Yea, well, it looks funny, but 500 dollars? For real? I can't see the electronics being too complex, and the mechanical part is probably easy as ever. So it's a way too expensive gadget.
Especially considering you can achieve the same experience with cheaper timelocks, I'm sure.
I personally would give about 100-150 dollars max. Not 500.
Also how does it check time? Does it have integrated memory chip, and if so, what happens if a baterry is dead? What kind of components does it use for 500 dollars?
Like, you know, let's face it:
1) Base from high-quality plastic or even metal - about 20 dollars at max.
2) Roof seems to be plastic or, in best case, armoured military-type "glass". About 20-30 dollars at max, and as low as 5 dollars for just a good plastic.
3) Locking mechanism - can't be too complex but safe. I'd say 10 dollars.
4) Electronics, including USB interface, flash memory (probably), some kind of a simple BIOS chip to keep track of time, powered by a baterry - like 5-10 dollars too
5) Software, incl internal driver and PC software with settings - looks like something done in 2 days time, and can't be really expensive.
OK, worst case it's 100 dollars to produce (although mass-prducing something like that is way cheaper). The rest is company interest which is way too high to pay, although I can see why it's so big on such a limited market.
