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A Day in the Life of a Person with a Disability

Glimpses into Disability in America
February 07

Apple and the Disabled

Thought you might find this amusing. It shows why I stay clear of Apple. At least Dell and Microsoft sort of try to be helpful. J

 

(The link is safe, it goes to a forum thread on CNET.)

January 28

RE: Interesting

Very interesting. Clock cycles seem low, but I remind myself these are different critters entirely. Having no optical drive could be a problem, but there are ways around that. If true, 65 watts is great, but the $64 question regarding power is what type of connector does the M11x use? Hopefully, it’s the same round 3-pin “Series D” connector as other Dell laptops.

 

It turns out that Kathryn D’s cubicle is in the same row as Chris Byrd’s. I asked him to put us in touch with her, but he hasn’t responded yet. (Thank god I was able to avoid cubicles during my career at Shell! J)

 

From: Bernadete_Padua@Dell.com [mailto:Bernadete_Padua@Dell.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 14:55
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Interesting

 

Hi,

 

Ill try to look for Kathryn D to get first hand feedback. I do agree that is so far the best for you, Im also excited about it. We don’t have a launch date yet but will keep you posted.  Yesterday we had product training and sneak preview about M11x and it’s like a hybrid between the M15x and Mini10. Here are the specs matrix, tell me what you think J

 

Product Overview

Features

Alienware™ M15x

Alienware™ M11x

Inspiron™ 1110

Processor type

Intel® Core™ i7

Intel® Pentium® Dual Core
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor

Intel® Pentium® Dual Core
Intel ULV Celeron

Processor speeds

720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)    
820QM 1.73GHz (3.06GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
920XM 2.0GHz (3.2GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)      

SU4100 1.3 GHz, 800 MHz FSB,
2 MB L2 Cache
SU7300 1.3 GHz, 800 MHz FSB,
3 MB L2 Cache

SU4100, 1.3 GHz , 533 MHz, 512K
Celeron 743, 1.3 GHz, 800 MHz,
1 MB
Celeron 723, 1.2 GHz, 800 MHz,
1 MB

System chipset

Mobile Intel PM55

Mobile Intel® GS45 Express Chipset

Memory

DDR3 1333 / 1066 MHz SODIMMs

DDR3 1066 MHz SODIMMs*

DDR2 - 800 MHz

Memory min/max

2 GB / 8 GB

1 GB / 4 GB

Hard Drive

Single Drive - Up to 500 GB 7200 rpm
256 GB Solid State HDD

160 GB, 5400 rpm
250 GB, 7200 rpm
320 GB, 7200 rpm
500 GB, 7200 rpm
256 GB Solid State HDD

160 GB, 5400 rpm
250 GB, 5400 rpm
320 GB, 5400 rpm
500 GB, 5400 rpm

RAID

No RAID option

LCD types

15.6–inch HD+ 1600 x 900 WLED
15.6–inch Full HD 1920 x 1080 WLED - Optional

11.6– inch WLED 1366x768 (COLOR TFT/HD LCD)

Video

Nvidia® GeForce® GTX 260M
Nvidia® GeForce® GT 240M

Switchable between Integrated Intel® GMA 4500MHD and NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 335M discrete

Mobile Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD

Video memory

1 GB GDDR3 / 512 MB GDDR3 dedicated

Integrated : Up to 384 MB shared
Discrete: 1 GB DDR3

Up to 8 MB shared

Camera

2.0 Megapixel

1.3 Megapixel

Audio

Intel HD Audio using IDT 92HD83 controller

Realtek ALC665

Realtek ALC272

USB support

3 x USB 2.0 ports

Media bay options

SATA 12.7mm DVDRW (CD/DVD±RW)
SATA 12.7mm BD-Combo (Blue-Ray Reader CD/DVD±RW)
SATA 12.7mm BD Triple Writer (Blue-Ray±RW, CD/DVD±RW)

External Only

Wireless options

WLAN Intel 5300 802.11n, Half Mini Card

WLAN Broadcom 802.11 a/b/g/n Mini Card
WWAN

WLAN / WWAN

Bluetooth® support

Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Mini-Card (Optional)

Foxconn Bluetooth V2.1+EDR (Broadcom chipset)

Dell™ Wireless 365 2.1 Bluetooth® Adapter

NIC (LOM)

Intel® 82577LC Integrated Gigabit Ethernet

10/100Mbps, Atheros AR8132 LAN Controller

Modem

External USB modem (no internal option)

I/O card slots

8-in-1 card reader

3-in-1 card reader

IR support

Consumer IR

None

Connectors

VGA
RJ-45
DisplayPort
USB(x3)
IEEE 1394a
Card Reader 8-in-1
USB/eSATA Combo
Microphone-in
Two Headphone-out jacks
ExpressCard Reader

VGA port
RJ-45 Jack for LAN(10/100)
HDMI port
Display port
USB(x3) Card Reader 3-in-1
IEEE1394a
Microphone-in
Two Headphone-out jacks

VGA port
RJ-45 Jack for LAN(10/100)
HDMI port
USB(x3) Card Reader 3-in-1
Microphone-in
Headphone-out

Operating system

Microsoft® Windows® 7 (64-bit only)
Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ (64-bit only)
Microsoft® Windows® XP™ Pro

Microsoft® Windows 7

Ubuntu 8.04
Windows Vista 32 Bit SP
Windows XP SP3

Docking support

No internal dock, USB APR

AC adapter

150 Watt low profile AC adapter

65 Watt AC Adapter (Small)

65 Watt Dell E–series AC adapter

Battery

Standard : 6-cell “smart” lithium ion (57 Whr)
Upsell : 9-cell “smart” lithium ion (86 Whr)

8 cell lithium ion 63WHr

Base 3-cell, 28WHr
Upsell 6-cell, 56WHr

Weight

~4.08 kg (9.00 lbs) with 6-cell battery, and ODD

1.99 kg (4.39 lb) with 8-cell battery

2.86lbs (1.35kg) with entry 3-cell battery, 160GB HDD

Keyboard

Illuminated Keyboard

Non–Illuminated Keyboard

AlienFX™ Lighting

Blue (Default)
Optional - Red, Lime, White, Yellow, Fuchsia, Aqua, Indigo

None

Physical Dimensions

Height : 48.7 mm (1.92 inches) Front and Back
Width : 377.93 mm (14.88 inches)
Depth : 308.51 mm (12.15 inches)

Height : 32.7 mm (1.29 inches)
Width : 285.7 mm (11.25 inches)
Depth : 233.3 mm (9.19 inches)

Height : 16.4 mm to 25.8 mm (0.64 inches to 1.01 inches)
Width : 292 mm (11.49 inches)
Depth : 214 mm (8.42 inches)

* Operates at 800 MHz

 

 

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 4:29 AM
To: Padua - Mateo, Bernadete
Subject: Interesting

 

I just received the following tweet:

 

ChrisBatDell Nice.. =) "A Brief History of the Alienware M11x w/Left 4 Dead 2 in game video! - Direct2Dell" http://ow.ly/11us9

 

That’s the laptop I mentioned to you. We are NOT in buying mode yet, but this might be the Holy Grail of laptops for me. Is there any chance that you could reach out to this “Kathryn D” creature at Dell?

Interesting

I just received the following tweet:

 

ChrisBatDell Nice.. =) "A Brief History of the Alienware M11x w/Left 4 Dead 2 in game video! - Direct2Dell" http://ow.ly/11us9

 

That’s the laptop I mentioned to you. We are NOT in buying mode yet, but this might be the Holy Grail of laptops for me. Is there any chance that you could reach out to this “Kathryn D” creature at Dell?

January 06

FW: Farewell Richard

 

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 10:31 PM
To: 'Bernadete_Padua@Dell.com'
Subject: RE: Farewell

 

Yes Bernadete. Richard took care of the battery as one of his last official acts, thank you.

 

You may be right about the merger of Small Business and Consumer lines helping us. At least that should give you indirect access to the Voystra line through the consumer channel.  Don’t get overly concerned about the process of preparing new laptops for me, because it's a lot easier than you probably expect. In most cases, you simply flip over the computer and apply Velcro. Yep, I said Velcro. That’s what mounts a laptop to the table it rides on. You once told me you used to be a tech so you should have no problem spotting the case screw holes and cooling vents. Those are the only two places you don't put Velcro.

 

For the most part, though, most of our interactions will simply be me reporting a hardware failure, and you dispatching a part for the local contract technicians to install. The quicker we are able to complete that cycle the better off I’ll be.

 

You may have noticed that I tend to name my laptops. That undoubtedly seems silly until you know the reason behind it.  My two duty laptops are named after two dogs. There’s Lilly, my service dog for nearly nine years, who has been the epitome of reliability. A laptop gets her name only if it's going to be as reliable as she is. The other dog is Hot Rod, or just Roddy. As her name implies, she's faster than Lilly but less dependable.  Yup, the consumer grade laptops, including the XPS line, tend to become Roddies. Right now, we are on Lilly 4 (your E6500), and the first Roddy (a XPS M1530). Roddy is the one we need to replace toward the end of the year.

