lauren@vortex.UUCP (12/16/84)
Hell, as an individual, I know that I personally couldn't afford much of an outlay for decoding and related equipment at this point. But, as I thought I've made clear in the past, the first stage of operations is to deal with companies, not individuals, many of whom are spending far, far more than $500 per MONTH on netnews, and are having increasing problems justifying those increasing costs to management. I have reams of messages here from people who feel that anything less than $1000 for decoding and related equipment, and a little per month, would be a drop in the bucket compared with their current costs. I've had to turn down a number of people who wanted to know where to buy decoding equipment right now, even in the experimental phase. Buying equipment now wouldn't make much sense. Not only would they be paying too much, but the equipment would need to be changed when the new, less expensive equipment (which is not compatible with the current decoders) becomes available early next year. For the project to expand beyond the initial "company" level, I strongly feel that it's important for two things to happen: 1) People should be assured that they can sell off their decoding equipment if they no longer can participate--that is, they won't be stuck with useless equipment. 2) Rental of decoders should ideally be available as an alternative to purchasing of the equipment. I've made both of these points clear to the various parties involved in the project. One of the many non-technical issues that could make the difference between the passage (or non-passage) of the project from an experimental to a production phase revolves around the ability of the two points above to be made possible. Right now, they look like favorable possibilities that could help offset the costs of owning equipment for many sites. A lot depends on the perceived demand for the equipment compatible with the satellite service which has been made available to us. And now, back to work... --Lauren--