Le Chaud Lapin wrote:

It's a catch 22. Market would probably increase dramatically if, say,
prices for electronics were cut in half. But as someone else pointed
out, it would have to be an industry-wide change in attitude, not a
little tweak here and there. Manufacturers would have to take it on
faith, for example, that if they were to make a reasonably-priced USB-
based OEM altimeter unit, it would find its place in an overall
system.



Apple sold 1.8 million Macs in the first quarter of 2007. There are only
245,000 aircraft registered in the US. So if an item were sold and installed
in every single aircraft registered in the US you would still be shy by 1.55
milion as compared to the freaking Mac.

You really need to understand how small the market really is.


Those building experimental aircraft could lead the way by building an
entire system based on commodity components, as many as possible, and
maintaining a record of costs, etc. The resulting system would likely
not be something for mass market, but it would be a start.

-Le Chaud Lapin-

We could but we also like the safety of having things we are pretty damn
sure are going to work in flight. Most of us use AN bolts and aviation grade
parts for just that reason. I could save a ton by going to Home Depot and
buying bolds there. But I'm not going to.