-=> Quoting Roy J. Tellason to Tom Walker <=-

 RJT> 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

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

You have to set up "tooling". Circuit board layouts, injection molds
for plastic cases and parts (at around $10k each!!), etc. The cost of
those has to be spread over the expected production run.

For a run of of 100, that injection molded case is going to add $100
*per unit* to the cost. For a run of 10,000 it adds *1* dollar/unit.
(actually, closer to 2, since there's a limit to home many times you
can use the mold).

 TW> There is NO buying parts from Radio Shack.

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

Yeah, but parts from RS aren't *certified* as usable in that sort of gear.

On the other hand, I seriusly doubt that these are considered anywhere
*near* that critical since many folks *still* use the TTYs and
handbuilt modems but together for them out of surplus gear by ham radio
operators. 


--- FMailX 1.60