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Re: [OM] [OT] I need new glasses

Subject: Re: [OM] [OT] I need new glasses
From: Lawrence Woods <lmwoods@xxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 5 May 2010 19:31:15 -0400 (EDT)
> While on the topic of glasses; are they not the most
> over-priced thing on the market? I mean I can buy an iPod
> that has more computing power than that used for Apollo 11
> to go to the moon for about $150. ...

Two reasons I can think of.  First, you're not just paying for 
the little piece of plastic, you are paying for the 
engineering and logistics to make the lens.  The manufacturer 
needs to make and stock permutations of each power correction 
in each diameter, in each lens material times each level of 
cylindrical (astigmatism) correction.  For bifocals, multiply 
that by each level of close-up correction, etc, etc.  

But the biggest cost is hand-fitting each pair of glasses, 
done by local professionally licensed people, not the third-
world wage-slaves that assembled the Ipod.  It is also a low-
volume business compared to something like the Ipod, so the 
markups are huge to cover overhead.  Most large eyewear chains 
in the USA  don't compete that much on price, so I don't know 
if there really are economies of scale. 

----- Larry Woods
      
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