I hope this is not TMI. You know what they say about having a little knowledge... It is worse than no knowledge or complete knowledge.
You guys would be suprised how much it costs to develop a light like the Arc6. I have heard of over $250k being spent on a similiar light by another team. I developed the Arc6 for less than that. This is one of the things I feel good about when I reflect on the past 2 years.
The IPOD is a lot more complex but do you know how much it cost to develop? More than most people think it did.
"As we all know something is worth exactly what some one is prepared to pay unfortunately not all Arc fans have deep pockets so if you want a first run you need to be loaded is that fair?"
And you have to be loaded to develop and manufacture one as well. See the connection? Sometimes the market is uncanny at matching cost to value. Fortunately, as volume increases the load is shared by more people and the price drops. Sometimes this takes several years. There are a few nieve people who think the mfg is just trying to gouge the consumer but they would learn quickly if they actually tried to mfg a product themselves.
Don't you worry too much about what you think is fair. Even if the Arc6s went for well over $1k each, CIS would still be left holding a significant bill. This is normal and was expected. That is why we desire to make more than just a 100 units.
I can see how this ignorance of what things really cost would cause some people to think they own me or my endeavors. This goes back to what I said earlier about some people over estimating their contribution. The CPF contribution is like a key. To get into the building you have to open the door, which is bigger than the little key. But the key opens the door.
Your contribution is key and I do appreciate it very much. And friends challenge each other to be better.
I was suprised when I saw you guys being suprised by the complexity of developing the Arc6 based on the few pictures I posted in the first "new LS" thread. I bet people would also be suprised to see the budget for a project like this. I can sympathize. When I was younger I used to think that people didn't build spaceships in their backyard and go the moon because they just didn't want to. Turns out, it is kind of difficult. The dreams of a child versus the realities of life. I want to still dream but dreams that pass over to reality.
peter