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From: ark@alice.UUCP (Andrew Koenig)
Newsgroups: net.audio
Subject: Re: Programmability cost
Message-ID: <3614@alice.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 22-Apr-85 14:23:03 EST
Article-I.D.: alice.3614
Posted: Mon Apr 22 14:23:03 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 23-Apr-85 06:28:38 EST
References: <259@cmu-cs-g.ARPA>
Organization: Bell Labs, Murray Hill
Lines: 15

> I have been meaning to ask this one for a while now:  why is it that there
> is a $100 difference between two seemingly identical CD players which differ
> only in their respective degree of programmability?

Because that's what people are willing to pay for the feature.

Suppose you're making CD players and you want to sell two models:
one with programmability and one without.  People will pay $500
for the one with it and $300 for the one without it.  Even if the
two units cost you the same to manufacture, you can't charge the
same for them because otherwise no one would by the non-programmable
one.

You are naive if you think manufacturing costs are the only things
that determine retail prices.