agree, a spreader it is, which is ok if you have somehting to bounce off.
When I have suitable walls or ceilings, I bounce directly into them, and get great results.
Where I need a tool, is outdoors, or in environments where light does not bounce (black walls etc).
By the way, I found the bracket to connect a hotshoe flash, to a softbox speed ring. Im ordering a Photoflex AC-222SM. Its a little adjustable steel bracket, which holds the hotshoe, has a lightstand type spigot to go to my manfrotto flash bracket, and a threaded screw to mount the softbox.
Then I can use a extra small softbox, on my camera flash bracket
