BigDumbDinosaur wrote:
For perspective, I’ve got about $100 invested in POC V1.3, which cost includes the SCSI host adapter. V1.3 is 65C816-powered, has 128K of RAM and runs at 16 MHz. Your Ruby system is also 65C816-powered and runs as fast (I think), plus has more RAM. No criticism intended toward anything André is proposing, but $200 plus shipping seems to be a lot to pay for an eight-bit system running at a relatively sedate 5 MHz. I don’t know where all the cost lies, but if it were me, I’d be looking for ways to get that price down.
It's not money that we've invested - it's time, energy and knowledge. How much is our time worth? How long have we spent learning, researching and working on our hobbys? How much are others who simply don't have the time or knowledge to get to that stage willing to pay?
I do think there is a market - and "retro" is till ticking along nicely, even after the covid rush - if anything I think it's made some people appreciate some of the older technologies even more. We just have to find things that fit and the right audience to appreciate it.
Just look at some of the niche food markets? I used to run an artisan bakery that started as a hobby and accidentally grew - people now are paying 3-5x what I was charging a few years ago for hand crafted patisserie and even sweet buns- the worlds gone mad! (Not to mention all those delivery meal in a box schemes!)
... also need to look at the right way to post stuff efficiently which today I suspect is the biggest headache - my bugbear right now is trying to get stuff from the US - I see something on e.g. ebay and think I'd like that - then look at postage - often 10x the price of the article, then there's import duty at 2%, VAT at 20% and the local postage surcharge. (and it may be that the taxes are actually imposed in the opposite order making it even more expensive). It's just not worth it especially for stuff like a Commander X16 or a Foenix board right now.
Even places like Tindie are irritating as they all charge in US dollars - great if you live in the US, but in the UK? I tried to buy some stuff from a UK seller who lived an hour or so away - I could have driven and paid him cash but he said it all had to go via Tindie which required money conversion fees and postage. Bah!
-Gordon
_________________
--
Gordon Henderson.
See my
Ruby 6502 and 65816 SBC projects here:
https://projects.drogon.net/ruby/