Its running a slightly modified firmware that has the Orcon settings preset. You can't flash newer vesions of Firmware, although Orcon can from their side of things. This could lead to an interesting future for this little hub - more on that later.
The Homehub features (according to Orcon) -
"This sleek wireless router lets you access your Broadband from anywhere in your house without plugs or cables.On the Siemens site it lists it features as -
What's more, because our network can talk to it, our helpdesk can easily support the device remotely to get you back online faster if there is ever a problem.
In the future, we'll be teaching the Homehub some cool new tricks to give you an even better Orcon experience through new and interesting services, so stay tuned..."
- High-speed wireless data transfer at up to 108 Mbps (compatible with IEEE 802.11b/g)
- Integrated ADSL 2+ modem
- 4 Port 10/100 Hub
- External broadband access modem support (e. g. VDSL, cable)
- Support for up to 6 VoIP public telephone accounts (SIP Protocol)
- USB Support (SMB/FTP/Web/Printer).
The Unit is one of the nicer Routers or modems I've seen, although it does feel a but light and plasticy. All the ports are nicely placed on the back. It can be mounted on a wall or look fine on a desk.
The web inerface is pleasent to look at, and functionally seems to include all the settings. There's wizards both for the absolutely basics and also for the security features. Add to that the normal Advanced Settings, It's feature packed but simple to get around. There's support for all the necessary wireless standards - WEP, WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK/WPA-PSK.
I'd love to go into the VOIP settings but as I have never been too interested in it before, I wouldn't know much. The fact they're there, and are quite feature complete shows a feature I imagine Orcon will use in the future.
Connection wise, the wireless seems solid, although I personally use an Apple Airport Extreme to run a parallel 5ghz Only 11N based network and a 2.4Ghz for older clients. Excessive. Maybe. A bonus of using the $5 a month homehub though.
Internet wise, in the Auckland CBD, just off K Rd I've got a 12286 kbps (upstream) ADSL Connection. Its strange as when the connection was first setup I was getting up to 22500kbps on the connection - close to ADSL2's limit - and now its back down to the top of ADSL1's top....... Orcon?
UPDATE See first comment.
Heres some results from speedtest.net -
Auckland -> Auckland (WorldxChange Communications) - 9907 Down / 354 Up
Auckland -> Christchurch (Snap Internet) - 6587 Down / 266 Up
Auckland -> Sydney (Mammoth Media) - 3327 Down / 333 Up
Auckland -> London (Namesco) - 1723 Down / 180 Up
Auckland -> San Francisco (Unwired) - 2739 Down / 194 Up
Things that aren't cool -
USB only does FTP no SFTP so not great for putting online.
The DHCP server won't list connected devices - Wireless status lists the Host name, Mac and IP's of any wireless clients but for the overall IP's - nothing. The settings are there - just broken, a bug that I hope Orcon will get on to fixing.
UPDATE Orcon do indeed have a forthcoming update. Orcon were nice enough to flash mine and it does indeed fix the issue.
Things that are cool -
USB Features.
Looks good.
A full featured router for only $5 a month (on Orcon).
Assumably VOIP support from Orcon in the future.
Read MoreYesterday I posted about Microsoft Windows Mojave, an experiement in perception.
A set of people were asked what they think is bad on Windows Vista during the Mojave Experiment. Their answers were recorded. They were then shown "Microsoft Windows Mojave", a new operating system that impressed everyone.
Microsoft then revealed "Windows Mojave" and "Windows Vista" are the same one.
I have just found out the full "Mojave Experiment" results will be available 29th July on The Mojave Experiment website.
Read MorePatch fixes buffer overflow bug Read More
How well companies that offer something for "free" can do with a subscription option?
When there are so many "free" things on the web, one has to wonder how companies can keep their products up and running (or even if they can manage to get out of beta).
Some companies just don't. They close the service and tell the customers to get out of here:
Personal Media: Bluestring, Xdrive and AOL Pictures will be sunset. These consumer storage products haven't gained sufficient traction in the marketplace or the monetization levels necessary to offset the high cost of their operation. We have found that building media management applications within the context of a social experience is a more rapid and effective way to grow the business. For example, today the Bebo audience is uploading over three million photos per day. To effectively grow the XDrive online storage business we would need to focus on subscription revenues vs. monetizing through advertising revenue, and this business model is not in strategic alignment with our company's goals. We are exploring plans to migrate our users assets to ensure the best possible transition experience.
This is part of the memo AOL sent out to staff explaning the end of some of their services - including Xdrive an on-line storage service that offered 5 GB of storage free to anyone.
There's a reason why people buy external drives for home or buy Windows Home Server or NAS boxes. First broadband speed sucks around the world. Then the services don't work as expected or not as easily (Xdrive is only one that I know that could be mounted as a drive on your OS so you could just copy things from and to instead of having to open a browser window). And even so it was very unstable.
Which leads me to the next one: the on-line service businesses seem to be quite unreliable - unless they are a subscription service with a SLA, not a freebie. But even so sith happens.
When there are lots of free things, some won't last long.
Read MoreA few months ago I created a Jobs forum on Geekzone to allow for some of our readers to exchange job information, post requests for specific skills, etc.
Of course it's no competition for the big job sites around, but it seems to be working ok for our community. We do have some of the job agencies posting some ads there - and why wouldn't they, it's free!
Anyway, after talking to the guys at JobX, New Zealand's newest site for job search, we decided to add a Job Search to Geekzone.
One of the first joint initiatives was their sponsorship at the Geekzone Pizza evening in Christchurch - by chance we selected a pizza place just next to their offices, so that helped too.
The Jobs forum is still active and I expect it to get busier every day, but I think the Job Search will bring an even bigger selection for you.
Good luck!
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