CHARLIE@UMVMA.BITNET (Charlie Turner) (03/13/91)
Could someone share their experiences using the Compucom SpeedModem or SpeedModem Champ? This is the $169 internal PC modem that operates at 9600 bps using Compucom's proprietary CSP and DIS technology. I appreciate Toby Nixon's recent comments about proprietary 9600 speed techniques versus established standards like CCITT's V.32. My modem application is operating a PC based BBS. For now I only run one incomming phone line and for that I bought a name brand V.32 modem. However also I want to add additional lines to this system, hence my curiosity about this budget priced 9600 speed modem. Mine is a university environment, unfortunately one that is chronically short of funds much of the time. For us buying high speed modems is like buying clone PCs - we might conceed (for the purpose of this discussion) that the clone PC or non-standard modem is a lesser product than real "true blue" hardware, but with a tight budget we sometimes choose to buy two or three 'clones' instead of just one of the 'industry standard' item. Let's assume that modem prices, for some specific product capability like V.32, will halve every five years. That time frame seems about right based upon the price I paid for a plain 2400 speed modem back in '86, ie. the same manufacturer's product then and now. At that rate it will be over five years before a V.32 modem costs under $200. The time value of money is another consideration. Assume that a $600 V.32 modem purchased today will have a ten year useful life. That gives a $60/year depreciation. At that rate a $169 modem purchased today could be thrown away after three years and still break even. However the time value (future value) of the ($600-$169) = $431 not spent today pulls this break even point in even closer. Over a ten year time span that $600 of today's money might buy three or four generations of new hardware at the $169 price point. If someone sees a flaw in my reasoning please point it out. I'm not particularly a financial person but this analysis seems common sense enough to me. Of course we won't literally buy one modem for $169 and deposit $431 to draw interest. More likely we would spend all the money buying the inexpensive modems and hope their useful life was at least as long as the break even point compaired to buying one expensive V.32 modem. In the mean time we have three modem users enjoying 9600 speed communications instead of only one. All this assumes that the Compucom modem in fact works as advertised, something I intend to find out.
al@qiclab.scn.rain.com (Al Peterman) (03/14/91)
In article <9103130804.AA01002@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> CHARLIE@UMVMA.BITNET (Charlie Turner) writes: >Let's assume that modem prices, for some specific product capability >like V.32, will halve every five years. That time frame seems about >right based upon the price I paid for a plain 2400 speed modem back >in '86, ie. the same manufacturer's product then and now. At that rate >it will be over five years before a V.32 modem costs under $200. I doubt that the price for V.32 will hold above $200 for more than 1 year or so. I suspect you will see discounted 9600 V.32 in 1992..I know this means my modem will depreciate $300 in less than 2 years - but then the 1 hour a day it saves me will be 700 hours by then - and I guess I can justify saving my time for under a buck an hour.. I justified the $800 to upgrade my display system on the basis that my eyesight is worth a bit also... -- Alan L. Peterman (503)-684-1984 hm al@qiclab.scn.rain.com It's odd how as I get older, the days are longer, but the years are shorter!