Logitech to acquire Slim Devices!

[ModelCitizen]

The design of the 1000 sure comes close to the brushed metal rounded corners look of the sb3 already...seems like a pretty good basis for creating the sb remote everyone seems to want
peter

Judging by a comment Sean made some time back and the new SD ownership I'm sure it can only be a matter of time before there is a new remote.
MC

[jncraig]

> I hope Logitech understands what they have bought.

If you're interested in a postive example, I'm assuming that Logitec
purchased Harmony, and that's why the remotes are named Logitec
Harmony.

For me, congratulations to the Slim Devices people!

--


Joe

[Timbo]

Congrats Slim and Sean - well done with taking your business where it has to go to continue to grow like it needs to in order to survive :-)

I don't tend to get emotionally tied to product, just go for the best compromise I can find at the time I am looking. Will watch this space with great interest - just sort me out something that features a Sonus style intelligent remote combined with a dacless Transporter and my dreams will be answered - by next Spring guys if you can... :-)

.

[Mark Lanctot]

And where was the link to that picture?

http://flickr.com/photos/ycantpark/25737470/

Sean did sucessfully defend himself here:

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showpo...72&postcount=9

First of all, that is exactly where they told me to park.

Secondly, my car is NOT QUITE AS GAY as riding a pony around town.

Lastly, no, we never sent out those stickers. They are a vinyl cutout and a bit of work to stick on, but we could have a bunch made if people are interested. Pic:

http://www.seanadams.com/slim_sticker.jpg

Hey, I also noticed that Sean's site is gone. :-(

[davep]

I have been mulling this over all day thinking about my reactions to what was actually quite a shock first thing this morning. I have two concerns at this point.

1. One of the major attractions for me about the whole SS/SB thing has been the incredible responsiveness to user demand and its seemingly endless capacity for tweaking in all sorts of directions. If people look at the SB and think this is just a way to get their mP3s out of the PC and into the stereo then they are missing a lot. Just think for a moment what the current software/hardware combination can do - multiple file formats, automatic volume levelling, weather forecasts, scrobbling, cricket scores, wireless bridging, Palm/PPC/Nokia 770 remote control, streaming over the internet to my hotel room, softsqueeze, synchronised multi-room systems, etc, etc - oh, and damn fine audio serving as well. Can we really expect this level of innovation and "why the hell not?" attitude to continue under a mass-market, quarterly-profit driven environment?

A vivid example in this area is AlienBBC - one of the primary reasons for me, as a globally displaced Brit, to spend so much time and money on my SBs. This is very much a 3rd party plug in and needs to be maintained since the BBC will always want to move stuff around. Also it is dependent on 3rd party codecs and things like M-player. I believe that AlienBBC is a magnificent achievement by all of those involved but it does not seem like the kind of effort that fits well in a structured corporate set up. I fear for its future.

2. The Transporter is my second area of concern. I can see how the SB3 might fit into a Logitech product line-up as they are obviously moving into that area, but not the Transporter - it just not feel like a match for a company founded on mice and keyboards. And, as others have pointed out, the high end audio world is unlikely to embrace a Logitech device as being a credible serious device, however good it is. And I believe from my own experience it is a VERY good high end audio source. I cannot honestly see the Transporter surviving for long under the new owners (so get one while you can).

Of course I might be completely wrong about all of this...

davep

[Robert_W]

Congrats to Sean and the folks at Slim. It's hard to turn down cash when it's staring you in the face.

But unfortunately I just can't help but think that this will be the demise of Slim as we know it. My thoughts went right to negative as I read the news this morning.

I may now wish that I had ordered my Transporter sooner. But I suppose my SB'3 will be the last of a dying breed.

Logitech? Quality Audio? Kind of an Oxymoron.

[Mark Lanctot]

Then again, if we can get individual units for $199 or less as a reseller then I'm on it. Just please keep things as they are with SlimDevices and don't try to customize or cheapen it with a crappy LCD or proprietary software.

Err, aren't you asking for contradictory things?

"Drop the price to $199."

"Don't cheapen it."

?

I'd prefer to pay a bit more for a VFD which has some distinct advantages over an LCD, and I hope Logitech feels the same way.

[chiphart]

kdf wrote:
> From the working side of the picture, I can certainly imagine that
> expanding user base with the existing small club will be crippling.

As is often the case, kdf's comment is among the most insightful
among the chatter. The one thing I fear about this change is
*the management of success*. Many of us were here when AOL
arrived on usenet. Remember that? I'm a SB1 owner ("old"
but hardly among the originals) and I remember reading every
single slimlist post...now, forget it. I finally aliased a
"Delete Thread" key in my mail client just for this list.

What's going to happen when we get 10K new users? [Note the use
of the pronoun "we" - as if it's something more than just a cool
box that plays my music.]

P.S. - I can only imagine some of the discussions over the
phone/table. "Well, first we have this users' group. Second,
we have this guy, kdf..."

Good work, slimdevices. You deserve every bit of your good
fortune.

--
Chip Hart - Pediatric Solutions * Physician's Computer Company
chip @ pcc.com * 1 Main St. #7, Winooski, VT 05404
800-722-7708 * http://www.pcc.com/~chip
f.802-846-8178 * Pediatric Software Just Got Smarter.
Your Practice Just Got Healthier.

[kanoot]

The thing that worries me is that the first post made by a Logitech employee included the word "leverage"...

run away!!!

[totoro]

The Transporter is their first, and only, very high-end audiophile, niche product. Depending on how things work out, it could be that Slim Devices may not be able to introduce new products to this market - they may no longer have the "credentials" for this. I hope what Junien just posted is right, but audiophiles are a finnicky and fickle bunch.

But what really pays the bills is the Squeezebox, aimed at the up-market consumer. Slim Devices may have been kind of caught here in terms of growth - they just did not have any retail presence. Where could they have gone from here? We heard calls for taking the Squeezebox to the consumer - how could that have happened otherwise? This now completely eliminates that concern and will allow Slim to expand its product line for things users have been asking for - the Squeezebox boombox, the Squeezebox clock radio, perhaps even the Squeezebox portable player? The sky is kind of the limit now. They will have the financing and the marketing ability.

The Squeezebox was not really a consumer item. Now, suddenly, it is.

There was one mention about Apple DRM. Support for this has gotten much closer - I'm sure Apple would never have worked with Slim Devices but they might work with Logitech.

Also they can solidly trounce Roku, as if they haven't already. :-)

But if the quality stays the same or better, who really cares if the "audiophile credibility" goes down? At $300, the sb3 already
doesn't have "enough", and is cheap enough to go pretty mass market.

I, for one, couldn't care less, since what I want from the thing is sound quality and convenience, rather than bragging rights.