[Coco] Re: [Color Computer] Is this a discussion about a new Coco?

[Kevin Diggs]

Hi,

Mark Marlette wrote:
> At 10:36 AM 4/18/2005, you wrote:
> 
> I'll take as many of the SuperBoard's that you can make for under $100, 
> that includes all of the options, including the Ethernet. The Ethernet 
> chip alone costs well over $65 and that doesn't include the support 
> chips. Then add in the cost of the PCB board, CPLDs which are in the 
> $8-11 range each which there are 4-6 of them on the board.  As you can 
> see without evening spending a whole a lot of time on it that the price 
> goes up very fast. You must have been a sleep that day in Business 
> Economics. Prove me wrong and send me the product. You can't. It is 
> easier for you to sit back and do nothing but critique other peoples 
> work and say it is too expensive.
> 
> 
> Mark
> Cloud-9
> 
>> $350 - $450 for something that should cost less than $100 in parts is
>> why I won't be interested.  It does sound like it will be a pretty
>> complete solution though.
>>
	Isn't the cost of getting a PC board done a very big chunk of the total 
cost? Yes you might get the chips for $100 but that just gets you a pile 
of chips. I have, on occasion, looked at the hardware on Cloud-9. It is 
all commercial quality-looking stuff. Like you might buy in a store. 
That ain't cheap. You could probably hack something together with a 
breadboard but what would that look like?

	And I'm sorry Mark, ... but I sometimes have these nightmares. They go 
something like this:

It's a dark, damp basement. Stacks of vintage computer parts are 
everywhere. The sound of water dripping occasionally breaks the silence. 
  The smell of rosin core solder permeates the air. A light is visible 
in one corner. A man sits at a table. He is hunched over a circuit 
board. In one hand is a soldering iron, solder in the other. He peers 
through a magnifying glass at the circuit board. Beads of sweat glisten 
on his forehead. As he prepares to make another connection, a frantic 
voice breaks his concentration, "Mark, dinner is getting cold!". Just 
one more connection, he thinks to himself.

At this point I wake up gasping for air.

					kevin