On Sat, 26 Oct 2002, Michael Berger wrote:
> But ... since it is a VERY straightforward conclusion that someone who
> starts developing a QL successor must be an enthusiast, they would naturally
> start with an optimistic forecast on the price. However - real life is
Price is a target we aim towards, and meet with some degree of success or
not! In this scene, the biggest difficulty is the variable availability
and cost of parts. For example, some outlets charge $500+ for an '060, and
if you shop on eBay you could get the same part for $20! Also, the QL has
an "interesting" design, and copying it tends to require expensive
components.
Emulators are great, but you can't carry an emulator around with you, or
sell it to a school science lab, and the principle of only having
emulators is a bit like only remembering the QL as some kind of dream. I
think it is vital that some people continue using the original hardware,
and that some people strive to make new hardware!
Every expansion someone has in their QL either fixes a problem, adds a
feature, or replaces something which became inadequate over time. It
doesn't cost significantly more to make a QL replacement than to design a
high quality expansion for one...
Emulators are for those whose need to use the software is greater than
their need to use the hardware, and that's what iright for them.
imho
Dave
