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Thanks, but it was an easy call. It was obvious, especially If you listen to some of the nonsense these guys spouted in 2013 and 2104.
Quite frankly, I remain amazed that so many people threw good money into this dog and pony show. All it took was to simply listen to the claims, and do some basic due diligence. (i.e. a simple patent search on the US Patent Office web site). My total time invested was twenty minutes to watch the Cantech Investor Conference presentation delivered by Tassiopoulos and Morelli, and five minutes on the USPO web site.
What did I find:
The claim: "We have patented technology"
The reality: they have patent applications
The claim: we can deliver Apple iOS and OSX
The reality: a five minute read of the Apple EULA on the Apple web site clearly shows that Sphere's claim would violate the EULA. Apologies to the two Peter's, but you were and remain full of it. And three years later you still have yet to show you can do it. Wonder why?
Those red flags set off serious alarm bells that I tried to share here. Some listened and shorted the stock, and made a ton of money. Some ignored and bashed, and believed a Gorilla. They got obliterated. And others played both sides of the story and made a killing.
Well, on to Glassphone and Glassware Browser.
Has Hugo ever been wrong? And has Kelly ever hit a forecast?
PS: what will Sphere do now that Kelly's good buddy in the White House is set to leave? How will Sphere replace all that Fed Gov business?
Well, though it appears that the Sphere story stock has run its course, I believe that they still have a last trick or two up their sleeve.
Let's consider ta few possibilities. In the IT industry, It is not unusual for a technology to not bear fruit, but to have spin off technology rise from the ashes like a phoenix.
Case in point, let's say Sphere has something but not what they claimed. Perhaps we will see something like a Glassphone. Mobile is huge, and BYOD is growing. And consumers want their apps anywhere, on any device, and that usually means their smartphone. Sorry to break it to those of you that believed Sphere Storystock 1.0, but VDI and Remote Apps are chump change in the grand scheme of IT. How small is it? Apple generates more revenue selling Macs to business clients every quarter, yes every quarter, than the total value of the whole VDI market is worth over a full year. Think about that for a moment.
But the good news is that mobile is growing and a "Glassphone" makes perfect sense.
The other opportunity might be to leverage some of the Glassware code, particularly the client side agent. Still today, Microsoft lags behind in browser market on mobile. In fact, Microsoft is nowhere. The market is split between Google & Android versions, and Apple. Everyone else is an afterthought.
So, a universal browser would have market appeal, especially to Microsoft. With Sphere's experience building front end technology using HTML5 that should be a quick and easy solution to bring to market. And the revenue opportunity is HUGE. I mean really HUGE!
So, there you have it. One man's roadmap for Sphere Storystock 2.0. The phoenix could still rise from the ashes, and return huge rewards for investors. Might even drop a few grand just to hedge my bets.
20%???
OK, if that is not the final nail in the coffin for the hopes of longs I don't know what will be.
20%!!!!
Getter a better rate from Tony Soprano
Is gloating really necessary ? No
But I have to wonder why you didn't ask similar questions about the nasty vitriol spewed in my direction when I was accurately identifying the Grand Canyon sized holes in the Sphere story. That escalated to far beyond the norm including threatening calls to my home and cell, and attack campaigns on other social media sites such as Twitter.
So yeah, ha ha.
Ps Good For You
What? It has Docker containers and not Glassware???
Ha ha
I guess some people just don't get irony.
But in all seriousness, there is not a word on the web site about the AGM. Zip. Nada. Zilch. This from a company that pumped out PR for the most insignificant event (ie. the PR for the mom and pop cable company they signed in the mid West? Whatever happened to them?)
Now, they hide any news about the AGM. All there is a vapid and meaningless update. If any investors were still holding for a change in fortunes then this should be the moment the light goes on.
I guess Sphere execs forgot that it is a PUBLIC company.
When is the AGM? Nothing whatsoever on the Sphere website. Still in stealth mode I guess :))
Well, let me be frank. Am I pleased to see my position and statements re Sphere and Glassware be proven true? Yes.
