Rod, at 06:36 on Nov 27 1995, you wrote to Paul Edwards...

PE> 1. You said the modem manufacturers were gouging.

RS> I was mainly talking about the top of the line class modems
RS> like the USR VE and the retail price, not the sysop price. At
RS> typically $800ish IMO they are gouging for what isnt a particularly
RS> electronically complex device. The parts count isnt that different to
RS> a taiwanese V32bis modem, at a vastly higher price, the gouge factor.

You've unfortunately chosen a rather poor example re the component count,
Rod.  In fact, the Courier ain't twice the size of your average Taiwanese
V.34 modem for nothing, and it does indeed have more than twice the
componentry, although I'll be the first to agree that it shouldn't
translate to twice the price.

RS> But at say $800 for a USR VE, its pretty obscene
RS> compared with say a 486 motherboard and cpu.

True, but street price of the Courier is closer to $695 now.  Still
obscenely overpriced, although compare that to the US price, and our
version is actually cheaper!  In the US, the Courier sells for just under
US$500, so we do quite well once the exchange rate is taken into
consideration.

Why do you think I didn't bother importing one?  :)

Regards, Bill

--- Msgedsq/2 3.20