Crystallographic Nexus, Virtual Internet on CD-ROM Talk: ECM-18, August 1998, Prague, Czech Republic, l.cranswick@dl.ac.uk, http://www.ccp14.ac.uk/, http://www.unige.ch/crystal/stxnews/nexus/index.htm
E-mail: l.cranswick@dl.ac.uk - Index | Previous | Next

Production Time and Production Costs

Production Time/Cost June 1996 June 1997 June 1998
Writable CD
A$15
~A$9
A$3 - A$4
(US$1 to US$2)
Padded Envelopes
~A$1
~A$1
~A$1
Air-mail
~A$5
~A$5
~A$5
Setup Time to Write CD
1.5 hours
0.75 hours
0.5 to 0.75 hours
Time Writing each CD
50 minutes to 1.5 hours
25 minutes to 50 minutes
15 minutes to 45 minutes

Obviously at a good Research institute or University Internet link, things would go much faster and easier. Creating updates using the CCP14 automirror can put hours of download into minutes.

However this type of project can be done from a home PC using 28,800 serial modem and telephone system. The limiting factor for downloading files off the internet is usually the international/national links, not the local modem. (CD writers used to be very finicky to use (June 1997)) As of June 1998, using Adaptec Easy CD Creator (http://www.adaptec.com), using writable CDs are pretty much a piece of cake. CD-Writers that

CD-ROMs can be manufactured for less than US$0.50 to US$1.00; but only if done in volume

In small volume -> Commercial Cost ~US$15 - US$50

E-mail: l.cranswick@dl.ac.uk - Index | Previous | Next