June 9, 2008

Free?

So one of the replies to Pump hardware Upgrades. (or lets start a riot who's got pitch forks and torches) took me to task. In short the poster felt upgrade fees are just fine. It is a well written free market type reply and I'll do it the respect it deserves and quote it here so more folks get to see it.

Anonymous said...

Maybe I'm just in a grumpy mood, but I don't see what's wrong with paying for pump upgrades. Are you saying that because you paid one time for a device, you should get all future versions of it for free? From the company's perspective, that's not really fair. They spend lots of money to develop new features, and they can't exactly just give it away. Not to mention that the upgrades are still often cheaper than buying a whole new pump (I've only had my first pump for less than a year, so I'm not 100% sure how much upgrades are).

I just find it hard to grasp that people expect to get this expensive technology for free.


I think that is a fair reply and I appreciate the grumpy mood comment for it humor value, heck I a grump myself I understand grumpiness is an artform.

My response is:

Bennet said...

No I am not saying I paid once for the device, I am saying I am paying for it 4 or 5 times. The pump is 5-6 grand and parts are 4-5 grand a year. Over a 4 year period the are making a 20 to 25 thousand dollars in sale revenues.

A hundred bucks a year in upgrade credit in that 4 year deal is 2% or less.

Maybe I am a little grumpy but from the consumers perspective 20 to 25 thousand plus $400 for an upgrade doesn't seem fair.

I don't expect it to be free. I don't expect to pay exorbitant rates either.

Look at the real world of tech devices other than say proprietary medical devices. The life span of devices is well less than 4 years. Hell the cycle span of an iPhone is one year.

Most manufacturers will subsidize hardware for consumables. Look at inc jet printers, cell phones, ISP, etc. They subsidize equipment to get an annuity.

I find it hard to grasp 25,000 in revenue as free. Oh wait we have two kids on pumps so that 50Gs.

Free?

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