Getting Screwed
 

In a UK national newspaper today, about 80 USD, emphasis on the XS of XS8303
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/wee...091219,00.html
Is £40 the right amount to pay for a loudspeaker screw?

Charles Arthur
Thursday May 31, 2007
The Guardian
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-imag...niture/2007/05
/30/sony_screw.jpg
The world's most expensive screw?


Strictly speaking, it should be ?61.31 (£41.51), which will buy you one -
count it, one - screw that will hold your valuable Sony XS8303 loudspeaker
together. Actually, you'll need four of them, as the picture clearly shows.

So, will you be paying by cash or credit card, sir or madam? Do you carry
that much cash around with you?

The discovery of this pricey fixing, verifiable through Sony's parts
database, unveils the strange world of spare parts, where things that you
would expect to cost about £1 for a dozen instead cost a dozen pounds each.

What on earth could it be made of? "The crushed souls of Sony gamers,"
suggested one wag on the quartertothree.com forums. "Plutonium," ventured
another. "Unobtanium," said yet another.

We did call Sony to find out the secret of fixings that cost as much as a
meal in a London restaurant (including wine). Alas, its people were in
Unobtanium too.

Still, if you feel excited about that screw, and you've got an XS8303 (or
perhaps two - speakers often come in pairs), then you can get your very own
manual for them online. Just drop by Manuals Paradise and you can download
the PDF - for just $19.50 (£9.80).

Those screws are looking a bit cheaper already, aren't they?

--
Diverse Devices, Southampton, England
electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on
http://home.graffiti.net/diverse:graffiti.net/

Getting Screwed
 

N Cook wrote:
In a UK national newspaper today, about 80 USD, emphasis on the XS of XS8303
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/wee...091219,00.html
Is £40 the right amount to pay for a loudspeaker screw?

Charles Arthur
Thursday May 31, 2007
The Guardian
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-imag...niture/2007/05
/30/sony_screw.jpg
The world's most expensive screw?


Strictly speaking, it should be ?61.31 (£41.51), which will buy you one -
count it, one - screw that will hold your valuable Sony XS8303 loudspeaker
together. Actually, you'll need four of them, as the picture clearly shows.

So, will you be paying by cash or credit card, sir or madam? Do you carry
that much cash around with you?

The discovery of this pricey fixing, verifiable through Sony's parts
database, unveils the strange world of spare parts, where things that you
would expect to cost about £1 for a dozen instead cost a dozen pounds each.

What on earth could it be made of? "The crushed souls of Sony gamers,"
suggested one wag on the quartertothree.com forums. "Plutonium," ventured
another. "Unobtanium," said yet another.

The screw does cost a nickel. The rest is for:
The robot that plays music while you're on hold for 45 minutes.
The cost of the 45 minute phone call
The person in India who takes 45 minutes to answer your call.
The computer that the person in India uses to screw up your order.
Credit card fees
The warehouse that stores the spare parts.
The person who digs around in the warehouse to find the wrong part to
send you.
The person who manages the person who digs around in the warehouse.
The person who manages the person who manages....
Lights, heat, desk space, more computers, fire insurance, health
insurance, workmen's compensation, taxes...

Sad fact is that for many items, the actual cost of sending you the
tiniest of spare parts exceeds the cost to build the original item.

Sounds like you've never bought a spare part for an automobile.
Care to explain why a starter for my motorcycle costs $475?
You don't want to know how much they want to install it.
Original MSRP of the cycle was $1495. Wouldn't be so bad if I weren't
on the THIRD one...

I don't like it either, but it's not likely to change. And raising my
blood pressure over it probably will cost me more in the long run.

mike

We did call Sony to find out the secret of fixings that cost as much as a
meal in a London restaurant (including wine). Alas, its people were in
Unobtanium too.

Still, if you feel excited about that screw, and you've got an XS8303 (or
perhaps two - speakers often come in pairs), then you can get your very own
manual for them online. Just drop by Manuals Paradise and you can download
the PDF - for just $19.50 (£9.80).

Those screws are looking a bit cheaper already, aren't they?

--
Diverse Devices, Southampton, England
electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on
http://home.graffiti.net/diverse:graffiti.net/




--
Return address is VALID!
Bunch-O-Stuff Forsale He
http://mike.liveline.de/sale.html

Getting Screwed
 

"mike" wrote in message
news:aiD7i.6519$XC3.2670@trnddc04...

Sounds like you've never bought a spare part for an automobile.
Care to explain why a starter for my motorcycle costs $475?
You don't want to know how much they want to install it.

Find an auto electrical shop run by Asian migrants. IME it'll be a lot
cheaper there!