Digital Watermarks (long, getting off-topic)

[Timothy C. May]

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!
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Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
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