Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: MOTM

A 50 unit minimum looks to me like anawfully high bar to reach. Especially at $400 per. And the rest of the criteriaisn’t clear to me. Are you saying you need 50 MOTM AND 50 MU (going bythe $40,000 figure you throw out) before we’ve got a run? Regardless, I don’tsee how this is going to happen. Echoing Thomas’ sentiment, my MOTM ‘investment’has not been pretty.

 

Greg James

 

 

This is sort of a2-part MOTM issue

 

MOTM as DIY-based

 

Certainly since thefirst module the kits out-sold the assembled like 25:1. In some modulesprobably 75:1. Things went OK until the RoHS directive killed both theSwitchcraft jacks and the Spectrol pots at once. It took nearly 2 years to getthose parts back and running, only to have Vishay (that made the RoHS version)drive the price from $1.80 to $7.50. This clogged the pipeline, blew up thebacklog and it was not until BI came out with the P260 family that I couldfinally get going. This is just on the “business” side of things.

 

So, I decided tohave Scott at BrideChamber take over and I think he has done a great job. Theparts, kits, panels and pc boards are still there.

 

But what is missing?New offerings specifically for DIYers. (and some MOTM kits I need to ship out,more on that later).

 

I have not decidedyet if the ROI (return on investment) is worth it for doing more DIY-specificMOTM modules. Right now I am thinking not.

 

MOTM as Assembled

 

The current MOTMmodules were not engineered to be ‘quick’ to assemble, in fact (andyou know who you are) some folks think the longer it takes/the more parts thebetter the overall fun factor. Which is exactly what DIYers want but notexactly great for one-at-a-time assembly. It’s not that the ROIisn’t good (it is) but the time required is a problem.

 

MOTM as a‘Hobby’

 

It started as ahobby and I want it to remain a hobby. I do NOT want to do this 100% as my‘living’. But since Jan. it has been (and hopefully next month willrevert back to full hobby status). I have focused on Euro because that is how Ihave to support my family. I have NOT ignored MOTM entirely but yes Euro has“stolen” the bulk of time because it is necessary to do so. I donot like doing this, it is not fair to 5U customers but it is just what has tobe done now.

 

I have interviewedtwice recently and feel at least 1 of them will result in full time, withhealth insurance benefits, employment. This will allow me to then go back to 5Umore and more. Note that I may have to physically move (again) so there will be3-4 weeks where not much will go on. May people take holiday/vacation in Augustso it’s a good time to move anyway. I will not know for sure until nextweek. But I am optimistic.

 

Will there ever benew 5U stuff?

 

Yes, but as assembled.And I will start with going to Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com)in order to judge the demand. In this way, no money exchanges hands until agoal is reached (in dollars, but that is just a minimum number of modules). SMTtooling is expensive, like $900. Each pc board run is $250 setup on themachines. The prices will be “high” (say in the $400 range)initially. But with SMT assembly, I can go from the boards in front of me to afinished, calibrated module in about 9 minutes. The years of waiting are over,I can build 50 modules a week in my spare time.

 

I think offering a50 module minimum run is fair and the way Kickstarter is set up I can ship morethan 50 but not LESS than 50. So if for example I offer a 5U and a MU CloudGenerator both at $400 with 50 of each and there is a dollar pledge over$40,000 then I would just make more and everyone that pledged gets a module. Ithink this is fair, I do not even have to buy parts until the goal is met,unlike the current way where I have to HOPE there is a demand. I could split itand say “as long as I get 80 modules of a mix of MU/5U we have ago”.

 

BUT….I willNOT do this until EVERY current MOTM user has their modules from me. I mighttinker on the CAD system beforehand but nothing ‘official’ untilthen.

 

And when will thisbe?

 

The honest answer: Ihave no idea. Will it be in 2012? Yes it will but not going to say ‘byOct 1’ or whatever. Because I never hit the dates anyway. So instead of awatch or calendar I’m looking at the leaves of tress JA LOT may happen in the next 6 weeks. I may not get a job offer and then the 5Utime is what it is now.

 

If people think MOTMis ‘dead’ or in a ‘death spiral’ or they feel‘abandoned’ they certainly have the data to point to that. Andit’s 100% on me. But as Granny liked to say, “The proof is in thepudding”. So, after I get the MOTM backlog  shipped, and I post themodules to KickStarter (there will be 3 of them) then the user base will decideMOTM’s fate.

 

Paul S.