Tom Walker wrote in a message to Roy J. Tellason:

->  LE> And finally, consider that these things are *not* "mass
produced"
->  LE> in any sense of the word. That last is probably the killer.

->  JB> yeah. still seems a little steep though.

-> I understand that some of those setups for deaf people to use over 
-> phone lines are outrageously expensive,  too.  For no particular 
-> reason that I can see...

 TW>  Yuo are not looking them. first the Very Limited Production no
 TW> matter whjat you think Raises the Price of an Item Significantly.
 TW> FAR more than one would think actualy. Check some time in the
 TW> Industrial Market and see what the difference is in pricing between
 TW> lots of 100 and 100,000

I've noticed that sort of thing before,  but have never been too sure about
how much that was a factor of distribution and how much it was a matter of
manufacture.  When it comes to distribution,  it costs a certain amount to
process an order,  no matter what,  so the more of whatever you order the
less per item it costs.  Packaging enters into it too,  with the prices per
small quantity being understandably more expensive than for large
quantities,  or "bulk".  But cost to manufacture?  I'm not so
sure.

 TW> Second point. Those communications devices for the Deaf are 
 TW> Litteraly a Critical Life support system. Accordingly they, becaue
 TW> of Liability issues, use the same standards of production of that
 TW> used by ALL other Critical Life Support systems. Price soem of that
 TW> stuff sometime.

I never have,  but then I'd tend to assume *expensive*,  just to be able to
deal with the paperwork involved.  I've also consciously chosen not to ever
pursue work in that sort of an area.

 TW> There is NO buying parts from Radio Shack.

No?  Some stuff is pretty standard,  no matter where you get it.  I
remember getting into one kind of repair a number of years back,  and the
guy I worked for was paying four bucks and change (plus shipping and time
delays and other overhead) for a standard 4013 CMOS chip.  I started
getting them from RS,  for around a buck something.  Same part...

 TW> SO don't quickly grab a catalog and add up some prices and think 
 TW> you have a figure anywhere near the cost of production.

Cost of production is a whole 'nother animal,  and not having worked in any
sort of managerial capacity in that area,  I surely don't have a grip on
that either.

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