[TenTec] Orion market strategy/development

[Lawrence Stoskopf]

This forum points out some problems any company has:  are you a hardware 
company or software?  Are you debian linux or Microsoft?  How do you survive 
in a limited market?  Can RedHat straddle the issue? 

We all agree that the Classic Orion is probably the best rig ever, with the 
1.37XX software.  I haven't tried the II or the new software for the 
Classic, neither of which seems to have an advantage for me  and certainly 
is to make no money for TT. 

As I mentioned on another list, take a look at RadCom, May 2006, the SDR 
column by VK6VZ and VK6APH.  There is no way these improvements can get into 
the Orion Classic without some open access to the guts of the rig.  On the 
other side, can TT open up the access and remain a viable hardware company?  
The SDR-1000 guys must be grinding teeth over the number of SoftRock devices 
out there using SDR-1000 derived software, on the other hand, much of that 
software wouldn't be there for the SDR-1000 without agressive development by 
a bunch of dedicated (and free?) developers. 

We wouldn't have all the telecom progress if Ma Bell was still in charge 
there.  Of course she is shacked up with one of her kids I suspect and her 
most productive offspring, Bell Labs, seems to be learning French. 

Sorry for this rant, but I just came back from seeing the worst movie I've 
ever seen, Tristan Shandy, and it's too wet (finally) to garden. 

See you all at Hamvention. 

N0UU