Am I pleased to see a lot of decent people get hurt and lose significant money and more because they were naive, trusting and greedy? No.
What would really make my day is seeing the SEC and OSC prosecute those responsible for this fiasco.
Just stating the facts bud. FORTY FIVE CENTS
From the hottest stock in tech to a penny stock in free fall to oblivion. But hey, that's what happens when you don't know what you are doing.
Or did they? :)
Forty five cents! Based on the decline of 2 cents a day, Sphere has about three weeks left.
I understand that is when the cash runs out anyway. Good timing lads!
The question many have asked "is how did we get fooled" into buying the Sphere story?
Many got excited and jumped on board because of the hype around the Microsoft announcements. Read the posts from May 21/22/23 2015 to see the level of excitement about Microsoft partnering with Sphere. Read the posts attributing comments to "people that were there".
Sadly, if you had actually taken the time to investigate other Microsoft Partner announcements, or gone to a Msft MTC event, you would have read almost identical PR, and heard the same keynotes and comments. All standard fare boilerplate marketing fluff.
This also applies to the BIG VMware announcements.
And in every case, we had the cheerleader HTFBS and cronies pushing the story further along with tales of "Glassware is key to Msft's cloud plans" and "Glassware is embedded in Win10 and Azure" and "Glassware is being sold by Microsoft's global sales force" and "Glassware is the only way to solve compatibility and security issues with legacy apps" and "Glassware ends "end of life" of Win XP" and "Microsoft is bringing all their BIG enterprise customers to see Glassware"
Now that the reality has set in, do any of you believe any of the claims from any of the HTFBS cronies?
Give it a couple of weeks. Dropping two cents per day so shouldn't be long now
Gloater? No, he's just a very savvy investor that saw what Sphere truly was, and made an intelligent, informed decision to short the stock.
Please post an example of the emails
Sound about right.
Do you really think that the various regulatory bodies have not been in play? Perhaps you haven't been paying attention:
It was CDN regulators ( according to the CFO) that made Sphere back off from the $40 million goal (of course not until after the stock nearly doubled)
The SEC has sent letters re late filings
And the potential legal activities of disgruntled shareholders have yet to be seen, but doesn't mean it is not happening or going to happen. That is up to them to decide if they have been deliberately and systematically misled on Sphere and its potential.
When it does happen, I'm sure it will be the fault of the nefarious shorts :)
Yeah, that's right. Larry Ellison is going to buy Sphere to get his hands on Glassware so he become the biggest player in cloud. I wonder if he knows that Glassware and his cloud domination strategy will be 100% dependent on Microsoft and their Windows Server tech?
Well, Larry Ellison isn't that bright so the deal will probably happen. But for far more than $5. Michael Dell will want to get in on the action too!
"ANY hit parade" Make me laugh. There is no reason to create a hit parade. The company, its management team and its promoters have done that all by themselves. Stop blaming the shorts and tell me one single thing this company has claimed it can do, and has actually executed and delivered.
How's that Glassware on a chip doing?
How's that Glassware on all Chromebooks doing?
How's that Glassware embedded in all Dell products doing?
How's the Glassware is embedded in Win 10 and Azure doing?
Please, by all means, list all of the positive aspects that they could have discussed.
Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Anyone?
Hey Henjo, if you think they are too busy selling I suggest you look at their financials and revenue figures. They ain't that busy bud. And when was the last time a CFO did sales calls?
He has a fiduciary duty to all shareholders to report these transactions Ina timely manner. Any guesses why these sales were not reported in a timely manner?
So they were busy selling while telling investors to hold the course and "it's all the fault of the shorts!" Wonder why they sold when they have all those big POCs underway?
And too busy to register their sales! Oh boy! I guess we shouldn't expect much more than this. After all, this is the same pair of execs that didn't know providing a $40 million goal letter was considered guidance and against securities regulations.
Jesus, how do these guys get away with this $##T.
