Probably all of it, the braille display of course. The way it's designed and what's in it. Blazie probably developed 99% or more of theirs from the ground up, the oS, the processor, all the chips in it, quite a lot for a niche market. At 05:39 PM 11/13/01 -0500, you wrote: >Tommy, what did Papenmeier/Alva develop on this product? The OS? The >telecomm progs that talk modem and ethernet? Maybe the word fileformat >converters? Perhaps the calendars? What? > > On Tue, 13 Nov 2001, Tommy Craig >wrote: > >> Well I guess I didn't make my point very well. The reason prices on >> computers are dropping is because they are sold by the hundreds of >> thousands. For example, Dell computers sells more computers in one hour than >> A blindness company is likely to sell in five years. When a manufacturer >> develops a new product it cost a lot of money in or&d. It takes months if >> not years to developed a new product line and it takes a team of dedicated >> and talented people to do it. These people don't work for free. As a matter >> of fact they usually get paid very well. It also cost an amazing amount to >> make test models and to developed a case to put it all in. If Dell spends >> $800,000 to developed a new product and it sells 100000 of them, it only >> cost them $8 per unit to developed it. If on the other hand a blindness >> company spends $800,000 to developed a new product and only sells a thousand >> of them, then it cost $800 per unit to developed it. Also manufacturing cost >> are much less when you produce tens of thousands of something than when you >> produce hundreds of units. >> >> The next area of course is sales and support. If you go to Office Depot >> and buy a computer, the salesperson spends maybe ten minutes with you, takes >> your money and you go home and will probably never see that person again. >> When I sell a product, It is usually after making a trip to see the >> individual, in many cases tens or hundreds of miles away. Once I get to the >> person, I usually spend at least a couple of hours showing the product, >> answering questions and teaching the person at least the basics of how to >> use the device. Then once I make the sale, I usually spend time on the phone >> answering questions and helping the user get the most out of their product. >> I'm not complaining. I believe that I owe it to my customers to make sure >> they have the best experience possible with my products, but it is still a >> far different relationship than people have with their department store. >> >> You also state that the price of Braille displays is not dropping but is >> instead increasing. This is certainly not the case. When I first started >> working with Papenmeier displays, the IB-80 cost around $18,000. Now a >> comparable model sells for around $10,000. It's still not cheap, but it is >> certainly less expensive than it used to be. We have also increased the >> reliability of our products. For example, back then you got a one year >> warranty, now our displays come with a three year warranty. This is also >> just the opposite of what most companies are doing. For example, Dell used >> to provide a three year warranty with all of their systems. They now offer a >> one year warranty and charge extra for additional years. >> >> Don't get me wrong. I do wish the products I sell were much cheaper. I >> would love to see the price cut in half or even better. I don't believe it >> will happen anytime soon though. You also ask about the statement concerning >> Linux software. The point is that with the ELBA you will be able to run off >> the shelf software that is free or very inexpensive. You can download a >> title and use it instead of or in addition to what we provide. >> Tommy >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> Blinux-list@redhat.com >> https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list >> > >-- > > Janina Sajka, Director > Technology Research and Development > Governmental Relations Group > American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) > >Email: janina@afb.net Phone: (202) 408-8175 > >Chair, Accessibility SIG >Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF) >http://www.openebook.org > >Will electronic books surpass print books? Read our white paper, >Surpassing Gutenberg, at http://www.afb.org/ebook.asp > >Download a free sample Digital Talking Book edition of Martin Luther >King Jr's inspiring "I Have A Dream" speech at >http://www.afb.org/mlkweb.asp > >Learn how to make accessible software at >http://www.afb.org/accessapp.asp > > > >_______________________________________________ > >Blinux-list@redhat.com >https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list > >