Author: Albert Silver
Date: 09:51:37 03/29/01
Go up one level in this thread
On March 29, 2001 at 10:45:53, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>On March 27, 2001 at 23:57:02, Albert Silver wrote:
>
>>On March 27, 2001 at 22:43:28, Christophe Theron wrote:
>>
>>>>>You are very lucky to live in a place where you can get all kind of high tech
>>>>>stuffs for a fraction of your monthly salary, but in other countries a dual
>>>>>represents a huge amount of money.
>>>>
>>>>A dual represents 500 bucks for 2x800 or so. I don't know what the exchange
>>>>rate is, but that can't be huge...
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Where I live you need much more money to buy a dual.
>>>
>>
>>Same here. I just upgraded my computer and even considered a dual for a
>>laughable two seconds. One look at the 4 digit prices and I began choosing
>>between my single CPU options (T-Bird 1Ghz + Asus A7V = US$ 500-550 here in
>>Brazil). Ordering from abroad is no solution as the import tariffs will quickly
>>balance things out. In theory, you'd think that this would be to help
>>incentivate Brazilian technology to develop on its own and be able to compete,
>>but as it is, its only purpose is to make computers expensive to get.
>>
>>Of course, I don't live here because of the availability of high-tech. :-)
>>
>
>
>why can't a local store there buy a dual MB and put the machine together for
>you? Obviously no one in Brazil is actually manufacturing motherboards, so
>they are imported anyway. And since the price between a dual MB and a single
>cpu MB are so close, you ought to be able to find someone that can make you a
>good deal?
Problem is that a 'good deal' is very relative. Importation drives the price up
_considerably_. As that price means that even fewer people will be able to
afford it, the demand for such products is low (to say the least), so dual
boards are pretty much only available by special order. Keep in mind also the
question of relative incomes. I won't quote the ridiculous figures of minimum
wages here as that isn't a fair criteria, and nor does it have anything to do
with my income, but at the same time any income is certainly proportional to the
cost of living and that is the case here in Brazil. The numbers of what
constitues a comfortable income, low income, etc. are very similar to the US's
with a slight hitch: the currency. The Real, the Brazilian currency, is
currently at a little over 2.1 Reais /reh-ice/ (Reais is the plural of Real) to
the US dollar. As a consequence, this means that a medium income bracket is
about half that in the US, which in turn means that that nice imported equipment
marked up 60%+ on average costs much more than an extra 60% to a Brazilian
buyer. If I told you to take that same machine, add 60% to the price tag and
then multiply it by 2.1 would it still be as good a deal? That's the reality
faced here. Another quote to help put it in perspective: a top manager (though
not the General Manager) at GameWorks (the US franchise) here earns what is
considered a very comfortable 2800 a month.... Reais of course. See what I mean?
Albert
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