 

From: Bernadete_Padua@Dell.com [mailto:Bernadete_Padua@Dell.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 9:47 AM
To: royall@conchbbs.com; Richard_Bernier@Dell.com
Cc: Ramon_Jr_Estor@Dell.com
Subject: RE: Farewell

 

Happy New Year All,

 

First, Richard I wish you all the best.

 

Second, Scott I’ll do my best to help you with your needs,  my concern is looking for a tech that can provide customization of your fleet equipment. Nonetheless I will continue expand my network to help patriots like you. The good news is consumer and small business has merged and I believe this is an advantage to us.

 

How was your holiday? Going thru my mail, saw your email back in December for batteries? Were you able to make a successful purchase?

 

Warm regards,

Bernadete

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Friday, January 01, 2010 6:19 AM
To: Bernier, Richard
Cc: Padua - Mateo, Bernadete; Estor, Ramon Jr
Subject: RE: Farewell

 

There is a lot to be said for continuity of service, and hopefully Dell has learned that. Bernadete has said she used to be a tech so she should have the chops. The real question is, can she come to understand my needs? In any case, Bernadete’s position will likely keep her from being a long-term answer as I don’t only buy what could be called fleet equipment.

 

The M1710 is Lilly 3, and she’s not going anywhere as I’m quite aware of her reliability. She just can’t pull duty on my wheelchair anymore because her service protection ended last spring. You might say she now has a nice safe job on a shelf!

 

I expect Dell may stumble, but they’ll eventually do right by me.

 

Good luck.

 

From: Richard_Bernier@Dell.com [mailto:Richard_Bernier@Dell.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 31, 2009 3:30 PM
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Farewell

 

Thanks Scott,

 

It sounds like you have got an great home network setup.  Oh, and I wouldn’t kick Roddy to the curb yet.  I love that form-factor unit.  Very, very reliable.  I got my own Roddy(m1710) at home running Windows 7 on it.  It chases bones around some of the newer systems today.

 

I really hope that you are provided the best service possible.

 

Unfortunately, I may have created an false expectation of service.  Technically, for a year now I wasn’t supposed to be personal working on customer computers.  When an issues came up, a case was supposed to be created and passed on to someone else to work.  This did not appeal to me as I felt any other mishaps from another Dell rep would damage my credibility as I was first primary contact.  Anyway, I did down size through the year but I did not let that effect our relationship because we have a history of working together, and besides your cool guy ;)

 

At this time I really have no idea what kind of service you can expect.  However, Bernadete appears to be really good at what she does and I expect she will do the right thing.

 

Now, just because I will no longer be at Dell doesn’t mean you can’t tweet every now and then with one of your smart comments ;)  You take care of your of yourself and have a great New Year!

 

Sincerely,

 

Richard Bernier
Dell Social Media Group

Dell Inc.
800-822-8965 Ext. 726-8859 | Richard_Bernier@dell.com
Got twitter? You can contact me right now.   Or you can connect with me on Facebook.
Read my blogs at Direct2Dell

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 31, 2009 2:34 PM
To: Bernier, Richard
Cc: Padua - Mateo, Bernadete; ramon_jr_ester@dell.com
Subject: Farewell

 

Rich,

 

On your last day with Dell, I thought you might like to know how things are going as a result of your sustained efforts. Lilly 3, the M1710, has found another life as the custodian of a 1TB harddrive that I use as my 3rd-level backup archive. HotRoddy, the M1530, in addition to being my reserve laptop, has taken on the job of feeding those huge backup image files over my network to Lilly 3. I have a little USB-powered 450GB harddrive that’s the primary backup for Roddy and Lilly 4. I connect it to whatever laptop I’m using to gather the backup, and then put it on Roddy to copy to Lilly 3. Meanwhile, the E6500, Lilly 4, plods along reliably doing its job as best as it can. In the background is an old Dimension 4600 you aren’t even aware of, named Nemesis, that’s my print and server for one game. Everything is up and running smoothly for now.

 

I don’t doubt that I’ll hear from Ramon next week regarding a replacement contact, and I hope Bernadete can pinch in in the meantime to keep me going. Roddy will have to be retired in the coming year because her service contract expires. Likewise, Nemesis is way, way overdue so Dell stands to benefit from continuing our positive relationship.

 

I wish you the best in whatever you do in the new year.

 

Scott

January 01

What makes sense

This is perhaps the best Security Now! episode ever. Everyone and their dog should listen.

December 31

RE: Farewell

There is a lot to be said for continuity of service, and hopefully Dell has learned that. Bernadete has said she used to be a tech so she should have the chops. The real question is, can she come to understand my needs? In any case, Bernadete’s position will likely keep her from being a long-term answer as I don’t only buy what could be called fleet equipment.

 

The M1710 is Lilly 3, and she’s not going anywhere as I’m quite aware of her reliability. She just can’t pull duty on my wheelchair anymore because her service protection ended last spring. You might say she now has a nice safe job on a shelf!

 

I expect Dell may stumble, but they’ll eventually do right by me.

 

Good luck.

 

From: Richard_Bernier@Dell.com [mailto:Richard_Bernier@Dell.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 31, 2009 3:30 PM
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Farewell

 

Thanks Scott,

 

It sounds like you have got an great home network setup.  Oh, and I wouldn’t kick Roddy to the curb yet.  I love that form-factor unit.  Very, very reliable.  I got my own Roddy(m1710) at home running Windows 7 on it.  It chases bones around some of the newer systems today.

 

I really hope that you are provided the best service possible.

 

Unfortunately, I may have created an false expectation of service.  Technically, for a year now I wasn’t supposed to be personal working on customer computers.  When an issues came up, a case was supposed to be created and passed on to someone else to work.  This did not appeal to me as I felt any other mishaps from another Dell rep would damage my credibility as I was first primary contact.  Anyway, I did down size through the year but I did not let that effect our relationship because we have a history of working together, and besides your cool guy ;)

 

At this time I really have no idea what kind of service you can expect.  However, Bernadete appears to be really good at what she does and I expect she will do the right thing.

 

Now, just because I will no longer be at Dell doesn’t mean you can’t tweet every now and then with one of your smart comments ;)  You take care of your of yourself and have a great New Year!

 

Sincerely,

 

Richard Bernier
Dell Social Media Group

Dell Inc.
800-822-8965 Ext. 726-8859 | Richard_Bernier@dell.com
Got twitter? You can contact me right now.   Or you can connect with me on Facebook.
Read my blogs at Direct2Dell

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 31, 2009 2:34 PM
To: Bernier, Richard
Cc: Padua - Mateo, Bernadete; ramon_jr_ester@dell.com
Subject: Farewell

 

Rich,

 

On your last day with Dell, I thought you might like to know how things are going as a result of your sustained efforts. Lilly 3, the M1710, has found another life as the custodian of a 1TB harddrive that I use as my 3rd-level backup archive. HotRoddy, the M1530, in addition to being my reserve laptop, has taken on the job of feeding those huge backup image files over my network to Lilly 3. I have a little USB-powered 450GB harddrive that’s the primary backup for Roddy and Lilly 4. I connect it to whatever laptop I’m using to gather the backup, and then put it on Roddy to copy to Lilly 3. Meanwhile, the E6500, Lilly 4, plods along reliably doing its job as best as it can. In the background is an old Dimension 4600 you aren’t even aware of, named Nemesis, that’s my print and server for one game. Everything is up and running smoothly for now.

 

I don’t doubt that I’ll hear from Ramon next week regarding a replacement contact, and I hope Bernadete can pinch in in the meantime to keep me going. Roddy will have to be retired in the coming year because her service contract expires. Likewise, Nemesis is way, way overdue so Dell stands to benefit from continuing our positive relationship.

 

I wish you the best in whatever you do in the new year.

 

Scott

Farewell

Rich,

 

On your last day with Dell, I thought you might like to know how things are going as a result of your sustained efforts. Lilly 3, the M1710, has found another life as the custodian of a 1TB harddrive that I use as my 3rd-level backup archive. HotRoddy, the M1530, in addition to being my reserve laptop, has taken on the job of feeding those huge backup image files over my network to Lilly 3. I have a little USB-powered 450GB harddrive that’s the primary backup for Roddy and Lilly 4. I connect it to whatever laptop I’m using to gather the backup, and then put it on Roddy to copy to Lilly 3. Meanwhile, the E6500, Lilly 4, plods along reliably doing its job as best as it can. In the background is an old Dimension 4600 you aren’t even aware of, named Nemesis, that’s my print and server for one game. Everything is up and running smoothly for now.

 

I don’t doubt that I’ll hear from Ramon next week regarding a replacement contact, and I hope Bernadete can pinch in in the meantime to keep me going. Roddy will have to be retired in the coming year because her service contract expires. Likewise, Nemesis is way, way overdue so Dell stands to benefit from continuing our positive relationship.

 

I wish you the best in whatever you do in the new year.

