The answer is programming. It's free- it only takes time and creativity (assuming you have the knowhow). Some suggestions:

Surely you jest.

Nearly two years ago (see here) Rob V. said there was more than eight man-years of development time in the player software. That was when the empeg was a little over a year into its development. So it would not be unreasonable to guess that by now there are at least 15 man-years of development time in the software. If you figure a talented programmer (and the guys@empeg are among the most talented in the world -- this is why the SoB group bought them!) is worth, say, $75,000 per year you have $1.1 million in direct salary software expense. And it would not be unreasonable to guess that direct salary expense is perhaps a third of what it really cost to develop the software -- after all, those programmers worked in a building that cost rent, utilities, taxes, etc. They used hardware that had to be purchased and upgraded. Somewhere along the line were the expenses that the employer contributes (don't know how England works, but there must be some equivalent to social security taxes, health insurance, etc.) So figure over $3 million in software expenses over the years.

Hey, guess what -- they sold 3,000 players. $3 million divided by 3,000 players comes to about $1000 per player just for the software.

That programming is NOT free.


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Now, factor in that most of those 3,000 players sold for less than $400.. That even at the reduced price of $699 (less than the cost of the hardware alone) the players were not selling. We can complain, criticize, and castigate Sonic Blue all we want -- but the EOL decision was absolutely and completely inevitable.

Unquestionably the empeg was and still is the best product of its type in the world. Unfortunately the market niche that can afford the very best is too small to be commercially viable.
[/OT]

tanstaafl.