Re: [cobalt-users] [Qube 2] Restore CD

[Kris Dahl <krislists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

on 8/7/00 11:41 AM, Zeffie at cobaltlist@xxxxxxxx wrote:

> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Kris Dahl"
> 
> Kris,
> I understand what you are saying and please don't take this bad.  I
> would like to try to make you understant the problem related to this.
> cobalt devices are sold at the retail level and so cobalt is not true to the
> var community.  In their defense this is good idea as var resellers often
> lead to not enough sales and it allows the units to be sold at a lower price
> and makes their product more competive.  The target group is not isp's that
> will buy them anyway but the small business owner that now must add the
> internet to there business.  I remember when I worked for a multi million
> dollar company and I could go out and buy anything without hurting my
> paycheck.  However as a small bussiness owner I don't have the 4,500 dollars
> to go out and buy the harmonics analyzer much less anything else.  As a
> small bussiness owner I want to make money not spend it and I depend on
> manufacturer support.  which in this case is poor to non-existant.  keep in
> mind here that not everybody has the extra money to buy your support
> contract and pay your markup on the box itself.  I also think if most people
> knew how badly they would of been supported they would of not gotten a
> coblat product.  but they did because they felt they could get quality
> support and easy opperation for a reasonable price.  not pay for this and
> pay for that.
> 
> Hope this helps and please understant I'm not trying to fight with you.
> just sharing my point of view as I always appreicate others.

I completely understand your point, and it is a good one.

But I guess my point is just that the price of a piece of equipment is just
the tip of the iceberg compared to the overall cost of ownership.  The cost
to run a server usually eclipses the expenses that we spent to purchase it.

This is something that often gets lost when products are marketed to
consumers, etc.  What is the overall cost of a toaster?  Well, the price of
the toaster plus the electricity to run it.  There is no cost of ownership.
This is not true with a Cobalt 'appliance'.

I think this is the reason why I don't really like it when people say a Raq2
is just an 'appliance'.  Appliances have fixed costs associated with them,
and in the real appliance industry they actually have stickers that *tell*
you what it will cost to run it over the coarse of a year.  I think everyone
is in agreement that marketing a Raq as an appliance, with no cost of
ownership besides the original outlay is misleading if not dishonest.

That I agree with 100%.

-k