 

Scott

December 29

Trailer Update

Dianne,

 

I just spoke to Jack, the caregiver who owns the trailer in my driveway. He is hospitalized with uncontrolled diabetes, and probably won’t be released before Friday at the earliest. Even then, it will be a while before he is able to drive at all, much less tow the trailer back to New Caney. Jack’s blood sugar was over 690 when the VA finally admitted him yesterday, and he was in West Houston MC last week. The trailer I can do nothing about right now.

 

Scott

December 23

PMI

Dianne,

 

Nice to see you’re keeping busy, and at least I don’t have to explain my general situation to you.

 

PMI has been sending me threatening letters about the trailer with two motorcycles currently parked in my driveway. Obviously, the trailer isn’t mine. It belongs to one of my caregivers who is quite ill. In fact, I just sent him to West Houston Medical Center in an ambulance. There is nothing I can do about the trailer right now anyway so PMI can save themselves the trouble of sending me a registered complaint letter and fining me $10 next week.

 

Would you please contact them.

Scott

December 22

FW: Here we go again

 

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 22, 2009 7:37 PM
To: Ramon_Jr_Estor@Dell.com
Cc: 'Richard_Bernier@Dell.com'; 'Bernadete_Padua@Dell.com'
Subject: Here we go again

 

Ramon,

 

Yes, it is me again. You may vaguely recall assisting me back in August on purchasing a Latitude. I hope the Season finds you and yours well. Now I am compelled to contact you about a different matter.

 

As you can see below, I am losing my primary Dell contact, Richard Bernier, at the end of the year. That’s more serious than it might seem, because the normal service channel is really not capable of meeting my needs. The problem there is that a) I am so dependent on my Dells, and b) I am usually quite able to diagnose any hardware problem. Typically, I only need for my Dell contact to dispatch a technician with the required part as quickly as possible. Richard has also provided answers to technical questions, and furnished preparation of newly purchased laptops to better fit into my environment. In summary, a contact such as Richard is key to maintaining our good working relationship. The last transition was in 2003, and it was frankly difficult. I had to call upon the Executive Escalation Team at least once.

 

I remember my corporate life with Shell Oil well enough to know that this is the worst time of year to look for a replacement; most of the employees are out, but I only learned of the situation yesterday. I imagine Bernadete Padua-Mateo could temporarily pinch-hit until someone is selected. She certainly has both a technical and sales background. However, Bernadete is in Governmental Sales, and I buy products from across the Dell lines as needed. Besides, my understanding is that Bernadete is fairly high ranking, and I’ve joked with Richard that primary contact is more of a role for a lower-level droid.

 

Merry Christmas.

 

Scott

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Monday, December 21, 2009 2:51 PM
To: 'Richard_Bernier@Dell.com'
Cc: 'Bernadete_Padua@Dell.com'; 'lionel_menchaca@dell.com'
Subject: RE: I am leaving Dell

 

Rich,                                       

 

This is indeed bad news. I’ve been through the process before, and it was no fun. Dell tends to be a large and faceless creature. It’s for sure that the normal service channel doesn’t work for me at all. You shall be missed.

 

Where are you going?

 

Scott

 

 

From: Richard_Bernier@Dell.com [mailto:Richard_Bernier@Dell.com]
Sent: Monday, December 21, 2009 12:49 PM
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: I am leaving Dell

 

Scott,

 

I wanted you to know that I will be leaving Dell at the end of the year.  I have been trying to locate someone that can assist you after I leave.  Unfortunately, nothing solid yet.

 

I want you to know that it has been a pleasure assisting you these past years.  Take care!

 

Greatest regards,

 

Richard Bernier
Dell Social Media Group

Dell Inc.
800-822-8965 Ext. 726-8859 | Richard_Bernier@dell.com
Got twitter? You can contact me right now.   Or you can connect with me on Facebook.
Read my blogs at Direct2Dell

 

RE: Season's Greetings from Sheldon & Darlene Harvey

I agree with Greg Lake.

 

From: Sheldon Harvey [mailto:info@radiohf.ca]
Sent: Tuesday, December 22, 2009 2:39 PM
To: Sheldon Harvey
Subject: Fw: Season's Greetings from Sheldon & Darlene Harvey

 

Happy holidays to you and yours.

 

We hope you enjoy our Christmas greeting card this year (attached in Word format).  It features a photo we took of a Townsend's Solitaire, a bird that is rarely seen here in southern Quebec.  We were fortunate enough to find this one back in January 2005 near St-Hyacinthe, Quebec.  Of course, he wasn't wearing the hat at the time!

 

The text of our Christmas message this year is taken from "I Believe In Father Christmas" a song written by Greg Lake (most famously a member of King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer) in 1974. Although it is often categorised as a Christmas song this was not Lake's intention. Lake wrote the song in protest at the commercialisation of Christmas. The song is often misinterpreted as an anti-religious song and, because of this, Lake was surprised at its success. As he stated in a Mojo magazine interview:

 

"I find it appalling when people say it's politically incorrect to talk about Christmas, you've got to talk about 'The Holiday Season.' Christmas was a time of family warmth and love. There was a feeling of forgiveness, acceptance. And I do believe in Father Christmas."

 

You can watch a live performance of the song in the following YouTube video

 

Enjoy the holidays with family and friends and best wishes for the New Year 2010.

 

Darlene & Sheldon Harvey
Greenfield Park, Quebec

December 21

FW: I am leaving Dell

Another ally bites the dust.

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Monday, December 21, 2009 2:51 PM
To: 'Richard_Bernier@Dell.com'
Cc: 'Bernadete_Padua@Dell.com'; 'lionel_menchaca@dell.com'
Subject: RE: I am leaving Dell

 

Rich,

 

This is indeed bad news. I’ve been through the process before, and it was no fun. Dell tends to be a large and faceless creature. It’s for sure that the normal service channel doesn’t work for me at all. You shall be missed.

 

Where are you going?

 

Scott

 

 

From: Richard_Bernier@Dell.com [mailto:Richard_Bernier@Dell.com]
Sent: Monday, December 21, 2009 12:49 PM
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: I am leaving Dell

 

Scott,

 

I wanted you to know that I will be leaving Dell at the end of the year.  I have been trying to locate someone that can assist you after I leave.  Unfortunately, nothing solid yet.

 

I want you to know that it has been a pleasure assisting you these past years.  Take care!

 

Greatest regards,

 

Richard Bernier
Dell Social Media Group

Dell Inc.
800-822-8965 Ext. 726-8859 | Richard_Bernier@dell.com
Got twitter? You can contact me right now.   Or you can connect with me on Facebook.
Read my blogs at Direct2Dell

 

November 12

Don't Make Me Bite You

Those of us who know Lilly know her to be a large teddy bear. Yes, she is, but she apparently hasn’t forgotten her prime directive. We were in Houston Camera Exchange today, which is in a colorful part of town.  In walks this strange young woman with various traits that clearly mark her as being from another galaxy. She walks over and pets Lilly. Lilly knows that I expect her to play nice so she accepts the petting. However, people familiar with Lilly can tell she’s on Yellow Alert. The hapless woman is under close canine observation under she leaves.

 

Gotta love the killer combination of Shepherdy instincts and Chowish stealth. Good girl.

October 22

Win 7

Ok ok, what’s Dell doing to put Windows 7 on Lilly 4?

October 05

RE: Carbonite

Well, let’s review. You have already stated that Carbonite cannot currently meet my needs so it’s out of the running. That makes you simply an expert in the field, doesn’t it?

 

Oh yes, I do blog. That’s just another reason why I say what I mean and mean what I say. I am quite real, with quite real requirements. So far, only Mozy seems to get close to them, but you know the market far better than I ever will.

 

Right now, I’m trying Mozy. But, time will tell.

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 19:59
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

You’ll have to tell me!  I can see it on the blogs now: “Carbonite CEO recommends competitor’s product.”  J

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. |177 Huntington Ave., 15thFloor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com
 
Backup.  Simple.

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 3:54 PM
To: David Friend
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

So, now that you really know my usage model, which of your competitors would you recommend? (Hey, I can’t imagine a more honest observer under the circumstances.)

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 14:45
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

Good points, and thanks again for your thinking on this complicated issue. 

 

Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. |177 Huntington Ave., 15thFloor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com
 
Backup.  Simple.

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 3:43 PM
To: David Friend
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

I am struck how our two topics of conversation are converging. You don’t like caps, but that is really what cellular carriers do in practice. The paragraph you cite indicates that AT&T will simply give you a surcharge if you exceed the cap, but that’s not what happens. In practice, if you exceed your limit more than once or twice, your contract is terminated with cause. If you don’t believe me, please listen to past podcasts of Mobile Tech Roundup. The explanation the carriers give is that these data hogs are abusing and overtaxing the networks. That should seem very familiar to you!

 

You don’t like caps, but I think the current Carbonite plan is crying out to be gamed. As I’ve said, l could easily game Carbonite by writing a script to copy my 115GB Music folder to the internal drive in, say, 50GB chunks. As long as the client sees the files in each chunk within every 60 days, your server would obediently maintain a virtual archive. Of course you know what I mean, but we would both rather see a business model where laptop users can back up what they need to without breaking you. I think that means tiering, like it or not.

