3 ms·

> ... the mechanism is super simple and I'm pretty sure I could rig one up (minus the auto-adjust) for like $30 of parts; it's just an air compressor lubricated

> ... the mechanism is super simple and I'm pretty sure I could rig one up (minus the auto-adjust) for like $30 of parts; it's just an air compressor lubricated with something that doesn't stink with a regulator. As far as I can tell, if you want a CPAP machine and are paying full freight, you can pay anywhere from $300 to $3000, which seems pretty cheap for the difference it makes. Part of the price is no doubt to cover the cost of liability insurance for the manufacturer, the distributor, etc., in case a user claims that the machine malfunctioned and damaged the user's sinuses, throat, or whatever. (My dad used a CPAP machine.)

lsc 9y ago
But... I don't think that detracts from my main point, which was to give an example of a technology that was "simply too cheap to be developed" that was, in fact developed. Sure, for various reasons it ended up not costing pennies, but my point is just that the underlying concept is extremely simple and if you ignore all the things that makes good engineering expensive, and all the things that make medical devices expensive, potentially quite cheap.