>It's not silly if you don't assume the printer is only worth $99. Just
>beacsue it sells for $99 doesn't mean it costs less than that to
>manufacture. That could easily be a $250 printer that they sell for $99 to
>get you hooked on their cartridges.
>
>Many companies do this- the biggest one I can think of right now is the
>Microsoft Xbox. Sells for $300, costs something like $450 to make. They
make
>it up when you buy their licensed software. The printers are no different.
>
>Other loss-learder situations are things like the TiVo PVR, ISP rebates,
>DirectTV recievers, Book/CD/DVD club intro offers, and just about any other
>discount that is given for the first couple months of service. This is a
>really common scheme just applied in a very creative way.

It is the same model as used for cell phones as well. You get the phone at
somewhere between 10% and 25% of the manufacturing cost, and then pay over
the odds for access time. heaven help if you take your phone to another
country - international access charges will soon pay for the phone !!! Least
that is the way it currently is in Europe.

--
http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics
(like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics