"Doctor John" <doc### [at] gmailcom> wrote in message
news:48285bd5$1@news.povray.org...
> somebody wrote:
> > Don't forget that time is money.
>
> Time is only money if by performing a non-paying task you are unable to
> perform a paying task.

True, but since time is finite and very limited in practice, it's mostly an
academic observation, especially for busy people (or contractors,
freelancers ...etc). Something has to give. Even if you think you are using
leisure time for non-paying work, it will still affect your productivity in
your professional work.

> > If I were to bill myself my time building
> > that, the cost would exceed the sticker price.

> When billing, remember that you can only charge the accepted rate for a
> particular task. If. for instance, you charge consultancy rates for
> secretarial duties you will soon go out of business.

My point is that if you are a consultant, you should not be *doing*
secretarial duties to begin with, unless you want to do that purely for fun.
Personally, building stuff sounds like work for me, not fun, so building my
own laptop stand does not make sense.

> > Same with repairs, it often doesn't make economic sense.

> What about the environmental considerations? IMO Sam is demonstrating
> economic, environmental and creative superiority here.

Not at all. One off production is often so much more wasteful and
environmentally damaging than volume production. Sam's table saw probably
sits idle for 360 days of the year in his garage (I know many people who own
thousands of dollars worth of equipment for hobbies they engage in a few
days a year). Sum up all the resources and manpower that goes into producing
that equipment and the pollution it creates and divide by the units of
production Sam gets out. Even if we forget the capital invesetment, Sam can
not be as efficient as a manufacturing plant in operation. He will take 2
hours to produce a unit that takes 2 minutes on the assembly line, consuming
more resources in the process.

If you want to be environmentally conscious, buy from IKEA or other mass
producers. Building it yourself is often a waste of your time and resources.

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