I don't think I was missing the point. Hardware and software development are very much the same -- In my original proposal, I suggested a type of communal development -- engineers would receive a share of the company proportional to the time they donated. I have done this type of development on several projects before, and have always more than recouped my initial investment. Consider it open-source with a business plan. However, in addition to development cost, hardware carries a high up-front cost for the first production run, while software has virtually no media cost.
Secondly, I didn't consider what you wrote a dig at my business, since you misread my first post: I didn't say "I can do this cheaper", I said "I can do this cheaper AND BETTER". Our software provides the same core functionalty as the legacy systems, but presents that functionality in a manner that is much more user-friendly. Above that, we add about 200% more functionality than the legacy systems. Would we have done this without the existing systems? Probably, as the need was for a usable front-end with some added functionality; we just chose to include core functionality. I feel this is getting off-topic... Sorry. > -----Original Message----- > From: Andy Powell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2004 3:34 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] Cost of IP Phones, or Isn't It > Just Software? > > > > On 16/06/2004 at 22:53 Jay Milk wrote: > > >You're correct -- I believe I pointed out in my original post that > >there is a $200+ difference between a cordless Cisco with/without > >software. And that's plain ridiculous. Plus, the phone alone isn't > >worth $500 in hardware -- so we're obviously dealing with GREED here. > > > >My knee-jerk response to such business tactics always has > been to do it > >better and cheaper. Six years ago, I was talking to IT personel in > >industry "X". There were two established mainframe > solutions in that > >industry serving 80% of the market, costing $50K-$75K > start-up cost per > >location, plus $1K+ per seat. Never mind the $10K-$15K monthly > >"maintenance" cost. Never mind that everyone had to be able > to work a > >terminal with a lovely amber on black, text-based "GUI". > > > <snip for brevity> > > I think you're missing the point. When you develop hardware > or software you need to recoup the cost of development (the > period in which you aren't selling anything, so not making > any money). Now Cisco has it's fingers in many pies so they > aren't going to suffer to much from that now, but they do > have to fund development. > > Secondly, Cisco don't really care if their phones are out of > your price range, they are typically sold as part of a > solution costing 10's of 1000's or 100's of 1000's of > USD/GBP/EUR and (most probably) with big discounts. > > Thirdly, If I make a device at a cost of $5 and sell it for > $500, some people will buy it, up to the point where someone > builds a similar device and sells it for $150 ...You have a > choice. companies are not charities, they do this to make > money. This is what we call capitalism. > > I don't want to dig at your business, and this isn't intended > to but.. what you did is look at what was already on offer > and it's costs, how it worked etc and built a cheaper > solution. The reason you could do this is because you had the > exposure > to the 'system' as was.. i.e. You looked at it and said 'I > can do that cheaper' but without that original system you > probably wouldn't have. > > One final point... There are some companies that have this > weird feeling that anything under a certain amount must be > cheap and nasty and not work properly. These people are fools > imho, but they do exist...and they wont buy an cheap phone, > they'll buy an expensive phone, regardless of it's ability... > as we've seen recently some governments will even buy > helicopters that can't fly in fog or where it's sandy for > silly money... > > Now I feel dirty... > > > Andy > > > _______________________________________________ > Asterisk-Users mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/aster> isk-users > To > UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users _______________________________________________ Asterisk-Users mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
