The Cool, Cool River

I love it here in the Seattle area. The mountains, the trees, the lakes, the bridges. It's just great. And in particular, the little town of Issaquah. So close to the big city, and it feels like a little mountain town. With an awesome BBQ restaurant.

One of the great things about moving up to Washington for me has been that there are a lot more people who are hip deep in Microvision shares in WA than where I was before, the San Francisco Bay Area. And, to my delight and amazement, some of these heavy MVIS investors read this blog and *gasp* actually want to get together and shoot the breeze with your correspondent.

This evening I had the pleasure of having drinks after work with one of Microvision's pre-IPO investors. This gentleman was kind enough to buy me a couple of beers and some pot stickers. See, being the MVIS Blogger has it's privileges.

But what really struck me during this conversation was the comfort in the knowledge that we really do have it right. That despite the stock price we were still ahead of the game. This guy did not have any doubt that the future of society is in augmented and virtual reality technologies. And that our large investments in MVIS will pay off in a big way. That today is only so important. The goal is in sight. And is ever more achievable.

When the markets are collapsing and every stock is getting thrown to the wolves, it was reassuring to talk with somebody who not only has a big position in the stock, but has had one for a long time, since before shlubs like me could even buy shares of Microvision.

He recounted for me the experience of going to the UW HIT Lab in the early 90s and seeing the enormous racks of machinery required at the time to support the scanned beam display. The wall size equipment was hooked up to a tiny viewfinder that he peered into. One look into that viewfinder was all it took to justify the investment and I know exactly what that's like after seeing the MicroHUD in person at last year's shareholder meeting as well as the Nomad, full color Nomad and the Electronic View Finder. The stuff is that good. That transformational. That inspirational.

It helps to recount those moments of inspiration when you're facing a market that can't take good news and is eating everything alive. It reminds me of a great song by Paul Simon, 'The Cool, Cool River':

And I believe in the future
We shall suffer no more
Maybe not in my lifetime
But in yours I feel sure
Song dogs barking at the break of dawn
Lightning pushes the edges of a thunderstorm
And these streets
Quiet as a sleeping army
Send their battered dreams to heaven, to heaven
For the mother’s restless son
Who is a witness to, who is a warrior
Who denies his urge to break and run

Who says: hard times?
I’m used to them
The speeding planet burns
I’m used to that
My life’s so common it disappears
And sometimes even music
Cannot substitute for tears

The pain on the road to the goal of a ubiquitous scanned beam display will make our ultimate triumph all the sweeter. I can taste it now.