Discuss Digest, Vol 2, Issue 1

[markw at mohawksoft.com]

> On Mon, 1 Nov 2004 markw at mohawksoft.com wrote:
>> This device will basically have a few built in I/O ports, an I2C
>> connector, and an expansion bus. The I2C output can be used with most
>> all
>> I2C devices as well as the Velleman K8000 type board. The I/O ports will
>> be usable on the dongle, and the expansion bus will allow a number of
>> add-on boards.
>>
>> The target price is $19-$29 dollars. The software will be "EASY" to
>> program and run under Windows or Linux (maybe even *bsd)
>
> That's mighty cheap.  Can you really make money at that price?
>

I think I can, I talked with a few OEM's and they can produce the board
for about $5.00. When you factor in pachaging and docs, I think the out
the door price can be as low as $10-$15.

The best part about the product, is that I think it will have "real"
value. Sure, you can build it yourself, in fact, I may publish the
schematic, but I think the benefit is the software interface. Any good
software developer could write the software, and any EE could design the
dongle, but I think getting both for $19.99 ~ $29.00 is a no brainer.

Remember this is the ULTIMATE no frills product. It is designed to be used
by someone who's just going to take a soldering iron to it anyway.