[rescue] OT: FeeCee rescue

[Lionel Peterson]

--- Phil Stracchino <alaric at caerllewys.net> wrote:
> On Wed, Oct 01, 2003 at 03:02:29PM -0500, Paul wrote:
> > Heheh. Welllll..the hardware is a loss leader ya know. I've seen a

> Funny how when *Asian* companies do that, US manufacturers scream
> bloody murder about dumping ....

Well, it could be argued that there is a difference between a foreign
government subsidising, say, their steel industry to make foreign steel
cheaper than domestic steel, with the intention of acheiving market
dominance, and an electronics company selling an item cheaper to "make
it up on the blades (software)"...

Or, selling ink jet printers at/below cost, then requiring that the
printer user buy all their ink cartridges from the same manufacturer
(because there is a "secret chip" in the cartridge that is protected,
and to attempt to "crack the chip" could lead to criminal
prosecution!)...

The first is predatory, the latter examples are marketing strategy. A
key difference is that the first can only be profitable once
competition is eliminated, the latter relies on follow-up purchases.

In some ways they are similar, but in some ways they are not...

Of course, opinions vary...


=====
Lionel

"I am not into examining other peoples' dumps..." - Sheldon T. Hall

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