Let's do a little math on their financial model (this won't hurt... much).
I-Opener is currently priced at $99. Assume the LCD costs them $200 and the rest of the box costs $50, so they lose $151 on each sale. Regular Internet monthly pricing is $21.95. Let's assume providing access costs them $9 a month, so they make $12.95 a month on the access.
The "payback period" in such a situation would be 11.6 months, ignoring the time value of money. With an annual discount rate of 6%, the payback period would be 12.0 months. (Not much difference.) Every month after the first 12 are up ushers in their cash cow, ignoring shopping and pizza kickbacks.
This situation is similar to where say, oh, Compuserve will give you $400 back on the purchase of a new computer if you sign up with their Internet service for three years at $20 a month. Except in the case of I-Opener, their costs are less and they probably make more on every month of access and have other revenue on top of that.
I think NetPliance can afford to have a few/.ers hacking their box to their own ends.
What would an artificially intelligent computer do? What would be its desires? Would it have emotions? What would it feel?
Is this so different from creating a human child, whose dreams, desires, and emotions, as well as what it will do when it grows up, are unknown at the get-go?
Whether based on carbon or silicon, there are enormous ramifications involved in creating a new life, and we do it all the time.
Slashdot Mirror
Let's do a little math on their financial model (this won't hurt ... much).
/.ers hacking their box to their own ends.
I-Opener is currently priced at $99. Assume the LCD costs them $200 and the rest of the box costs $50, so they lose $151 on each sale. Regular Internet monthly pricing is $21.95. Let's assume providing access costs them $9 a month, so they make $12.95 a month on the access.
The "payback period" in such a situation would be 11.6 months, ignoring the time value of money. With an annual discount rate of 6%, the payback period would be 12.0 months. (Not much difference.) Every month after the first 12 are up ushers in their cash cow, ignoring shopping and pizza kickbacks.
This situation is similar to where say, oh, Compuserve will give you $400 back on the purchase of a new computer if you sign up with their Internet service for three years at $20 a month. Except in the case of I-Opener, their costs are less and they probably make more on every month of access and have other revenue on top of that.
I think NetPliance can afford to have a few
What would an artificially intelligent computer do? What would be its desires? Would it have emotions? What would it feel?
Is this so different from creating a human child, whose dreams, desires, and emotions, as well as what it will do when it grows up, are unknown at the get-go?
Whether based on carbon or silicon, there are enormous ramifications involved in creating a new life, and we do it all the time.