Just few thoughts:
Well, yes. The cost of new FDD is 10$. But what about the
externalities of that cost? These aren't included, and would add many
times the cost of it. Cost of pollutiong the Earth by making it. Cost
of living of some poor kids who get exploited by the company making it
(or company digging up the aluminium to make it, or whatever). Cost of
people shot by Shell or its puppet governments to get oil to make
plastic. Etc... These externalities are NOT computed into that 10$
price of new computer drive. Same with cars, gas for the cars, ...
If I throw out a product that cost 10$ but cost 100$ in REALITY,
including all externalities, it's wasting a lot.
I don't mean to sound like some anti-tech moron or luddite, but simply
- we must control technology, not let marketing and technology control
us. Or we don't survice. Simple as that. Feel free to argue at my mail
address.
Frantisek
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One thing to keep in mind here is back when things were made with such high
quality, the cost of labor versus materials was different. Labor was quite
cheap and materials were more expensive. The opposite is true now. I
recall in the computer industry when a floppy disk drive cost $150 dollars
and labor rates to repair and align heads was $25/hours. Now a new drive
costs $10 and labor is $100/hr. That type of problem drives us towards a
throw away mentality. The cost of disposal hasn't been noticed yet. I
believe that corporations are looking mostly at cost and competition when
they build and design products. There is a whole separate discussion on repeat sales
and business growth as
it related to durable good (cameras included). Too good and your customer
base quits buying and you slowly die on the vine. Just some rambling thoughts. Bruce
Dayton
Sacramento, CA
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