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 09:48
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

Scott: I’m really glad you turned me on to the AT&T pricing, because their wording is actually very interesting.  They are not saying that they will shut you off if you hit 5GB, but it gives them the right to impose additional charges (unspecified) provided that they also give you time to leave first.   I don’t like the idea of a hard cap because your backup just stops working, and that’s a poor user experience.   What I would like to do is find a way to gently limit our exposure to people who are using far more than 150GB.   These serious abusers are very small in number but are huge money losers for us. 

 

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. 

 

If you are on a data plan that does not include a monthly MB/GB allowance and additional data usage rates, you agree that AT&T has the right to impose additional charges if you use more than 5 GB in a month; provided that, prior to the imposition of any additional charges, AT&T shall provide you with notice and you shall have the right to terminate your Service.“

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. | 177 Huntington Ave., 15th Floor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com
 

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2009 6:47 PM
To: David Friend
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

I started to say AT&T is notorious, but the truth is that all US carriers are equally bad. In fact, Verizon recently had to stop saying “unlimited” to avoid legal Hell. I was fortunate enough to have a Verizon manager appeal to Corporate to double my limit to 10 GB for medical reasons (which they no longer do).

 

I have already described my own mode of how I might use Carbonite. If we expand my model to talk about laptop users in general, it is easy to say they don’t use external drives. But wait, isn’t that an iPhone you have? If you connect an iPhone to a Windows machine, it is an external drive. A external drive with a lot of valuable data, and iTunes only backs up what they sell you. If you have a digital camera (I have two), those pictures really can’t live inside your laptop. A laptop is a lot like a city’s downtown, it is a nexus of activity. However, there isn’t room for much of the data it uses to actually live there! As a result, a laptop becomes a city where the suburbs come and go as needed. Maybe one model is to figure out a way to protect those “suburbs.” You mentioned that you break even at 150GB for $5/mo., and perhaps that should be telling you something. Maybe you should/could sell Carbonite optionally in 150GB chunks. This isn’t necessarily tiering, because you’re focusing on EXTERNAL drives. Your current product covers the internal drives so what I just came up with would be a bolt-on. Indeed, it could be a product users could buy multiples of, much like tiers.


 Cabonite made this week’s episode of Security Now. Check it out.

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 10:18
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

Hmmm.  I did not know that.  I will look at my AT&T contract.  I’m sure I did my initial backup of about 50GB at my desk, so that would have gone over wi-fi.  But most of the time now I’m on AT&T, but the incremental backups daily are pretty minor. 

 

I think what we may need is something in that $100/yr range, as you suggest Scott.  It probably should be capped at some number, but have no restrictions in terms of the drives that would be backed up.   The new product I alluded to, Carbonite Pro, will be coming out in Nov but it is really aimed at businesses, not individuals, so I don’t think it would be a good fit for you.   It seems to me that we need both an entry-level consumer product and one that is a step up for users who need more speed, support for external drives,  and perhaps a premium level of customer support.  I’d be interested in what you think would make sense. 


Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. |177 Huntington Ave., 15thFloor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com
 
Backup.  Simple.

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 10:26 AM
To: David Friend
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

None of the carriers are truly “unlimited.” Read your fine print and you’ll find a 5 GB cap.  

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 08:52
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

Scott:  Interesting suggestion, but not sure what’s so bad about backing up on EVDO?  I have AT&T for my laptop and back up stuff on the network all the time without any difficulty.   Is your data service metered?  Mine is unlimited, so there’s no cost.  And since Carbonite basically sleeps when I’m typing on my laptop, it doesn’t interfere with browsing speed. 

 

Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. |177 Huntington Ave., 15thFloor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com
 
Backup.  Simple.

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 3:16 PM
To: David Friend
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

David,

 

I suppose everyone has their own definition of what’s “economical.” I’m on very limited funds, and even I think your $50/yr. subscription price is obscenely low. I understand that you’re trying to attract customers, but there’s a price-point where you start attracting people who are unlikely to stay for a variety of reasons. I think you’re well below that. I would support both $100/yr. for 300 GB, and then additional tiers.

 

If I may switch topics slightly, there are some changes to your client that would really help laptop users. Most important would be the awareness of the type of internet connection. I’m typing this email on the road to a meeting, and I darn sure wouldn’t like Carbonite backing up stuff on EVDO unless I explicitly order it to. True, Carbonite can be disabled, but it’s actually designed to be forgotten.

 

Meanwhile, I really need to back up that USB drive. Can you offer any ETA on your new product?

 

Scott

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 06:00
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

Scott:  The policy is 60 days.   If you delete a file on your PC, we delete it 60 days later.  That gives you plenty of time to change your mind or download the file to another PC using Remote File Access.  If your whole computer is disconnected from Carbonite, i.e., there is no explicit Windows file deletion, we store the files for as long as your subscription lasts. 

 

You’re correct that we should be moving to an archival model, and that is indeed on the roadmap.   However, it just doesn’t work economically with an “unlimited” pricing plan.  Just like any all-you-can-eat plan, your economics are based on averages – you’re always going to lose money on a small percentage of users.  In the case of archiving, large users would so skew the formula that everyone would have to be charged substantially more money, and we would no longer be competitive with vendors who offer tiered pricing.  All the giant users would migrate to us, and the bulk of the average users would migrate to a competitor. 


Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. |177 Huntington Ave., 15thFloor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com
 
Backup.  Simple.

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 11:48 PM
To: David Friend; leo@leoville.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

David,

 

I am amused to think of Leo paying for the terabytes he backs up! However, your response raises a very interesting and important issue. You say that you’re currently only in the “back up” business, meaning that Carbonite mirrors protected files on internal permanent drives. Very well, but what happens when a file is deleted locally? How long does it take for your client to report the deletion, and then, for your servers to delete the backup? The various comments from Leo in his multitude of podcasts suggest that he uses Carbonite as short-term archiving. Indeed, the distinction between a “back up” and an archive is fuzzy and entirely dependent on the answers to the above questions.

 

In essence, I’m suggesting that those questions have to be answered the same way regardless of a file’s location. After all, Windows doesn’t care where your Documents folder is, so why should Carbonite? Your concerns are valid, but they are equally valid for internal drives. If you have folder X on an internal drive, you can swap files into and out of it. Of course, Carbonite will eventually delete files that aren’t in X presently so why should a USB drive be any different? A drive really is just a folder on steroids.

 

In my case, 250 GB would be plenty. Even 150 GB would be enough, if I can pick the files. But, why should anyone tell me what I can safe-guard? I suppose that’s an argument for tiering. You see, once you get past exceptions like Leo who are drowning in bandwidth, you see a much drier landscape. We have bandwidth, but nowhere near what the San Francisco and New York pundits assume is the norm. Those people who think it’s time for IPTV are in for a wait. Most of America is a good piece below the cloud so ubiquitous real-time cloud-based services are a pipe-dream for us (literally), and will be for the near future. If Carbonite wishes to be relevant in more than a few places, I think you must shift to an archival model because average users simply don’t have the bandwidth to make “cloud” back ups worthwhile. Restoring any large amount of data would be painful.

 

Scott

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 15:38
To: leo@leoville.com; royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: Carbonite

 

Hi, guys.   There’s a technical issue and a commercial issue.  Leo is exactly right about the $5/mo.   We already lose money on a small percentage of our users, and that’s the price we pay in order to make it really easy for everyone.  However, we don’t want to make the economics any worse than necessary or we’d have to raise prices for everyone.  A small number of users already use a highly disproportionate amount of our storage.   The alternative would be to charge by the gigabyte like most of our competitors do, or simply shut off your backup without notice if you get too big, as one of our “unlimited” competitors does.  There’s no free lunch, and none of us can afford to back up more than about 150GBs without losing money at $5/mo.   In a few months we will have a new product on the market that will backup USB external drives, NAS, and any other lettered drives.  But pricing will be tiered by the GB, not unlimited.  I’m sure people will buy one license and back up all their PCs, and that’s fine. 

 

Regarding USB drives, here’s why we don’t back them up today:  What should we do when the drive is unplugged?  Do we assume that the data is deleted and so delete the backup?  If not, then we are essentially archiving the data, not backing it up.  If we don’t delete data when you unplug the drive, someone could fill up an external drive, load it up to Carbonite, erase the drive and fill it up with other data, and repeat.   This is not what we’re getting paid to do and it wouldn’t make any economic sense at all.   If we’re charging you by the GB, then of course we’re happy to archive as well as back up. 

 

Hope that answers the question.  

 

Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. | 177 Huntington Ave., 15th Floor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com  

 

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.14.1/2407 - Release Date: 10/01/09 18:23:00

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.14.3/2409 - Release Date: 10/02/09 06:46:00

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.14.3/2409 - Release Date: 10/03/09 06:20:00

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.420 / Virus Database: 270.14.3/2409 - Release Date: 10/05/09 06:19:00

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.420 / Virus Database: 270.14.3/2415 - Release Date: 10/05/09 06:19:00


FW: Carbonite

 

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 14:54
To: 'David Friend'
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

So, now that you really know my usage model, which of your competitors would you recommend? (Hey, I can’t imagine a more honest observer under the circumstances.)

