dca@toylnd.UUCP (David C. Albrecht) (05/03/89)
In article <10473@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu>, bdiscoe@tybalt.caltech.edu (Ben W. Discoe) writes: > > I really want more serial ports. Even just one more would be great. > I've seen this demand answered by at least two hardware manafacturers > with cards costing HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS. > Isn't this insane? How much hardware could it possibly take to simply > add one or more serial ports, no more powerful than the one that comes > with the computer? Are BBS-owners actually supposed to pay these kind of > prices? > Maybe it's time for a Little Ugly Cheap Multi-Serial System project. > Maybe someone should explain why $20-30 worth of components cost HUNDREDS. > Is this insane, or am I? > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > "I may be immature, opinionated, and rude, but I'm right." - myself The general rule of thumb that I use is that the final cost of a product is around 5 * the cost of the parts in qty. Mind you, this is just a hueristic and I haven't verified it very thoroughly. Nonetheless, I expect for markets that aren't very competitive it probably comes pretty close. It does make a certain kind of sense. In addition to the cost of the components you have to add the cost to develop the board and the interfacing software. Assembly of the product, burn-in, and product check out. Advertising, boxing, developing and printing instructions for installation. There is the cost of warranty service and shipping the product plus all the usual support personel. Finally, one would hope to clear a reasonable profit and cash flow for the development of future products. Each of the stages in a distributor, dealer chain will take their cut. Ergo, the final product bears only a distant relationship to the cost of the parts that went into it. Obviously PD style projects obviate most of these costs because all the parties freely contribute their time. The parts are obtained by the user which they also construct. Typically, the only purchasable parts are difficult to procure parts like circuit boards or PALs. No warrantee or support, no retailing or distribution. Advertisement via BBS, manuals in electronic form transmitted the same way. No profit, no money for future development. It makes a big difference. For a very expensive item like a CPU card I might consider it (but I doubt it, I'd rather have it guaranteed to work). For items like serial ports ( < $200) and digitizers ( < $90) personally, It's no contest. I'd rather support the companies doing hardware development in the Amiga marketplace and save myself the headaches of cobbling it up myself. David Albrecht