It was the worst of folders, it was the best of folders. (With apologies to Charles D.)

You know I'm eternally grateful to the people who post in the Iomega folder. I discovered Iomega by reading the first folder the Fool set up for it. I bought shares when they were $14 (pre split). I appreciate the wealth of up-to-date news and insightful technical, fiscal, and marketing analysis I've read in this folder.

(However, I'm going to say something rude here, so I'll preface it by saying 1) the following opinions are my own as a reader and Iomega stockholder, and don't necessarily represent in any manner, shape or form the official views of Fooldom, and 2) my remarks fall under the category of "If the shoe doesn't fit, don't wear it.")

At the same time as I appreciate the considerable merits of this folder at its best, I have a hard time remembering a folder that contains more trivia, posturing, pointless attitude, stupid bickering and flaming, and just plain waste of time and bandwidth than this one.

I think it's a great danger to become a "fan" of a company and its stock the way one becomes a fan of a sports team. (See my Fribble on Sports Talk Investing for more on that theme.) I appreciate the technical innovation, clever marketing, and hard work that turned Iomega around. At the same time, if Iomega seriously blunders and/or gets out-maneuvered by a competitor (in other words, falls prey to the Syquest syndrome) I want to be outta there. I don't want to be rationalizing my position and clinging to the stock because I've fallen in love with the company and its story.

Every time "Q" posts a critical post about Iomega, there are---how many? 20? 30? 40?---indignant replies, ripostes, flames, tirades. Yes, it's obvious that Q has some agendas. One of them is to yank our chains. He or she obviously gets off on pushing your buttons. I once saw some science fiction potboiler about "energy creatures"; the more one throws energy beams and explosives at them, the stronger they grew. Bulletin board provocateurs function the same way; the more one insults and flames them, the more then enjoy it.

Q perhaps has some other agenda---shorting the stock, advising clients to short the stock---who knows? Who cares?

I don't really care about Q's attitude and I don't really care about Q's motivation. So far, Q hasn't made a convincing case for the fall of Iomega. And I appreciate those who analyze Q's assertions in a rational, informed way (as opposed to those who never can resist "playing the dozens" over and over).

Obviously, Q is out to "get" Iomega and grabs every argument that comes to hand like a jackdaw grabbing trinkets in the park. Sure, it would be nice if Q were a little more judicious in his or her choice of arguments and manner of discourse. But the point to me is that I'm glad Q is looking so hard for problems and flaws; if some real problem in Iomega's expedition does occur, Q may well be the first to spot it. Yes it's tedious to pan through all the dross for the nugget of gold that may or may not show up some day, but to me it's worth it. Frankly, amidst all the cheerleading, "Go IO's," and perpetual indignation at insults to Iomega real or imagined, I'll take any skeptics I can get, however vexatious and wearisome they may be. Q is our watch goose, our canary in the coal mine. When that obnoxious boy cries "Wolf" for the 200th time, it's still worth my time to glance out the window yet again to see if maybe *this time* there really is something with long teeth skulking in the flock.