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 14:45
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

Good points, and thanks again for your thinking on this complicated issue. 

 

Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. |177 Huntington Ave., 15thFloor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com
 
Backup.  Simple.

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 3:43 PM
To: David Friend
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

I am struck how our two topics of conversation are converging. You don’t like caps, but that is really what cellular carriers do in practice. The paragraph you cite indicates that AT&T will simply give you a surcharge if you exceed the cap, but that’s not what happens. In practice, if you exceed your limit more than once or twice, your contract is terminated with cause. If you don’t believe me, please listen to past podcasts of Mobile Tech Roundup. The explanation the carriers give is that these data hogs are abusing and overtaxing the networks. That should seem very familiar to you!

 

You don’t like caps, but I think the current Carbonite plan is crying out to be gamed. As I’ve said, l could easily game Carbonite by writing a script to copy my 115GB Music folder to the internal drive in, say, 50GB chunks. As long as the client sees the files in each chunk within every 60 days, your server would obediently maintain a virtual archive. Of course you know what I mean, but we would both rather see a business model where laptop users can back up what they need to without breaking you. I think that means tiering, like it or not.

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 09:48
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

Scott: I’m really glad you turned me on to the AT&T pricing, because their wording is actually very interesting.  They are not saying that they will shut you off if you hit 5GB, but it gives them the right to impose additional charges (unspecified) provided that they also give you time to leave first.   I don’t like the idea of a hard cap because your backup just stops working, and that’s a poor user experience.   What I would like to do is find a way to gently limit our exposure to people who are using far more than 150GB.   These serious abusers are very small in number but are huge money losers for us. 

 

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. 

 

If you are on a data plan that does not include a monthly MB/GB allowance and additional data usage rates, you agree that AT&T has the right to impose additional charges if you use more than 5 GB in a month; provided that, prior to the imposition of any additional charges, AT&T shall provide you with notice and you shall have the right to terminate your Service.“

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. | 177 Huntington Ave., 15th Floor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com
 

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2009 6:47 PM
To: David Friend
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

I started to say AT&T is notorious, but the truth is that all US carriers are equally bad. In fact, Verizon recently had to stop saying “unlimited” to avoid legal Hell. I was fortunate enough to have a Verizon manager appeal to Corporate to double my limit to 10 GB for medical reasons (which they no longer do).

 

I have already described my own mode of how I might use Carbonite. If we expand my model to talk about laptop users in general, it is easy to say they don’t use external drives. But wait, isn’t that an iPhone you have? If you connect an iPhone to a Windows machine, it is an external drive. A external drive with a lot of valuable data, and iTunes only backs up what they sell you. If you have a digital camera (I have two), those pictures really can’t live inside your laptop. A laptop is a lot like a city’s downtown, it is a nexus of activity. However, there isn’t room for much of the data it uses to actually live there! As a result, a laptop becomes a city where the suburbs come and go as needed. Maybe one model is to figure out a way to protect those “suburbs.” You mentioned that you break even at 150GB for $5/mo., and perhaps that should be telling you something. Maybe you should/could sell Carbonite optionally in 150GB chunks. This isn’t necessarily tiering, because you’re focusing on EXTERNAL drives. Your current product covers the internal drives so what I just came up with would be a bolt-on. Indeed, it could be a product users could buy multiples of, much like tiers.


 Cabonite made this week’s episode of Security Now. Check it out.

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 10:18
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

Hmmm.  I did not know that.  I will look at my AT&T contract.  I’m sure I did my initial backup of about 50GB at my desk, so that would have gone over wi-fi.  But most of the time now I’m on AT&T, but the incremental backups daily are pretty minor. 

 

I think what we may need is something in that $100/yr range, as you suggest Scott.  It probably should be capped at some number, but have no restrictions in terms of the drives that would be backed up.   The new product I alluded to, Carbonite Pro, will be coming out in Nov but it is really aimed at businesses, not individuals, so I don’t think it would be a good fit for you.   It seems to me that we need both an entry-level consumer product and one that is a step up for users who need more speed, support for external drives,  and perhaps a premium level of customer support.  I’d be interested in what you think would make sense. 


Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. |177 Huntington Ave., 15thFloor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com
 
Backup.  Simple.

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 10:26 AM
To: David Friend
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

None of the carriers are truly “unlimited.” Read your fine print and you’ll find a 5 GB cap.  

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 08:52
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

Scott:  Interesting suggestion, but not sure what’s so bad about backing up on EVDO?  I have AT&T for my laptop and back up stuff on the network all the time without any difficulty.   Is your data service metered?  Mine is unlimited, so there’s no cost.  And since Carbonite basically sleeps when I’m typing on my laptop, it doesn’t interfere with browsing speed. 

 

Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. |177 Huntington Ave., 15thFloor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com
 
Backup.  Simple.

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 3:16 PM
To: David Friend
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

David,

 

I suppose everyone has their own definition of what’s “economical.” I’m on very limited funds, and even I think your $50/yr. subscription price is obscenely low. I understand that you’re trying to attract customers, but there’s a price-point where you start attracting people who are unlikely to stay for a variety of reasons. I think you’re well below that. I would support both $100/yr. for 300 GB, and then additional tiers.

 

If I may switch topics slightly, there are some changes to your client that would really help laptop users. Most important would be the awareness of the type of internet connection. I’m typing this email on the road to a meeting, and I darn sure wouldn’t like Carbonite backing up stuff on EVDO unless I explicitly order it to. True, Carbonite can be disabled, but it’s actually designed to be forgotten.

 

Meanwhile, I really need to back up that USB drive. Can you offer any ETA on your new product?

 

Scott

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 06:00
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

Scott:  The policy is 60 days.   If you delete a file on your PC, we delete it 60 days later.  That gives you plenty of time to change your mind or download the file to another PC using Remote File Access.  If your whole computer is disconnected from Carbonite, i.e., there is no explicit Windows file deletion, we store the files for as long as your subscription lasts. 

 

You’re correct that we should be moving to an archival model, and that is indeed on the roadmap.   However, it just doesn’t work economically with an “unlimited” pricing plan.  Just like any all-you-can-eat plan, your economics are based on averages – you’re always going to lose money on a small percentage of users.  In the case of archiving, large users would so skew the formula that everyone would have to be charged substantially more money, and we would no longer be competitive with vendors who offer tiered pricing.  All the giant users would migrate to us, and the bulk of the average users would migrate to a competitor. 


Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. |177 Huntington Ave., 15thFloor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com
 
Backup.  Simple.

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 11:48 PM
To: David Friend; leo@leoville.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

David,

 

I am amused to think of Leo paying for the terabytes he backs up! However, your response raises a very interesting and important issue. You say that you’re currently only in the “back up” business, meaning that Carbonite mirrors protected files on internal permanent drives. Very well, but what happens when a file is deleted locally? How long does it take for your client to report the deletion, and then, for your servers to delete the backup? The various comments from Leo in his multitude of podcasts suggest that he uses Carbonite as short-term archiving. Indeed, the distinction between a “back up” and an archive is fuzzy and entirely dependent on the answers to the above questions.

 

In essence, I’m suggesting that those questions have to be answered the same way regardless of a file’s location. After all, Windows doesn’t care where your Documents folder is, so why should Carbonite? Your concerns are valid, but they are equally valid for internal drives. If you have folder X on an internal drive, you can swap files into and out of it. Of course, Carbonite will eventually delete files that aren’t in X presently so why should a USB drive be any different? A drive really is just a folder on steroids.

 

In my case, 250 GB would be plenty. Even 150 GB would be enough, if I can pick the files. But, why should anyone tell me what I can safe-guard? I suppose that’s an argument for tiering. You see, once you get past exceptions like Leo who are drowning in bandwidth, you see a much drier landscape. We have bandwidth, but nowhere near what the San Francisco and New York pundits assume is the norm. Those people who think it’s time for IPTV are in for a wait. Most of America is a good piece below the cloud so ubiquitous real-time cloud-based services are a pipe-dream for us (literally), and will be for the near future. If Carbonite wishes to be relevant in more than a few places, I think you must shift to an archival model because average users simply don’t have the bandwidth to make “cloud” back ups worthwhile. Restoring any large amount of data would be painful.

 

Scott

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 15:38
To: leo@leoville.com; royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: Carbonite

 

Hi, guys.   There’s a technical issue and a commercial issue.  Leo is exactly right about the $5/mo.   We already lose money on a small percentage of our users, and that’s the price we pay in order to make it really easy for everyone.  However, we don’t want to make the economics any worse than necessary or we’d have to raise prices for everyone.  A small number of users already use a highly disproportionate amount of our storage.   The alternative would be to charge by the gigabyte like most of our competitors do, or simply shut off your backup without notice if you get too big, as one of our “unlimited” competitors does.  There’s no free lunch, and none of us can afford to back up more than about 150GBs without losing money at $5/mo.   In a few months we will have a new product on the market that will backup USB external drives, NAS, and any other lettered drives.  But pricing will be tiered by the GB, not unlimited.  I’m sure people will buy one license and back up all their PCs, and that’s fine. 