Have to wonder at this point what is next for Sphere? I suggest most people have given up the ghost on Glassware, and let's be frank, does anyone care about storage( tape, removable disk, low end NAS)? Did anyone step up to the palate and invest because of that product mix? I suggest not.
So, what's next? Or is this the best that it gets? Let's hear some reasonable proposals for the next evolution of Sphere!
You are far too cynical. I'm sure that all the execs and founders at Sphere still hold every single share they ever received. Why sell at $11 when it is just a matter of time fave firebugs share price sees $16/60/600 or the Dell buyout happens?
Thanked Hugo. I knew you would be able to provide some insight.
But, I must question your comment "puffball PR". When have we ever seen that from Sphere?
Sorry bud, but I have never claimed to be smart, not have I claimed to be particularly knowledgeable on the workings of the stock market. I freely admit that the activities surrounding the particular stock has been an eye opener. Thus, I will take my advice from our board pal Hugo. He is far better versed than i on the topic.
If you want to ask me about the tech, the market and the various claims made by Sphere and its promoters I will be happy to answer to the best of my abilities. In the meantime, perhaps you can tell me why the stock has fallen from $11 to less than 60 cents. Hard to understand since Glassware is the most disruptive tech in a huge market and is a Citrix killer yada yada yada.
Sorry Tredd, but at this point in time, any reasonable person with an understanding of the tech market would say there is zero chance that my analysis is wrong. If I was wrong, I would have been proven wrong in 2014. And then 2015. And then in 2016.
The market and other vendors are now three years plus further down the road. I can get cloud desktops from Microsoft, but they are driven by Citrix tech. Less than zero chance of Sphere displacing that solution now.
The V3 appliance was an also-ran when it was released. According to the end user computing analysts at brianmadden.com, the solution was a year behind IBM, Dell and HP.And that was in 2011, and before V3 went insolvent. The V3 solution is based on VMware Horizon, and is now one of at least a dozen vendors offering a comparable solution. Do you think an enterprise CIO is going to risk his business on the commodity tech from a floundering company. Especially if he can get that same tech from a dozen other financially secure vendors. And before the peanut gallery comments, lets be clear on something: VMware is not selling the V3 appliance. It sells its own solutions, not Sphere's.
The rest of the stable is legacy tape and removable disk, both of which are prime targets for replacement with cloud storage. And low end commodity NAS storage. Yawn. Overland has lost money the last ten years selling that stuff.
The only thing that drove this story stock up was the hype from the Gorilla, and frenzied buying by a now failed investment house in Toronto. Both of those drivers are gone from the scene.
So tell me why you think this company will succeed. Great products? Revolutionary, disruptive tech? Capable management? Solid financials?
Or is it just hope/gambling? If that is the reason, just go to Vegas, catch a show and have a good time with the money.
You should just buy a new suit or a nice gift for your bride ;)
Here's another claim from the past that is categorically false:
“Founded in 2009, Sphere 3D is the first company to deliver true replacement grade virtual desktops and virtual applications”. “Desktop Cloud Computing (DCC) is a new concept in the desktop virtualization world.”
Yet,
* FutureLink offered cloud desktops in 1998
* VMware / Desktone offered cloud desktops and Desktops as a Service to third party service providers including Dell since 2008
* Google and VMware announced Google Cloud Desktop in February 2014
* Amazon offered cloud desktops in November 2013
* DinCloud has offered Web Hosted Virtual Desktops since 2012
* VMware has over 12,000 Service Provider Partners offering hosted (cloud) desktops since 2007
* Citrix has over 10,000 Partners offering hosted (cloud) desktops since 2000
That's a pity. If you had read them and paid attention, you might not have lost your investment.
From $11 to 58 cents.
On the way to $16/60/600 !!!
It really was and continues to be absurd.
