Word: softram
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...promise of such memory-compression technology--and a single product, SoftRAM 95--that a small Southern California company called Syncronys Softcorp rose this summer from start-up obscurity to the top of the software best-seller lists. Its glittery success in software sales was matched in the financial markets, where in over-the-counter trading the company's shares skyrocketed from...
...tech success story. According to a report published last week in the German computer magazine c't--a report vehemently denied by the company--Syncronys' promise of memory compression may have been just that, a promise. The magazine's analysis of the program's code suggests that the reason SoftRAM 95's technology does not work as advertised is that its technology does not exist...
That isn't to say memory compression itself is a pipe dream. On the contrary, the technology is real, and Syncronys is not the only company to have cashed in on its appeal. But neither of SoftRAM 95's top competitors--Connectix's RAM Doubler and Quarterdeck's MagnaRAM2--can boast sales approaching SoftRAM 95's 650,000 copies. And while some have complained about the speed of the other products, neither has been targeted for the kind of virulent attacks mounted against SoftRAM...
...harshest of these attacks are true, SoftRAM 95 isn't just one more computer product that fails to live up to its hype; it's a hollow piece of Potemkin programming, devoid of the advanced, patent-pending compression technology touted in its packaging. In short, says Mark Russinovich, a University of Oregon computer scientist, "the thing is a fraud...
Suggestions that the program had problems began to circulate in late September, when a study funded by one of its competitors showed that some applications ran more slowly with SoftRAM 95 than without. But it wasn't until last week, when c't broke the story, that the most damaging accusations came to light...