Digital BW, The Print

On Mar 4, 2010, at 11:59 AM, rogerbarrett_hps wrote:

> At the risk of being accused of going OT, I am surprised, and a bit disappointed, at your attitude to the vendors of these cartridges. As a physics graduate who spent over 40 years in product development and manufacturing I am under no illusions about selling prices of specialist items such as these. The value is not in the cost of the raw materials as you imply ("25 dollars worth of plastic") but in the overall cost of developing them and bringing them to market.


With all due respect, that is the same argument used by drug companies to overcharge to the hilt. These are plastic bottles, not cancer cures! Glorified milk containers, if you will. $300 is because they have a captive audience, not because there is remotely any justification. Hell, I can buy a netbook computer for $300 and I bet you a lot more R&D plus actual cost of components went into that. Besides, Cone is getting their milk jugs from an outside supplier, presumably InkRepublic, so Cone may be getting screwed just as much as the rest of us.

I resent being charged exorbitant fees for any product, especially when it is one I must purchase if I am to use another product with more obvious value. It leaves a bitter taste and a loooong memory.

David Kachel



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