Low Costs Through Mass Production
All these parts and the parts from the previous page go into a Canon
SureShot TELEmax Camera which you can find being sold for just $100!
Did you guess $5,000 or $10,000? I would have!
I would LOVE to tour their factory and learn the details of how in the heck
they can actually produce this complicated machine for such a price. Canon
has to have spent a zillion dollars on automating the assembly line. It is
more than likely one of those factories you hear about - full of robots
working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - in the dark!
Hopefully, this economies of scale example gives you a better grasp of the
cost reduction benefits we would expect with mass produced
SkyTran
vehicles, track and stations. We believe, that if we organize the production
of
SkyTran
vehicles and spend serious money on advanced technology production machines
that a cost of $3,000 each may even be conservative!
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By the way, that skinny little tube makes the super bright burst
of light for taking Flash Pictures. It is mounted in a chrome
plated plastic reflector that intensifies the light toward the
subject.
The more I took this machine apart, the more I was just amazed
at the engineering and quality that goes into it. Most beautiful
is that all this magnificent technology is totally transparent
to the user. Better yet, the user doesn't need to bother knowing
zip about the technology. As far as the consumer is concerned,
he just bought an inexpensive simple-to-use tool to
create human remembrances!
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There is an interesting story behind this camera and how it became my
perfect "Economies of Scale" example. Personally, I would never
have even thought about buying one just to take it apart just to see what is
inside of it (and besides I'm too cheap to waste money like that).
Well, my neighbor and good friend, Bob Johnson, a retired Major from the US
Marines and I have been doing week long back pack trips in California's High
Sierra mountains together since 1982. This past August while on a 6 day hike
of the super beautiful Rae Lakes Loop trail (out of Sequoia National Park),
Bob slipped while crossing one creek and fell in. He was instantly up and
out of the water (even retired Marines have dangerously fast reactions), but
his camera got wet and was no longer working.
The camera repair people told him it would be cheaper to just buy a new
one than to even take it apart to start trying to fix it. Bob did just
that - and gave me the ruined one. The point is that you may have noticed
quite a few products exist nowadays that you just replace if they
quit functioning. If this compact intelligent camera was not so superbly
mass produced it could easily cost $1,000 and it would have been worth
spending $200 to have it fixed - but not at $100.
Bob Johnson, Major US Marines, Ret. at the top of Glenn Pass 11,978 feet above
sea level.
The rest of the gang at two miles plus above sea level (August 11,1997).
Front row from the left - Mary Ann and Jim Gaebe, Michelle and Dad Doug
Malewicki. Rear from the left - Richard Spera, Rory Barton, Steve
Sanford (Official Trip Poet)
and Bob.
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