On Wed, Nov 5, 2014 at 1:05 PM, Phil Pugliese (via tml list)
<nobody@simplelists.com> wrote:
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> This all sounds real good.
>
> If the discount is steep enough, the PC's could apply some more mods to make it more suitable for their needs.
> ie; various schemes to increase cargo space, etc...
>
> ============================================================

I work for a company that builds heavy duty trucks.

There are some interesting prototypes over  at the New Products lab.

They are mostly one-off variations on existing designs, or things we
built as prototypes.

The prototypes were mostly for contracts; some we won, some we didn't.
That we did not win the contract doesn't mean there's anything wrong
with the prototype, just that the buyer picked another vendor.
Although some OTHER company's prototype might be a little flakey, of
course.

Sometimes, after seeing the prototypes, the customer decides to change
the specs.

"Yes, we know we asked for that, but now that we see what it looks
like in real life, we realize it was a dumb request, and we'd prefer
something saner/less expensive/less fragile."

Mostly, this turns out to be less expensive.

The vendor is left with the original prototypes, which may or may not
be suitable for the original mission or other commerical use.

Even if the customer paid for the prototype development, the vendor
may get to keep it if not selected.  Which means you can buy the
losing units on the cheap...

Although getting some of the parts may be a challenge, if anything breaks.

Dan

--

"Any sufficiently advanced parody is indistinguishable from a genuine
kook." -Alan Morgan