You are correct except that the percentages you used are way to high. Only around 10% of blind people read Braille and over 50% of blind people are over 65 years of age. This is also the fastest growing part of the blindness population so the market is extremely small. To respond to an earlier post, lets play with numbers. Suppose we have a product that sell for $5,000.00 and suppose that you guys are right and the companies are really ripping us off. It only cost them $1,500.00 to make the unit and then it cost another $1,000.00 to pay the sales reps, shipping, and promotional charges. This means that they make $2,500.00 on each unit. Now if they cut the cost of the unit by $1,500.00 to $3,500.00 do you really think the number of units sold would increase dramatically. I don't. Most of the blind people I know would have just about as hard a time buying something for $3,500.00 as for $5,000.00. Of course I have made these numbers completely ridiculous. I don't think anyone is making the kind of profits I just made up. In most cases product margins are barely enough to keep the company running. To really cut the cost of manufacturering enough to save significant dollars the numbers would have to increase by 15 or 20 fold. This isn't going to happen unless you can have a much larger market and have customers with the disposable income to buy the product. Tommy -----Original Message----- From: blinux-list-admin@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:blinux-list-admin@xxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Luke Davis Sent: Monday, July 21, 2003 8:11 PM To: blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Papermeier Braillex ELBA note taker Do you seriously believe, that the reason the prices are so high, is because these blindness companies wish to make a massive profit? If you do, I have this bridge in Brooklyn which I have been wishing to sell at a loss. Let's look at cars. Sales on cars increase each year. Now, is that because cars are cheap? No, it's because more and more people need cars. Further, cars break down, are destroyed, or more than one person in the family needs one. That has the effect of lowering the cost of cars for everyone, because supplies for their construction can be ordered in larger quantities, and more money can be made across the vast quantity of cars, than can be made across a few cars, at high prices. I just described two conditions, which do not exist in the braille display market. First, let us consider that less than 50 percent of blind people even know braille. Then, let us consider that less than thirty percent own computers. Then, consider that at least half of those who do own computers, use speech. (I do not guarantee my numbers) Now, consider that this is a market that is not growing very much, as the population expands, and even less given the braille user, and computer user, factors above. It is also highly unlikely, that you will have two blind, computer, braille users, in the same household. On top of that, not only are braille displays made well enough that they can last twenty-five years, because of their initial price, people tend to take extraordinarily good care of them, as they are not likely to be able to afford another one. I keep hearing of grants. How many here have actually received a grant to pay for their braille display? I suspect it doesn't happen as much as people want you to think. State rehab agencies are not easy to handle, and often your plan for your life, and their plan for your life, do not even come close to being the same. I certainly received no grants for any of my computer equipment, and most people I know, have experienced major problems with getting these organizations to pay for things, and certainly not in a timely fashion. All of these factors add up, to a stagnant market, with an amazingly low attrition rate. I'm guessing, that most of you have never been in the manufacturing business. So it may be hard for you to believe, but it is true, that you actually have to *pay* workers to put all of those tiny parts together into a braille cell, and <gasp> you actually have to pay other workers, to put those cells together in the configuration of a braille display, not to mention all of the other pieces of hardware necessary to make a braille display work. And for what? To sell, maybe, a hundred per year? A braille display is an incredibly complex piece of equipment, and if you believe they are cheap and easy to make, you have another think coming. And before you say it: yes, I tried. The message below, is basicly suggesting that the government, force these companies to sell braille displays significantly *below* cost. That is absurd, and I hope it never happens. Because if it does, the availability of companies to produce braille displays, will dry up faster than you can say "unemployment". Regards, Luke On Mon, 21 Jul 2003, Lorenzo Prince wrote: > jude dashiell staggered into view and mumbled: > > I've been working for the last 14 years and these are still out of my > > price range. The work involved software development too. > > The prices are way too high for anyone to actually afford to get one. I would never pay $4000 for something that can't > even do everything my $80 laptop can do. Mine even talks to me. And thanks to Linux and open-source software, I didn't > even have t > o pay to get it to talk. I believe it is time for the price gouging to stop. People must stop taking advantage of > people just because they are disabled and some government agencies will give the company the mony so a disabled person > can get their products. I think we should write letters to our legislators telling them that enough is enough and that > the prices for equipment and supplies for disabled people are currently discriminatory against disabled people. I do > believe that such discriminatory pricing should be illegal under the ADA, as it ensures that most of the people who need > special equipment or supples for accessibility are unable to get them. > > Lorenzo Prince > happy Red Hat 9 user ;) > _______________________________________________ Blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list _______________________________________________ Blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list