Why charge $150 to $200 more to get this DM3730 unit? DM3730 can be purchased for under $50 even in quantities in the tens. For instance: http://www.digikey.c...32-5-ND/2596836 Even if you are entirely eating the cost of the OMAP3530 it's replacing there is no reason that these units should cost more than $50 over the baseline price.
There probably is, because it's not just about the production itself.
Unexpected problems and running costs can metaphorically eat small companies for lunch. Even from the information that is publicly known it's apparent that OpenPandora ltd. has financial problems -- only remember all those setbacks that have occurred. Now the Pandora is aging, many people choose to buy a different device instead, and many others already own a Pandora. It's likely that as time continues, the number of Pandoras sold may go down substantially, and then it's all over, because there already is enough negative money to get rid of.
Companies often sell very large quantities of products, and use several tricks to either make sure that people will replace their products sooner rather than later (no more software updates, no more service or spare parts, built-in batteries, components that age quickly, etc.), or to make sure that people will give them money even after the product was bought (the obvious examples: videogame consoles, razors, etc.). No one really wants these practices (including many of the companies!), yet many people support them anyway and waste a lot of money by buying thoughtlessly.
The Pandora is a device that both is designed to be usable for more than two years (unlike, for instance, cell phones, which users typically replace quite frequently) and does not come with follow-up costs built-in (...yet!). The Pandora /
might/ have been able to be a 'cheap' device hadn't there been so many problems, but as a matter of fact there have been a lot of problems that have (and still continue to) cost quite a bit of resources.
The problem isn't primarily a high price per se (or at least that's the way I see it), because it can get us something that can be difficult to achieve with less money. The problem is more the marketing bullshit that's going on here.
I'm convinced that it only needs a limited number of people to understand the reason for a higher price for it to work, as long as everything is genuine, honest, and transparent. I don't really have insight into OpenPandora ltd.'s financial considerations, yet it's clear to me that at least for now (and, I guess, for quite some time to come), the Pandora probably requires a noticeably higher price.
I have no doubt whatsoever that there is a market for a 700$ Pandora. Some cannot afford it, which is a problem that needs to be solved, but in general I assume that people would rather pay such a price than see OpenPandora ltd. closed down or using some of the aforementioned techniques. However, there isn't a market for a 700$ Pandora when customers no longer have a reason to trust as they see marketing that will collapse like a house of cards upon logical inspection. Be honest and try to avoid fragmentation wherever possible, rather increase prices. And why not allow people to pay more than they're being asked for, à la humble bundle? Allow people to split the excess between different things, such as 'OpenPandora ltd. general financial support', 'The next scheduled developer competition', or 'Fund for people who cannot afford to pay the Pandora's full price'. A good price is /
fair/, but not necessarily /
cheap/. People typically understand that, but sometimes easily forget about the complexity of all this when they see a cheap initial price.
Also perhaps consider dropping the name refurb, marketing wise it doesnt sound very strong, makes it sound like a leftover, while in fact it does everything an open source user needs.
Or do call it a refurbished unit, because that's what it is.
Are you emotionally compromised?
We're open to suggestions about how we can make more money and sell the Pandora at a lower cost.
For now, here is one that might or might not be doable:
the gameplay project. Oh, and more often remind people that the Pandora's price can go down if they manage to come up with great ideas on how to do it.
