>> somebody has to check it won't break or something when it gets that 
>> damn cold.
> 
> Exactly - someone has to check - and that costs money.

Well that at least makes sense. You're paying money *for* something.

>> Why? Do they actually *do* something different with it?
> 
> Yes, it is designed to be more reliable, and they test it to prove this 
> so they can write it in the specification of the device.

This somewhat implies that normal stuff is designed to be UNreliable. ;-)

>> Does the hardware itself have any actual physical differences to a 
>> cheap model?
> 
> Probably, if you're lucky you could get a *really* reliable one from 
> Maplin that lasted for 1000 years without any problems.  *Lucky* being 
> the key word here, try explaining to someone's family that they died 
> because some monitor failed, you can't say "we were unlucky".

I'm just wondering whether they actually did anything different at all 
for the extra money, that's all.


it'll take up to 15 days to arrive. But actually it arrives within 12 

hours. And it still arrives within 12 hours. Do they actually do 
anything different? Or is it just a tax on stupidity?

On the other hand, consider the printers example. Clearly something *is* 
actually different, because the printers really do perform differently. 
So in this case, you *are* getting something for your money.

I'm not sure which category this temparature monitor falls into.

>> Well, you're the engineer. But I wonder - if a mass spectrometer that 

>> HELL does one you *can* use for diagnostic procedures cost?! o_O
> 
> Medical equipment is extremely expensive, precisely because there is so 
> much at risk when things go wrong.  The companies that make this stuff 
> need to do a huge amount of testing and robust design, way above what 
> most other industries require.  It all costs money.

Heh. And I thought a device that costs more than my house (!!) was 
already expensive. ;-)

[Seriously - WTF does a mass spectrometer even have in it? It's just an 
empty tube, some vacuum pumps, an electrode and some magnets. So is my 
TV! Well, apart from the vacuum pumps anyway... And yet, my TV doesn't 
cost more than a small housing estate. Wuh??]

BTW, wasn't there some famous disaster with a device for radiotherapy 
that accidentally overdosed a few people?

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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