Re: $99 Linux box?
Irv Mullins wrote:
> Take a look at this, please:
I've seen the box, it's pretty cool. I'm suprised that they haven't changed
their price already; from what I've been reading, there are NO distributors
in the US that have any left, and the backorders are filled as well.
When it initially hit the trade papers a while back, the suggested price was
$400(US), but the price was lowered to $200. Their IPO notes that even this
price is a loss, although they won't reveal what the actual manufacturing
cost is.
It's a very nicely designed product, and I'd like to see the company succeed
in the market. The $99 must be a huge loss-leader price; they're supposed
to be recouping the cost over time by collecting ISP fees, as well as
selling advertising.
I think it's the LCD panel that's driving sales; the average user isn't
interested in a 180Mhz box, and you can't even hang a floppy off one of
these. I suspect that it'll only be a matter of days before they change
their policy to mandating an ISP signup, start leasing the boxes, or simply
mangle the motherboard so it no longer has a usable IDE port.
-- David Cuny
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