I forwarded Sunpoop's post to BOW and Bod. Lets see what kind of response I get. Contact: Bob Carey
Tel: (801) 489-2127
Fax: (801) 489-2199
bcarey@wencor.com
EDIG IS NOT OUT OF THE IFE BUSINESS....I ambled over to Evening Creek Drive this morning. I found a very receptive Fred Falk, even though when he saw me coming he jumped up and closed the door to his office. We talked for at least an hour and a half in a reception room. I tried to be methodical with my questions, staying on one subject until it was exhausted then moving on. (Of course Fred gave me no names or figures which I did not expect even though I tried to get something to hang my hat on) The first topic was the Mediviewer, which FF kept calling the ''player'' The second was BOW and the Digeplayer. Other topics followed but I will have to collect my thoughts on those later.
Evidently Brent of Wencor is a man in his middle 70's with absolute control over his company and has complete control over other entities in his circle and is a vindictive man. (A complete control person) He is grooming a couple of individuals to take over and also he has a son who ''may'' be in running for that position. (Fred stated that if BOW was not in the picture EDig's relationship with Wencor would be entirely different as all the people in that company are very favorable towards EDig and have a good working relationship with us) BOW was very aware of the circumstances involved in his takeover of APS but did so with intentions of ''brow beating'' EDig, (that small little company with no funds) to come aboard in Wencor's circle and essentially just hand over EDig's tech and IP. There were no real negotiations about size of contracts, etc....it was all about getting EDig to role over and play dead. When EDig would not BOW then issued press releases stating Wencor was going in another direction, hired Triad and in effect ''dumped'' EDig in the press. There was no personal communication with EDig about the matter.
Triad is a ''job shop''. It is hired to do a job, when finished with the job it then hands over its work to the company that paid the bill, and the bill is substantial. The company is expensive but wants no ties to its labors, no IP, no royalties, no nuttin......
Wencor is having problems with Triad and word is about that trying to give Wencor the IFE IP it wants is taking longer than anticipated, and perhaps, not known for sure, more expensive. Also, at this point, there is NO CONTENT INCLUDED IN THE PRODUCT and no approval received from anyone for content as yet.
That being the case BOW has called EDig AND IS STILL ORDERING DP UNITS AND WILL DO SO UNTIL TRIAD IS SUCCESSFUL IF IT EVER IS. These calls have been recent and somewhat volitile. FF recalls asking BOW ''just what the heck is going on''? ''We read in the press releases that EDig was out of the picture'' You never called us about that and now you are calling to order more units.''
That was strictly BOW showing off his temper in losing the battle with EDig over EDig's IP. (which by the way Fred said what I have said on this board many times that if EDig had acquiessed to BOW's demands EDig would NOT BE. Plain and simple)
But back to the subject at hand....BOW told Fred that he never intended to stop buying units of DP's from EDig and would continue ordering and gave no expiration date to their relationship. According to Fred he said that with a straight face with no other explanation. This was not an unusual tactic for BOW to take. FF said the gentleman would call twice in one day and in the second conversation forget what he said in the first. He would also call to ''tweak'' an order and later on say he never did so. This all in order to vent his muscle and pique on EDig.
Anyway EDig has never been out of the IFE business with Wencor and will be in it as long as BOW cannot get another DP from Triad. That is why RP has stated ''EDig will continue selling units to Wencor and will not go on its own as long as this relationship exists''
This could tide EDig over in the near future as we discussed the relative merits of the IFE business to what EDig is now involved in and the potenial for IFE business is limited (on a large scale) as opposed to the ''huge'' potential of what will begin in January.
We talked about many other things which I will endevor to remember.
I tried to see Mr. Will Blakley but he was not in and RP was in a meeting that's why I got so much of FF's time. However I did make an appointment to meet and talk to Mr. Blakely next Thursday. I do not expect any block buster news, my main purpose is just to see what kind of a guy he is. I will say this, FF is highly impressed with him and his work ethics.
By the way I was wrong about why Atul left EDig. Atul was ambitious and years ago set his sights on becoming President of EDig. The opening came up and he was given the position, not due to overwhelming qualifications, but because EDig felt if he wasn't promoted they would lose him.
I thought there were issues about his job performance with he BOD but that was never the case. Fred, who was a close friend of Atul, told me ''cultural reasons'' were the main culprits in Atul's decision to leave. In reading between the lines(my opinion) Atul found he couldn't do the job. He had reached his ''Peter Principle''. He left voluntarily and I wasn't able to find out where he is now...I asked Fred if losing him was not a blow to the engineering staff as his tech ability would be sorely missed. I was surprised by Fred's answer, ''Not so we have at least two engineers that have more expertise than ATul and are more qualified and competent than he was.''
At the end of the conversation, especially when we talked about the Medeviewer I left feeling pretty doggone good about where EDig is heading. But more about that later
AI