 

Regarding USB drives, here’s why we don’t back them up today:  What should we do when the drive is unplugged?  Do we assume that the data is deleted and so delete the backup?  If not, then we are essentially archiving the data, not backing it up.  If we don’t delete data when you unplug the drive, someone could fill up an external drive, load it up to Carbonite, erase the drive and fill it up with other data, and repeat.   This is not what we’re getting paid to do and it wouldn’t make any economic sense at all.   If we’re charging you by the GB, then of course we’re happy to archive as well as back up. 

 

Hope that answers the question.  

 

Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. | 177 Huntington Ave., 15th Floor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com  

 

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.14.1/2407 - Release Date: 10/01/09 18:23:00

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.14.3/2409 - Release Date: 10/02/09 06:46:00

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.14.3/2409 - Release Date: 10/03/09 06:20:00

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.420 / Virus Database: 270.14.3/2409 - Release Date: 10/05/09 06:19:00


RE: Carbonite

I am struck how our two topics of conversation are converging. You don’t like caps, but that is really what cellular carriers do in practice. The paragraph you cite indicates that AT&T will simply give you a surcharge if you exceed the cap, but that’s not what happens. In practice, if you exceed your limit more than once or twice, your contract is terminated with cause. If you don’t believe me, please listen to past podcasts of Mobile Tech Roundup. The explanation the carriers give is that these data hogs are abusing and overtaxing the networks. That should seem very familiar to you!

 

You don’t like caps, but I think the current Carbonite plan is crying out to be gamed. As I’ve said, l could easily game Carbonite by writing a script to copy my 115GB Music folder to the internal drive in, say, 50GB chunks. As long as the client sees the files in each chunk within every 60 days, your server would obediently maintain a virtual archive. Of course you know what I mean, but we would both rather see a business model where laptop users can back up what they need to without breaking you. I think that means tiering, like it or not.

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 09:48
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

Scott: I’m really glad you turned me on to the AT&T pricing, because their wording is actually very interesting.  They are not saying that they will shut you off if you hit 5GB, but it gives them the right to impose additional charges (unspecified) provided that they also give you time to leave first.   I don’t like the idea of a hard cap because your backup just stops working, and that’s a poor user experience.   What I would like to do is find a way to gently limit our exposure to people who are using far more than 150GB.   These serious abusers are very small in number but are huge money losers for us. 

 

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. 

 

If you are on a data plan that does not include a monthly MB/GB allowance and additional data usage rates, you agree that AT&T has the right to impose additional charges if you use more than 5 GB in a month; provided that, prior to the imposition of any additional charges, AT&T shall provide you with notice and you shall have the right to terminate your Service.“

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. | 177 Huntington Ave., 15th Floor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com
 

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2009 6:47 PM
To: David Friend
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

I started to say AT&T is notorious, but the truth is that all US carriers are equally bad. In fact, Verizon recently had to stop saying “unlimited” to avoid legal Hell. I was fortunate enough to have a Verizon manager appeal to Corporate to double my limit to 10 GB for medical reasons (which they no longer do).

 

I have already described my own mode of how I might use Carbonite. If we expand my model to talk about laptop users in general, it is easy to say they don’t use external drives. But wait, isn’t that an iPhone you have? If you connect an iPhone to a Windows machine, it is an external drive. A external drive with a lot of valuable data, and iTunes only backs up what they sell you. If you have a digital camera (I have two), those pictures really can’t live inside your laptop. A laptop is a lot like a city’s downtown, it is a nexus of activity. However, there isn’t room for much of the data it uses to actually live there! As a result, a laptop becomes a city where the suburbs come and go as needed. Maybe one model is to figure out a way to protect those “suburbs.” You mentioned that you break even at 150GB for $5/mo., and perhaps that should be telling you something. Maybe you should/could sell Carbonite optionally in 150GB chunks. This isn’t necessarily tiering, because you’re focusing on EXTERNAL drives. Your current product covers the internal drives so what I just came up with would be a bolt-on. Indeed, it could be a product users could buy multiples of, much like tiers.


 Cabonite made this week’s episode of Security Now. Check it out.

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 10:18
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

Hmmm.  I did not know that.  I will look at my AT&T contract.  I’m sure I did my initial backup of about 50GB at my desk, so that would have gone over wi-fi.  But most of the time now I’m on AT&T, but the incremental backups daily are pretty minor. 

 

I think what we may need is something in that $100/yr range, as you suggest Scott.  It probably should be capped at some number, but have no restrictions in terms of the drives that would be backed up.   The new product I alluded to, Carbonite Pro, will be coming out in Nov but it is really aimed at businesses, not individuals, so I don’t think it would be a good fit for you.   It seems to me that we need both an entry-level consumer product and one that is a step up for users who need more speed, support for external drives,  and perhaps a premium level of customer support.  I’d be interested in what you think would make sense. 


Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. |177 Huntington Ave., 15thFloor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com
 
Backup.  Simple.

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 10:26 AM
To: David Friend
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

None of the carriers are truly “unlimited.” Read your fine print and you’ll find a 5 GB cap.  

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 08:52
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

Scott:  Interesting suggestion, but not sure what’s so bad about backing up on EVDO?  I have AT&T for my laptop and back up stuff on the network all the time without any difficulty.   Is your data service metered?  Mine is unlimited, so there’s no cost.  And since Carbonite basically sleeps when I’m typing on my laptop, it doesn’t interfere with browsing speed. 

 

Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. |177 Huntington Ave., 15thFloor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com
 
Backup.  Simple.

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 3:16 PM
To: David Friend
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

David,

 

I suppose everyone has their own definition of what’s “economical.” I’m on very limited funds, and even I think your $50/yr. subscription price is obscenely low. I understand that you’re trying to attract customers, but there’s a price-point where you start attracting people who are unlikely to stay for a variety of reasons. I think you’re well below that. I would support both $100/yr. for 300 GB, and then additional tiers.

 

If I may switch topics slightly, there are some changes to your client that would really help laptop users. Most important would be the awareness of the type of internet connection. I’m typing this email on the road to a meeting, and I darn sure wouldn’t like Carbonite backing up stuff on EVDO unless I explicitly order it to. True, Carbonite can be disabled, but it’s actually designed to be forgotten.

 

Meanwhile, I really need to back up that USB drive. Can you offer any ETA on your new product?

 

Scott

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 06:00
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

Scott:  The policy is 60 days.   If you delete a file on your PC, we delete it 60 days later.  That gives you plenty of time to change your mind or download the file to another PC using Remote File Access.  If your whole computer is disconnected from Carbonite, i.e., there is no explicit Windows file deletion, we store the files for as long as your subscription lasts. 

 

You’re correct that we should be moving to an archival model, and that is indeed on the roadmap.   However, it just doesn’t work economically with an “unlimited” pricing plan.  Just like any all-you-can-eat plan, your economics are based on averages – you’re always going to lose money on a small percentage of users.  In the case of archiving, large users would so skew the formula that everyone would have to be charged substantially more money, and we would no longer be competitive with vendors who offer tiered pricing.  All the giant users would migrate to us, and the bulk of the average users would migrate to a competitor. 


Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. |177 Huntington Ave., 15thFloor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com
 
Backup.  Simple.

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 11:48 PM
To: David Friend; leo@leoville.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

David,

 

I am amused to think of Leo paying for the terabytes he backs up! However, your response raises a very interesting and important issue. You say that you’re currently only in the “back up” business, meaning that Carbonite mirrors protected files on internal permanent drives. Very well, but what happens when a file is deleted locally? How long does it take for your client to report the deletion, and then, for your servers to delete the backup? The various comments from Leo in his multitude of podcasts suggest that he uses Carbonite as short-term archiving. Indeed, the distinction between a “back up” and an archive is fuzzy and entirely dependent on the answers to the above questions.

 

In essence, I’m suggesting that those questions have to be answered the same way regardless of a file’s location. After all, Windows doesn’t care where your Documents folder is, so why should Carbonite? Your concerns are valid, but they are equally valid for internal drives. If you have folder X on an internal drive, you can swap files into and out of it. Of course, Carbonite will eventually delete files that aren’t in X presently so why should a USB drive be any different? A drive really is just a folder on steroids.

 

In my case, 250 GB would be plenty. Even 150 GB would be enough, if I can pick the files. But, why should anyone tell me what I can safe-guard? I suppose that’s an argument for tiering. You see, once you get past exceptions like Leo who are drowning in bandwidth, you see a much drier landscape. We have bandwidth, but nowhere near what the San Francisco and New York pundits assume is the norm. Those people who think it’s time for IPTV are in for a wait. Most of America is a good piece below the cloud so ubiquitous real-time cloud-based services are a pipe-dream for us (literally), and will be for the near future. If Carbonite wishes to be relevant in more than a few places, I think you must shift to an archival model because average users simply don’t have the bandwidth to make “cloud” back ups worthwhile. Restoring any large amount of data would be painful.

