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Re: Big money in the electrostatics biz



A REQUEST FOR REMOVING POSTINGS FROM OUR
ARCHIVE IS NOT REASONABLE. THE PURPOSE OF AN
ARCHIVE IS TO KEEP ALL MESSAGES, EVEN THOSE
WHICH WERE LATER SHOWN TO BE SILLY. IF I WERE
MR. THORP I WOULD ASK FOR A PUBLIC APOLOGY
OR CORRECTION.

Jack Uretsky wrote:

It seems to me that Mr. Thorp's postings are blatant spam and should not
be permitted on this net.
Jack Uretsky

On Wed, 31 Jul 2002, Bill Thorp wrote:

I have reinstated the link to my original reply to this posting:
http://202.47.38.114/20020716Q02.html

I find it unbelievable and unacceptable that I am the recipient of such a
campaign of slanderous accusations and offensive comments. Once again I am
the victim of William Beaty's unprofessional grandstanding. The quantity
of damaging information posted to this list server in an attempt to destroy
my business will not achieve its intended purpose.

I will not respond to all of William Beaty's ridicules claims in this
posting but one in particular need immediate attention because it
highlights the point that William continues to make claims and sweeping
statements without even doing some basic research.

William Beaty has been to http://www.zapno.com.au or http://202.47.38.114
and found the following statement at the bottom right of the screen.

(Many experts believe static electricity is a major cause of health
problems including the common car sickness and most other motion sickness
disorders.)

If William Beaty was to click on the MORE INFO button on the web site and
go to the bottom left of the page he would have found the following
information:

(If you search the Internet for (static electricity+sickness) you will
find) ......................................................................
........................ (Although I am not qualified to comment on the
subject, I think it is an interesting area for discussion.)

Even without this this information .. William could have tried a very basic
search to invalidate my statement. I stand by the statement and leave it
to the reader to evaluate their findings. This information was placed on
the web site for the sole purpose of being found by search engines to widen
the audience to include people who were interested in the topic. I market
to the people who are interested in static electricity and related topics,
this information was found in my research.

To show that I don't have an issue with full disclosure I have done the
following to my web site:


The following sentence has been included where William found his original
information http://www.zapno.com.au or http://202.47.38.114
(If you search the Internet for (static electricity+sickness) you will
find ..)

On the FAQ page the very first question and answer have been included to
show that I am prepared to inform my potential clients about their options.

Question:
Is there any other way to remove the static discharge as I exit my car?

Answer:
Yes, in many cases if the static charge is not too high you can use a key
by firmly gripping the metal section and touching it to the metalwork of
your car. It is not recommended that you do this on a painted surface if
it is exposed to the weather.

I have stated the truth and do not accept William's unsubstantiated and
conflicting claims. I do accept that more people will learn that a key can
limit their exposure to pain, however from first hand experience and other
sources I can confidently claim a key will not work reliably in all or some
cases. In particular, motor vehicles will often generate enough energy to
zap the user despite the use of the key. Many people have moist or soft
skin and I believe this is a contributing factor to being zapped ... even
while using a key, however I do believe the use of the resistor is an
important component in the solution. I do not agree and can demonstrate
that you are incorrect in your descriptions on how a person could simply
use a resistor component ... even if that was a practical solution.

COST OF "KEY RING TYPE"
The resistor and neon component costs around AUD$0.20
The injection moulded clear plastic tube costs around AUD$0.10
The Key Ring costs around AUD$0.04
The Alloy housing costs around AUD$2.25
The Header Card costs around AUD$0.34
The Blister pack costs around AUD$0.03
The labour to assemble and pack costs around AUD$1.20

Sell this in a store for AUD$12.95
Less their discount of typically 60% = a remaining AUD$5.18
Less Advertising
Less Overheads
Less Freight
Even if I ignore the above items, my cost of around AUD$4.00 will leave the
great profit of around AUD$1.00 each.

I fail to see how this could represent a get rich quick scheme and I can
only make these at this price in lots of 5,000 units. Obviously over time
I plan to reduce the cost but I will need to invest heavily into tooling
and higher volume production to achieve this. For example I can reduce the
price of the alloy housing by around AUD$0.60 if I invest AUD$40,000 into
die casting tooling. "Not Practical"

COST OF "SELF ADHESIVE ZAPNO"
The resistor and neon component costs around AUD$0.18
Acrylic slab inlay costing around AUD$0.80
A second resistor costs around AUD$0.10
Conductive tape costs around AUD$0.40
Self adhesive cover around AUD$0.35
Ballchain around AUD$0.28
Header Card around AUD$0.28
Packing film around $0.01
Labour to assemble and pack AUD$1.95

All William is doing is displaying his lack of understanding about
commercial reality. This business was only ever going to supplement my
income, as you can see there is not enough profit to make a fortune. As I
said earlier, the people who have purchased the zapno to date are very
happy with the product and many of them quickly work out there is an
inexpensive component inside, they believe the value is in the solution and
the convenience. I could give you examples of many products that would
cost almost nothing to manufacture and sell for heaps. On the surface it
looks like heaps of profit but in reality there are many unseen factors,
competition, product life cycle, product support, rate of sale ... all of
which are hidden costs.

I have a full time job and another company I am starting and all of this is
necessary just to earn a living. see ... http://www.assetsarchive.com.au
and I won't disclose where I work for obvious reasons.

William Beaty spent a huge amount of time procrastinating about
his "unresearched views" on medical issues. Without the facts this
behaviour serves no productive purpose, William is obviously passionate
about the subject but needs to better control his flow of information.

Until I resubscribed to the list server tonight, I was unaware of the
quantity of information William had posted. It appears he has deliberately
changed the subject title to give search engines more to collect.

William also made reference to my not posting my replies to him. I was
trying to give William the chance to let the issue die before it escalates
into a legal battle. I still wish this would happen but it is obvious that
William prefers to take his chances with the legal system.

I think William believes he has a case around the technical aspects of the
ZapNo. This is not my case, my intention is to engage legal council to
deal with the issues of defamation, slander and the resulting stress. I
will also be perusing the removal of all defamatory material that is
exposed to the Internet.

I will not be entertaining William's outrageous behaviour any longer, if
all of the offensive material is not removed from public access by the 8th
August 2002 USA time I will commence proceedings against William Beaty.

Bill Thorp

ZapNo Pty Ltd
ABN 94 670 077 621
Phone 1300 720009
Fax 07 32789940
Mobile 0409 087876
mailto:bill@zapno.com.au or mailto:bill_thorp@bigpond.com
http://www.zapno.com.au


--
"But as much as I love and respect you, I will beat you and I will kill
you, because that is what I must do. Tonight it is only you and me, fish.
It is your strength against my intelligence. It is a veritable potpourri
of metaphor, every nuance of which is fraught with meaning."
Greg Nagan from "The Old Man and the Sea" in
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