[Oberon] Inexpensive Hardware: Cost vs Objectives

[enso]

> I never once demanded it be $5 but was reasonable and said maybe $50 or
> $70 is pushing it. But even if you make it $50 there is something called
> competition in a free market. So you say that oberon is a learning system
> and not a final product.  So is the rasp pi and orange pi for $15 so why
> would people who want to learn, spend $120 or more on an educational
> system when there is one available for $15.
>
> Sorry about my real world business experience. I never once stated I was
> political, but rather businessal.
>
There is nothing free market about subsidized $5.00 computers.  If you 
add up the cost of the parts for an independent third party, and it is 
an order of magnitude or more higher, before labor and NRE costs, the 
only remaining explanation is a subsidy.  A subsidy means that someone, 
for whatever reason, is cramming a product down your throat.  You can 
enjoy it if you wish but recognize it as a gift and don't insist that 
everyone lose their pants selling products for nothing.

I would be happy to sell $5.00 Oberon computers if you give me $100-$150 
per unit while no one is looking.  Or, let's play the other game - raise 
$50 million, borrow another 50, sell a million units for $5.00, sell the 
company for $500 million.  Although I doubt you could sell a million 
Oberon computers today even for $5.00.  So we are back to comparing 
apples and oranges.

Finally, your pricing theory is not quite right.  Why would 'people who 
want to learn' spend $100,000 (in the US, at least) to get a degree from 
a known university when you can learn for free?  There are obviously 
other reasons than price.  I doubt that someone who wants to program a 
hardwired Oberon machine will be deterred by $100 price difference and 
buy a Raspberry Pi instead.  And lose sleep because a Pi is so much more 
expensive than whatever the $5.00 computer.

By making price arguments like that, you put a very low price tag on 
your time, not a very businessal argument.  What is the per-hour price 
difference if you work with a device for a year, even a couple of hours 
a day?