 

Scott

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 15:38
To: leo@leoville.com; royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: Carbonite

 

Hi, guys.   There’s a technical issue and a commercial issue.  Leo is exactly right about the $5/mo.   We already lose money on a small percentage of our users, and that’s the price we pay in order to make it really easy for everyone.  However, we don’t want to make the economics any worse than necessary or we’d have to raise prices for everyone.  A small number of users already use a highly disproportionate amount of our storage.   The alternative would be to charge by the gigabyte like most of our competitors do, or simply shut off your backup without notice if you get too big, as one of our “unlimited” competitors does.  There’s no free lunch, and none of us can afford to back up more than about 150GBs without losing money at $5/mo.   In a few months we will have a new product on the market that will backup USB external drives, NAS, and any other lettered drives.  But pricing will be tiered by the GB, not unlimited.  I’m sure people will buy one license and back up all their PCs, and that’s fine. 

 

Regarding USB drives, here’s why we don’t back them up today:  What should we do when the drive is unplugged?  Do we assume that the data is deleted and so delete the backup?  If not, then we are essentially archiving the data, not backing it up.  If we don’t delete data when you unplug the drive, someone could fill up an external drive, load it up to Carbonite, erase the drive and fill it up with other data, and repeat.   This is not what we’re getting paid to do and it wouldn’t make any economic sense at all.   If we’re charging you by the GB, then of course we’re happy to archive as well as back up. 

 

Hope that answers the question.  

 

Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. | 177 Huntington Ave., 15th Floor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com  

 

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.14.1/2407 - Release Date: 10/01/09 18:23:00

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.14.3/2409 - Release Date: 10/02/09 06:46:00

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.14.3/2409 - Release Date: 10/03/09 06:20:00

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.420 / Virus Database: 270.14.3/2409 - Release Date: 10/05/09 06:19:00


October 04

RE: Carbonite

I started to say AT&T is notorious, but the truth is that all US carriers are equally bad. In fact, Verizon recently had to stop saying “unlimited” to avoid legal Hell. I was fortunate enough to have a Verizon manager appeal to Corporate to double my limit to 10 GB for medical reasons (which they no longer do).

 

I have already described my own mode of how I might use Carbonite. If we expand my model to talk about laptop users in general, it is easy to say they don’t use external drives. But wait, isn’t that an iPhone you have? If you connect an iPhone to a Windows machine, it is an external drive. A external drive with a lot of valuable data, and iTunes only backs up what they sell you. If you have a digital camera (I have two), those pictures really can’t live inside your laptop. A laptop is a lot like a city’s downtown, it is a nexus of activity. However, there isn’t room for much of the data it uses to actually live there! As a result, a laptop becomes a city where the suburbs come and go as needed. Maybe one model is to figure out a way to protect those “suburbs.” You mentioned that you break even at 150GB for $5/mo., and perhaps that should be telling you something. Maybe you should/could sell Carbonite optionally in 150GB chunks. This isn’t necessarily tiering, because you’re focusing on EXTERNAL drives. Your current product covers the internal drives so what I just came up with would be a bolt-on. Indeed, it could be a product users could buy multiples of, much like tiers.


 Cabonite made this week’s episode of Security Now. Check it out.

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 10:18
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

Hmmm.  I did not know that.  I will look at my AT&T contract.  I’m sure I did my initial backup of about 50GB at my desk, so that would have gone over wi-fi.  But most of the time now I’m on AT&T, but the incremental backups daily are pretty minor. 

 

I think what we may need is something in that $100/yr range, as you suggest Scott.  It probably should be capped at some number, but have no restrictions in terms of the drives that would be backed up.   The new product I alluded to, Carbonite Pro, will be coming out in Nov but it is really aimed at businesses, not individuals, so I don’t think it would be a good fit for you.   It seems to me that we need both an entry-level consumer product and one that is a step up for users who need more speed, support for external drives,  and perhaps a premium level of customer support.  I’d be interested in what you think would make sense. 


Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. |177 Huntington Ave., 15thFloor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com
 
Backup.  Simple.

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 10:26 AM
To: David Friend
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

None of the carriers are truly “unlimited.” Read your fine print and you’ll find a 5 GB cap.  

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 08:52
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

Scott:  Interesting suggestion, but not sure what’s so bad about backing up on EVDO?  I have AT&T for my laptop and back up stuff on the network all the time without any difficulty.   Is your data service metered?  Mine is unlimited, so there’s no cost.  And since Carbonite basically sleeps when I’m typing on my laptop, it doesn’t interfere with browsing speed. 

 

Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. |177 Huntington Ave., 15thFloor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com
 
Backup.  Simple.

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 3:16 PM
To: David Friend
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

David,

 

I suppose everyone has their own definition of what’s “economical.” I’m on very limited funds, and even I think your $50/yr. subscription price is obscenely low. I understand that you’re trying to attract customers, but there’s a price-point where you start attracting people who are unlikely to stay for a variety of reasons. I think you’re well below that. I would support both $100/yr. for 300 GB, and then additional tiers.

 

If I may switch topics slightly, there are some changes to your client that would really help laptop users. Most important would be the awareness of the type of internet connection. I’m typing this email on the road to a meeting, and I darn sure wouldn’t like Carbonite backing up stuff on EVDO unless I explicitly order it to. True, Carbonite can be disabled, but it’s actually designed to be forgotten.

 

Meanwhile, I really need to back up that USB drive. Can you offer any ETA on your new product?

 

Scott

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 06:00
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

Scott:  The policy is 60 days.   If you delete a file on your PC, we delete it 60 days later.  That gives you plenty of time to change your mind or download the file to another PC using Remote File Access.  If your whole computer is disconnected from Carbonite, i.e., there is no explicit Windows file deletion, we store the files for as long as your subscription lasts. 

 

You’re correct that we should be moving to an archival model, and that is indeed on the roadmap.   However, it just doesn’t work economically with an “unlimited” pricing plan.  Just like any all-you-can-eat plan, your economics are based on averages – you’re always going to lose money on a small percentage of users.  In the case of archiving, large users would so skew the formula that everyone would have to be charged substantially more money, and we would no longer be competitive with vendors who offer tiered pricing.  All the giant users would migrate to us, and the bulk of the average users would migrate to a competitor. 


Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. |177 Huntington Ave., 15thFloor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com
 
Backup.  Simple.

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 11:48 PM
To: David Friend; leo@leoville.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

David,

 

I am amused to think of Leo paying for the terabytes he backs up! However, your response raises a very interesting and important issue. You say that you’re currently only in the “back up” business, meaning that Carbonite mirrors protected files on internal permanent drives. Very well, but what happens when a file is deleted locally? How long does it take for your client to report the deletion, and then, for your servers to delete the backup? The various comments from Leo in his multitude of podcasts suggest that he uses Carbonite as short-term archiving. Indeed, the distinction between a “back up” and an archive is fuzzy and entirely dependent on the answers to the above questions.

 

In essence, I’m suggesting that those questions have to be answered the same way regardless of a file’s location. After all, Windows doesn’t care where your Documents folder is, so why should Carbonite? Your concerns are valid, but they are equally valid for internal drives. If you have folder X on an internal drive, you can swap files into and out of it. Of course, Carbonite will eventually delete files that aren’t in X presently so why should a USB drive be any different? A drive really is just a folder on steroids.

 

In my case, 250 GB would be plenty. Even 150 GB would be enough, if I can pick the files. But, why should anyone tell me what I can safe-guard? I suppose that’s an argument for tiering. You see, once you get past exceptions like Leo who are drowning in bandwidth, you see a much drier landscape. We have bandwidth, but nowhere near what the San Francisco and New York pundits assume is the norm. Those people who think it’s time for IPTV are in for a wait. Most of America is a good piece below the cloud so ubiquitous real-time cloud-based services are a pipe-dream for us (literally), and will be for the near future. If Carbonite wishes to be relevant in more than a few places, I think you must shift to an archival model because average users simply don’t have the bandwidth to make “cloud” back ups worthwhile. Restoring any large amount of data would be painful.

 

Scott

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 15:38
To: leo@leoville.com; royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: Carbonite

 

Hi, guys.   There’s a technical issue and a commercial issue.  Leo is exactly right about the $5/mo.   We already lose money on a small percentage of our users, and that’s the price we pay in order to make it really easy for everyone.  However, we don’t want to make the economics any worse than necessary or we’d have to raise prices for everyone.  A small number of users already use a highly disproportionate amount of our storage.   The alternative would be to charge by the gigabyte like most of our competitors do, or simply shut off your backup without notice if you get too big, as one of our “unlimited” competitors does.  There’s no free lunch, and none of us can afford to back up more than about 150GBs without losing money at $5/mo.   In a few months we will have a new product on the market that will backup USB external drives, NAS, and any other lettered drives.  But pricing will be tiered by the GB, not unlimited.  I’m sure people will buy one license and back up all their PCs, and that’s fine. 

 

Regarding USB drives, here’s why we don’t back them up today:  What should we do when the drive is unplugged?  Do we assume that the data is deleted and so delete the backup?  If not, then we are essentially archiving the data, not backing it up.  If we don’t delete data when you unplug the drive, someone could fill up an external drive, load it up to Carbonite, erase the drive and fill it up with other data, and repeat.   This is not what we’re getting paid to do and it wouldn’t make any economic sense at all.   If we’re charging you by the GB, then of course we’re happy to archive as well as back up. 

