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Thread: Why are these so expensive. Possible disruption?

  1. #1
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    Default Why are these so expensive. Possible disruption?

    I have a laser tattoo removal business and I am just shocked at how expensive these things are. I would like to expand my business to new locations but the capital and maintenance expense of new machines are prohibitive.

    Now while I don't know that much about lasers, I have opened the machines up, not saying they are simple nor should that they should be dirt cheap- but these things have been around for awhile and I have been told the the rods are only made by a few companies, bulbs are similar, the arm which which has many mirrors etc, can be sourced from korea.


    For example Picoway by Candela and Picosure by Cynosure are both around $150,000 dollar mark, and pico lasers have been around for awhile, once they come out of warranty they really depreciate. I have looked at Cynosure balance sheet and saw that they spend at least 35% of expenses on sales and marketing and when I search on Linkedin a good portion of their staff have nothing to do with making lasers: sales, sales, regional manager, human resources, bla bla bla.


    My rant this morning.
    Last edited by tprevia; 03-30-2023 at 15:23.

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    One word.

    Liability.
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    Six groups of words: 1. FDA 401K approval (License to make laser that is substantially equal to some one else's prior design)
    2. Patents
    3. FDA Good Manufacturing Processes rules and immense documentation. (actually a good thing for patient safety, but expensive)
    4. Cost of seven years of clinical testing
    5. Investor Greed
    6. Medical Marketing is not cheap, you need MDs and PHDs on your team to create peace of mind for the users. Think free vacations and seminars, booze and smooze, clinical papers proving efficacy, hot marketing chics, airfare, etc...

    James already got word 7 for you.

    Get caught importing and using a non-approved laser, expect to your life to be financially ruined forever. Have a non-approved laser fail during surgery, causes this effect as well. Your competitors will gladly turn you in, too.

    I will openly admit 300,000$ for a heavy steel explosion and body fluid proof box on wheels, designed to prevent electrical shock to a patient that contains a 22,000$ industrial laser made in Florida to tighter spex, is a bit steep.
    I understand your pain.

    ROD = 900-2000$ in quantity, flashlamp = 250$, lamp cap charger, 3000$, ceramic lamp cavity = 500$, two cavity optics at 400-700$ each, Q-switch another 2000$ in quantity. All parts have to undergo incoming testing at your facility, CE and UL, CSA, approval etc.

    Steve
    Last edited by mixedgas; 03-30-2023 at 13:51.
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    In other words, lasers in general are extremely dangerous and should only be used by competent people under perfectly reasonable regulations.

    They are not toys to be sold flagrantly to just anyone, like assault rifles.
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    Right up there with mixing SSRIs and Testosterone in the incredibly complex and emotional type xx body. Often results in a change of pronouns to was/were and loss of a precious soul. Much better to settle with just dressing and acting the part.

    "No man/woman is an island, entire of itself. Every man/woman is part of the continent, a bit of the main."

    Paraphrase of poem they made me learn in high school speech class. Poem has a point.

    Steve
    Last edited by mixedgas; 03-31-2023 at 08:13.
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    Pretty sure transgender women on antidepressants and hormone treatments isn't a good universal excuse for mass shooting incidents.

    However, they all seem to have one element that is insanely common and easily identified.
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    Dad won an original AR15 in a lottery at the rifle club like two decades ago. I sold it to a very responsible person to pay for his Healthcare in the Medicade spend down. I didn't understand what the attraction to that model is. Plastic everything, pain in the neck to clean and care for. Wasn't very accurate and lousy sights. Kicked like a mule. Even then it was a status symbol. It certainly was for Dad, who was normally very technical and practical in his choice of firearms.


    We have a much different society now. The Now, Now, Now, Me, Me, Me society that thinks they get an instant reset at potential ends of the game.

    Every work day for 17 out of the last 22 years I went to work, unarmed, in buildings generally open to the public, always with the attitude of but for the Grace of God go I. Working at an inner city university, I'd often have the odd ranting schizophrenic in the parking lot or homeless person trying to stay warm. I could actually engage in relationships with nearly everyone. I was not always perfectly safe, but I had a pretty solid expectation of going home.

    For the last four years things have really been going down hill. Vast amounts of me,me,me.. Vast amounts of infighting, and mental illness becoming an internal day to day thing.
    Everyone wants to argue and fight.
    Gaining consensus on even the smallest problem is now difficult.

    In the past I saw common sense prevail. Now it's all about agendas, most of which have nothing to do with higher learning. It is not just one generation either.

    I do not know how to fix this problem. I do know that failing to maintain moral standards and civility Is a big part of the problem. I really do not have time left in my life, to waste on cultural change for the sake of change. Leave your pronouns and disruptive ideologies at home. Come to school to learn.I'll treat you like a person to the best of my ability. Celebrate learning. Celebrate you in your own time.

    Catering to 0.002% of the population is worshiping a golden calf.

    There are plenty of subtle ways to be different. In fact doing it in a subtle way is more of a worthy challenge.

    Plenty of other ways to take a life. In the past it was things like cyanide in aspirin bottles.

    "However they all have one element in common that is easily identified"

    Yeah, That element is a personal identity crises that has resulted in mental illness.

    Steve
    Last edited by mixedgas; 03-31-2023 at 10:08.
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    The USA is not at all unique in having serious social problems with homelessness, angry minorities, or mental illness.

    What makes us unique is one single, poorly written, very ambiguous sentence.

    "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

    This was ratified on December 15, 1791, along with nine other articles of the Bill of Rights to our Constitution.

    If you want to consider its meaning from a literal point of view you have to understand the context in which it was written.

    "We" had just won our independence from England. The people who fought to win our independence and survived, were not too keen on any kind of government.

    The war was won quite literally by communities with "A well regulated Militia".

    The purpose of the Second Amendment is to imply that "We" are the government. We have the right to (continue to) defend our own homes and communities from any tyranny that threatens us from any invaders or any form of our own government gone rouge.

    That all made perfect sense when weapons of war were more or less indistinguishable from weapons for hunting.

    So, it actually means that we have the right to defend ourselves with muzzle loaded flint locks.

    It is simply not possible for us as individuals to match the weaponry of any country's military, certainly not our own.

    I can't buy a Black Hawk helicopter with rockets. I can't legally own hand grenades or fully automatic machine guns.

    So there already is a line.

    This makes the 2nd completely pointless.


    .
    Last edited by james; 03-31-2023 at 10:19.
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    Blackhawks are for sale as reconditioned surplus for business purposes. There is at least one in private pilot hands, but at 2000-3000$ an hour they are expensive to fly. In many ways not too different from the civil s-70 and s-76

    Unless you are a felon or have been adjudicated mentally ill by a court, you can go through the process, purchase a tax stamp, and buy a fully automatic rifle .Cost these days averages 20K$.

    You can buy 40 mm launchers with smoke, chalk, burst or in some cases CS rounds in many states. Mainly because they have about the same energy as a shotgun.

    The last thing I'd ever want to be shot with is a flint-lock rifle
    The ball or mini tumbles and zigzags in flight. it rips you to pieces.

    The question is what to do with the intense polarization in our nation.

    Steve
    Last edited by mixedgas; 03-31-2023 at 10:27.
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  10. #10
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    A group of people should not be able to stockpile weapons that are comparable to those of our own government.

    It doesn't go well.

    That's why there is a line.
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