True or False: Many of you have asked how did this happen? Who misled us into investing in this stock. Well, here is a little reminder of what HTFBS and the Gorilla wrote about Glassware:
Sphere 3D Could Be A Cloud 9 Opportunity Sep 10, 2013 8:03 AM This is from his first report published in Seeking Alpha. Lets look at the claims:
1. Allows you to move single-tenancy" desktop software to the cloud with no customization required; and it becomes as efficient as if it was built for multiple users. FALSE. Glassware does not allow multi-tenancy, and does not magically change the licence terms of the original software EULA. A single user license is still a single user license, not a multi-user license. And it requires customization to work.
2. Allows for legacy software, even if customized or proprietary, to be easily ported to the Cloud without any rewrites. FALSE. Sphere admits that most apps, and in particular legacy Win XP apps, require professional services to mount on Glassware
3. Provides the ability to deliver desktop software to ANY mobile device. FALSE There is a long list of desktop apps that are out of scope including any app that requires a data base connection, or is a two or three tier app, or is written for Win XP, Win8 and Win 10, Linux and Apple Mac OSX.
4. "Bring your own device" BYOD becomes very simple, secure and affordable. FALSE It is not simple if it requires professional services, and is not secure if there is no encryption of data either at rest or in transit (per Peter Bookman). And it is not affordable if you are dependent on high cost professional services every time you need an app, or run the risk of a catastrophic data loss.
5. It maintains local hardware capabilities (i.e. Siri on iPad or pinch/zoom on touchscreen) FALSE The Corel fiasco proved that Glassware does not support the vast array of printer drivers required by users. What good is an app, especially a word processor, if you cannot print? John Morelli said during the Microsoft podcast that users could print via "a Share point connection" That is a huge expense and significant effort just to print.
6. Can virtualize many different platforms (Android, Linux, Windows, iOS, FORTRAN, etc) FALSE And damn funny. Three years after his report, we know they cannot deliver, or even demo Android Linux, iOS and OSX. And funniest of all, FORTRAN is not a platform or operating system but a programming language. This was the first indicator that the author was profoundly incompetent and ignorant about tech. That claim was on Sphere's web site for over a year.
Yes we did. This stock has been a "bargain" all the the way down from $11. Lots up on the cheapies boys! Don't forget that analyst Hubert Mak is targeting $9.
Hey, at this prices how can you lose?
Both VMware and Citrix use their respective technologies internally. It's called "eating your own cooking" and helps a company test and refine its products, and shows confidence to your customers. Why ask customers to rely on your technology when you don't depend on it yourself?
There is a big difference between a brief install demo, and running a business with it.
I suggest you go to the AGM and ask the lads. All the info is on their web site ;)
Or call Investor Relations. Perhaps they have fixed the technical issues with their phone system. It just rings and rings, no answer or voice mail.
Does it run on Glassware perhaps?
PS in that topic, a little birdie told me that Sphere3Dvstillnuses desktop PCs internally and does not use Glassware to run its operations. Wonder why?
In case you were not aware, the share price is now about $.60 not $60.00
I know it's a little thing, but the placement of that decimal place matters.
Oh dear. "The complete restructuring of all IT". I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I assume you are referring to the now mythical capabilities of Glassware.
Ok, lets consider Glassware. It runs on Windows Server as an application. Yes, without Microsoft's IP and Windows Server operating system, Glassware does not work. It is limited to the performance capabilities of Windows Server.
It does NOT provide base metal access to hardware, and it is not some new game changing technology. Per Sphere's own documentation, it uses Microsoft RDP protocol to communicate between the server and remote devices.
Sphere has actively marketed Glassware since 2012. Their own Production Rollout Plan said that the Enterprise Version would be available mid 2013. Thats three years. And yet, there is not a single CIO in the Fortune 5000 that has seen the mythical capabilities of Glassware and decided to use.
And as far as a non-binding third party is concerned, for all we know it is as likely to be Eric Kelly's dry cleaner in San Diego as a serious business offer. When will you learn?
Some people know technology and the IT market. Others know finance and the stock market. And still others postbprettynphotos on Twitter.
I will ask Sphere investors which of those three has better insight into the potential of Sphere.
Hubert Mak, Cormark June 16, 2015: "Our analysis is a $9.00 target price"
Missed by just that much...........