 

Hope that answers the question.  

 

Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. | 177 Huntington Ave., 15th Floor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com  

 

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.14.1/2407 - Release Date: 10/01/09 18:23:00

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.14.3/2409 - Release Date: 10/02/09 06:46:00

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.14.3/2409 - Release Date: 10/03/09 06:20:00


October 02

RE: Carbonite

David,

 

I suppose everyone has their own definition of what’s “economical.” I’m on very limited funds, and even I think your $50/yr. subscription price is obscenely low. I understand that you’re trying to attract customers, but there’s a price-point where you start attracting people who are unlikely to stay for a variety of reasons. I think you’re well below that. I would support both $100/yr. for 300 GB, and then additional tiers.

 

If I may switch topics slightly, there are some changes to your client that would really help laptop users. Most important would be the awareness of the type of internet connection. I’m typing this email on the road to a meeting, and I darn sure wouldn’t like Carbonite backing up stuff on EVDO unless I explicitly order it to. True, Carbonite can be disabled, but it’s actually designed to be forgotten.

 

Meanwhile, I really need to back up that USB drive. Can you offer any ETA on your new product?

 

Scott

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 06:00
To: royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

Scott:  The policy is 60 days.   If you delete a file on your PC, we delete it 60 days later.  That gives you plenty of time to change your mind or download the file to another PC using Remote File Access.  If your whole computer is disconnected from Carbonite, i.e., there is no explicit Windows file deletion, we store the files for as long as your subscription lasts. 

 

You’re correct that we should be moving to an archival model, and that is indeed on the roadmap.   However, it just doesn’t work economically with an “unlimited” pricing plan.  Just like any all-you-can-eat plan, your economics are based on averages – you’re always going to lose money on a small percentage of users.  In the case of archiving, large users would so skew the formula that everyone would have to be charged substantially more money, and we would no longer be competitive with vendors who offer tiered pricing.  All the giant users would migrate to us, and the bulk of the average users would migrate to a competitor. 


Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. |177 Huntington Ave., 15thFloor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com
 
Backup.  Simple.

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 11:48 PM
To: David Friend; leo@leoville.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

David,

 

I am amused to think of Leo paying for the terabytes he backs up! However, your response raises a very interesting and important issue. You say that you’re currently only in the “back up” business, meaning that Carbonite mirrors protected files on internal permanent drives. Very well, but what happens when a file is deleted locally? How long does it take for your client to report the deletion, and then, for your servers to delete the backup? The various comments from Leo in his multitude of podcasts suggest that he uses Carbonite as short-term archiving. Indeed, the distinction between a “back up” and an archive is fuzzy and entirely dependent on the answers to the above questions.

 

In essence, I’m suggesting that those questions have to be answered the same way regardless of a file’s location. After all, Windows doesn’t care where your Documents folder is, so why should Carbonite? Your concerns are valid, but they are equally valid for internal drives. If you have folder X on an internal drive, you can swap files into and out of it. Of course, Carbonite will eventually delete files that aren’t in X presently so why should a USB drive be any different? A drive really is just a folder on steroids.

 

In my case, 250 GB would be plenty. Even 150 GB would be enough, if I can pick the files. But, why should anyone tell me what I can safe-guard? I suppose that’s an argument for tiering. You see, once you get past exceptions like Leo who are drowning in bandwidth, you see a much drier landscape. We have bandwidth, but nowhere near what the San Francisco and New York pundits assume is the norm. Those people who think it’s time for IPTV are in for a wait. Most of America is a good piece below the cloud so ubiquitous real-time cloud-based services are a pipe-dream for us (literally), and will be for the near future. If Carbonite wishes to be relevant in more than a few places, I think you must shift to an archival model because average users simply don’t have the bandwidth to make “cloud” back ups worthwhile. Restoring any large amount of data would be painful.

 

Scott

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 15:38
To: leo@leoville.com; royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: Carbonite

 

Hi, guys.   There’s a technical issue and a commercial issue.  Leo is exactly right about the $5/mo.   We already lose money on a small percentage of our users, and that’s the price we pay in order to make it really easy for everyone.  However, we don’t want to make the economics any worse than necessary or we’d have to raise prices for everyone.  A small number of users already use a highly disproportionate amount of our storage.   The alternative would be to charge by the gigabyte like most of our competitors do, or simply shut off your backup without notice if you get too big, as one of our “unlimited” competitors does.  There’s no free lunch, and none of us can afford to back up more than about 150GBs without losing money at $5/mo.   In a few months we will have a new product on the market that will backup USB external drives, NAS, and any other lettered drives.  But pricing will be tiered by the GB, not unlimited.  I’m sure people will buy one license and back up all their PCs, and that’s fine. 

 

Regarding USB drives, here’s why we don’t back them up today:  What should we do when the drive is unplugged?  Do we assume that the data is deleted and so delete the backup?  If not, then we are essentially archiving the data, not backing it up.  If we don’t delete data when you unplug the drive, someone could fill up an external drive, load it up to Carbonite, erase the drive and fill it up with other data, and repeat.   This is not what we’re getting paid to do and it wouldn’t make any economic sense at all.   If we’re charging you by the GB, then of course we’re happy to archive as well as back up. 

 

Hope that answers the question.  

 

Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. | 177 Huntington Ave., 15th Floor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com  

 

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FW: Carbonite

 

 

From: Scott Royall [mailto:royall@conchbbs.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 22:48
To: 'David Friend'; leo@leoville.com
Subject: RE: Carbonite

 

David,

 

I am amused to think of Leo paying for the terabytes he backs up! However, your response raises a very interesting and important issue. You say that you’re currently only in the “back up” business, meaning that Carbonite mirrors protected files on internal permanent drives. Very well, but what happens when a file is deleted locally? How long does it take for your client to report the deletion, and then, for your servers to delete the backup? The various comments from Leo in his multitude of podcasts suggest that he uses Carbonite as short-term archiving. Indeed, the distinction between a “back up” and an archive is fuzzy and entirely dependent on the answers to the above questions.

 

In essence, I’m suggesting that those questions have to be answered the same way regardless of a file’s location. After all, Windows doesn’t care where your Documents folder is, so why should Carbonite? Your concerns are valid, but they are equally valid for internal drives. If you have folder X on an internal drive, you can swap files into and out of it. Of course, Carbonite will eventually delete files that aren’t in X presently so why should a USB drive be any different? A drive really is just a folder on steroids.

 

In my case, 250 GB would be plenty. Even 150 GB would be enough, if I can pick the files. But, why should anyone tell me what I can safe-guard? I suppose that’s an argument for tiering. You see, once you get past exceptions like Leo who are drowning in bandwidth, you see a much drier landscape. We have bandwidth, but nowhere near what the San Francisco and New York pundits assume is the norm. Those people who think it’s time for IPTV are in for a wait. Most of America is a good piece below the cloud so ubiquitous real-time cloud-based services are a pipe-dream for us (literally), and will be for the near future. If Carbonite wishes to be relevant in more than a few places, I think you must shift to an archival model because average users simply don’t have the bandwidth to make “cloud” back ups worthwhile. Restoring any large amount of data would be painful.

 

Scott

 

From: David Friend [mailto:DFriend@carbonite.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 15:38
To: leo@leoville.com; royall@conchbbs.com
Subject: Carbonite

 

Hi, guys.   There’s a technical issue and a commercial issue.  Leo is exactly right about the $5/mo.   We already lose money on a small percentage of our users, and that’s the price we pay in order to make it really easy for everyone.  However, we don’t want to make the economics any worse than necessary or we’d have to raise prices for everyone.  A small number of users already use a highly disproportionate amount of our storage.   The alternative would be to charge by the gigabyte like most of our competitors do, or simply shut off your backup without notice if you get too big, as one of our “unlimited” competitors does.  There’s no free lunch, and none of us can afford to back up more than about 150GBs without losing money at $5/mo.   In a few months we will have a new product on the market that will backup USB external drives, NAS, and any other lettered drives.  But pricing will be tiered by the GB, not unlimited.  I’m sure people will buy one license and back up all their PCs, and that’s fine. 

 

Regarding USB drives, here’s why we don’t back them up today:  What should we do when the drive is unplugged?  Do we assume that the data is deleted and so delete the backup?  If not, then we are essentially archiving the data, not backing it up.  If we don’t delete data when you unplug the drive, someone could fill up an external drive, load it up to Carbonite, erase the drive and fill it up with other data, and repeat.   This is not what we’re getting paid to do and it wouldn’t make any economic sense at all.   If we’re charging you by the GB, then of course we’re happy to archive as well as back up. 

 

Hope that answers the question.  

 

Dave

 

David Friend | Chairman & CEO
Carbonite, Inc. | 177 Huntington Ave., 15th Floor | Boston, MA | 02115
Office: 617-587-1110 | Fax: 617-587-1101
www.carbonite.com  

 


 

Scott Royall

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