At 12:14 PM 7/24/96, Gary Howland wrote:

Timothy C. May wrote:

...

Pre-recorded DAT tapes were available for a while...they did not sell. I believe this was because DAT machine purchasers were sophisticated and new how to make CD-to-DAT copies, with or without SCMS.

Don't forget that pre-recorded DAT tapes are at least an order of magnitude more expensive to manufacture than CDs.

The _selling_ price of DATs was only slightly higher than CDs, around $15 in the U.S. Some DATs were priced identically to CDs, and still didn't sell. (Not surprisingly to me, given the chicken-and-egg effect.) Manufacturing costs of CDs are very low--I've seen estimates as low as 10 cents or less--and the final selling price is dominated by royalties, overhead staff costs, distribution cost, and, of course, "what the market will bear." DAT manufacturing costs could be $1-2, but the above factors would still dominate. --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."