jha13

The price of the sound module is not only determined by the hardware costs.
To design the hardware, to develop the firmware for it and the parameterization software require a lot of time.
A Dealer in Germany has to
- Pay 19% tax on each part sold
- Must offer 1 year warranty
- Must pay in advance for electronic assemblies to a recycling system
- who has to offer service
- and many more costs

Without Thomas Benedini, you wouldn't have a decent sound in your truck.
Anyone who buys copied parts shouldn't be surprised that at some point there will be no more developments....

Crius

Without Benedini I would simply use one of the other half dozen sound systems for RC trucks that are on the market. You can make him out to be a Chinese victim all you want to, the fact is that it's a competitive market and he simply didn't make it. Sad, but it happens every day. Life's not fair. Quit your whinging.

lposter

Benedini is not getting screwed by the Chinese. He's getting screwed by a portion of the rc tanks community.

The Chinese stole his platform and loaded it with a crap generic truck sound that couldn't be easily changed. The market for crap generic truck sounds that cannot be changed doesn't eat into Benedinis market at all.

Then a portion of the rc tank community showed how to illegally use Benedinis own software to modify the stolen hardware to add more sounds etc. And at that point Benedinis market is being eaten into.

It's not a hard concept to grasp. If Benedini had the resources, he would have sued.

If you demonstrate on the Web how to reverse engineer pirated Microsoft products to give them more functionality then you will be sued. And rightly so.

Benedini got screwed by the people who whinge about lack of products, lack of new items, etc.

Ironic don't you think?

lposter

Rc tanks is an expensive hobby. Get a better/second job. Quit your whinging about prices.

Crius

I understand the Chinese can be difficult to sue.

I don't really see many people complaining about lack of product or new items. I mean, in the last eight years more new stuff has come out than in the 50 years before that. I use the eight year scale because that's how long I've been in this hobby, but even that short time ago, my first tank had 27 mhz electronics, the only 1/16 truck was the asiatam opel blitz (which I bought and happily whinged about the price as I raced to get out the credit card), and I don't know of a single RC tanker that had a 3D printer back then. Expensive is relative, for some just surviving is expensive, and I'm not sure how things work in other parts of the world but here in Detroit whinging about prices is your God given right as a Murican. For all other whingin' there's a five dollar fine.

lposter

I reckon you are right about suing China. But if Benedini was of a litigious nature....there are other parties much nearer home he could have levelled his sights at with respect to use and distribution of his software for one.

It's a sign of how bad moderation is on other forums or how little they understand that they are willing to facilitate discussion of illegal use of software and encourage use of pirated products .

I'm guessing you know who I'm talking about.

Crius

Yes, I know, but I still have a great deal of respect for his talent and abilities, the same way I have a great deal of respect for yours. I'm not sure if we'll ever totally agree on economics, but this is, after all, a hobby forum and most of us come here to learn from the talent and skill of our fellow hobbyists. You've contributed greatly in that aspect and I would never want to look at you as a foe so I hope we can disagree here but still get on well when it comes to the main point, the models. And something else I thought I should point out is that I am well aware that RC Tanks are an expensive hobby, but trucks are different, Yes, if you get into Tammy 1/14 or HG 1/12 it gets expensive, but WPL and JJRC are ridiculously cheap, and that's part of the attraction for me. I enjoy taking a cheap toy and trying to make it into a seriously cool scale model while spending the very least amount of money possible. If you think about it, that can require some serious innovation and ingenuity, and that's the part that I really like. That's right, I can figger it out! It also requires some planning. The servos I use go for about $10 each, but I wait til they're on sale for $4.99 and buy ten of them. Same thing with radios, the flysky 3ch pistol grip goes for about $40 to $45 w/rx but you sometimes see them on ebay for $29.99 with free shipping. Last time I saw that I bought four of them. I really get a kick out of taking a $60 toy and turning it into a decent hobby-grade model while spending the absolute minimum of money.

So while it's a shame what happened with Thomas, it seems to be the way of the world. We used to have a hobby shop chain here called Ryder's, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan with 17 or 18 stores throughout Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, but they've been totally gone for at least five years, murdered by the internet. Even Toys R Us couldn't keep up and went under. All I can advise is to do what you can, where and when you can, and try not to stress about the rest of it. But if you just want something to stress about, ask me about what we're doing to the orangutans. And the tigers and leopards and lions and cheetahs and elephants and chimpanzees and gorillas and on and on and on and on. When you look at stuff like that it makes our hobby stuff seem just a bit less important, ya know? At least it does for me.

jha13

Yes, absolutely right!

Crius

Again, RC tanks are indeed expensive, trucks are different. Try to keep up, eh?

Tanque

The thing with Thomas is when you buy his products he supports you and gives you a special id and pwd to have access to his resources there.

When I had told him that I wanted to use his minis for my 1/10 scale Kaelble Z6W2A 130 trucks he picked an appropriate diesel sound
for me and loaded it to the units I purchased.

Perhaps my view of cost or rather value has changed since I started my time with RC. I've never been one to pass up a bargain or great
deal but the other side of that is I will pay what someone wants for their product if I feel the entire product+support+reliability/reputation package
will justify it. I will not purchase a product that infringes on the property rights of others.

As an addendum to the saga of my time making and selling original cast parts. There was a group of guys, names unimportant who when they saw
my pattern work said "Give us your patterns and we'll make them part of our product but we'll cast enough for you also". I had to pinch myself to
see If I'd somehow I'd just arrived from Stupidville, USA.... I politely said naahhh. To these same guys, who will remain unnamed I foolishly gave
a copy of of a 1/10 scale Sherman M4A1 upper hull (essentially a copy of my pattern) for their own use. I later came to find that copies bearing their company name were showing up in Europe and even a good friend in Texas has one that he purchased from these guys....Jerry didn't get a cent...

So yeah I won't copy someone else's work nor will I knowingly buy illegal copies.

Jerry

jha13

Hi Jerry,
true words - thank you.

BcuriousR

I can't count the number of times I've created a graphic design or logo, only to see it appear on shirts, advertisements, or other print material without my approval or recognition. Or, artwork that I've displayed in galleries or shows only be mimicked or cloned by others. The internet has made any original work difficult to protect. Sometimes, when something is new to them (tank/truck electronics for instance), people just don't know any better. But with experience comes knowledge. I periodically look at my bins of parts and feel a bit of guilt. Often times, original work has been so diluted by copies and time, it can be hard to know where it all began.