Getting into and out of streamliner recumbents

On 4/19/2017 5:54 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:

I think that Andrew's shop; is not your average small b icycle shop. The smaller shops simply can NOT afford to have a lot of money tied up in inverntory that doesn't move very fast or move at all.

Unfortunately not having a lot of stuff on hand can be a liability too if the shop has to order it. A lot of timesthe customer simply orders the stuff online and has it delivered to their home or place of work.

I've enjoyed a couple visits to this shop in Pittsburgh:
http://www.post-gazette.com/business...s/201610270246

It's in an ancient narrow building, incredibly cluttered. At the back
of the main floor are workstations where people are doing their own bike
repairs. There are drawers and drawers of bike parts of all vintages.
Super-narrow stairs (they MUST be code violations!) take you up one
floor, then up another, through I-forget-how-many floors. Small rooms
contain just all sorts of stuff - dozens of NOS bike frames, posters,
water bottles, once-fashionable accessories.

This shop has lots of inventory that I'm sure nobody would ever buy.
But it sounds like his real estate cost is near zero, and I suspect this
shop has been exactly what he wants to do with all his time.

BTW, when I built up my custom frame, retro-tech 3 speed, none of the
three forks I happened to have on hand would fit. I bought a fork from
Kraynick's. I think it cost me $7.


--
- Frank Krygowski

On 4/19/2017 9:52 PM, John B Slocomb wrote:
On Wed, 19 Apr 2017 14:54:20 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot
wrote:
On Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 4:55:55 PM UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 4/19/2017 3:37 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 11:13:07 AM UTC-4, Joerg wrote:
On 2017-04-18 20:04, John B Slocomb wrote:

Snipped
-more snip-

But of course there are what might be called "no inventory", or
"service" businesses. The kid with the snow shovel that comes around
after the big snow storm. "Shovel you driver way, sir?" A very limited
inventory - his dad's shovel. :-)

I'm not an expert on Thai tax and accounting practices but
in most of the world a snow shoveler's snow shovel is 'tools
and fixtures' and expenseable if worn out within some
shortish period. A large number of snow shovels or an
exceptionally durable snow shovel is magically proclaimed a
depreciable asset with a short or long schedule assigned.
Can't be inventory in any case.



--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 2:50:46 PM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
On 4/19/2017 3:55 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 4/19/2017 3:37 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 11:13:07 AM UTC-4, Joerg
wrote:
On 2017-04-18 20:04, John B Slocomb wrote:
Snipped
Exactly. It costs money to maintain inventory. Something
Joerg doesn't
seem to realize. If it doesn't move then have a sale and
get rid of it
(hopefully at the wholesale cost) and stock something
that does sell.


That is the philosophy of a simple sales guy or a
short-sighted bean
counter. They come and go and nobody remembers them anymore.

I run a successful business for decades and my philosophy
is different.
Customer service is key. A bean counter would tell me
that it does not
make sense to keep lab equipment like a logic analyzer or
stock of rare
long leadtime electronics parts that I won't need for
years. The proof
that their philosophy is poor came once again two weeks
ago. A client
had a line-stop in production because units started to
fail final
testing, a nightmare for the executives at a
manufacturer. Using that
analyzer and some parts allowed me to find the root cause
very quickly
instead of weeks later after some long-leadtime parts are
finally
delivered here.

The bike shop owner where I bought my MTB shares that
philosophy, else I
would have bought it online for $100 less. When the
saddle broke he had
a nice WTB saddle in stock. It's been there for many
months, I could
quickly try it out and next day I could ride again. That
was not a
profitable item for him. However, I steered two people to
him to buy
bicycles there and he does not sell cheap low-margin
bikes. That is what
I call a successful business strategy.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Many brick and mortar bicycle shops are NOT in areas that
have enough bicyclists forthe shop to try and stock every
little thing someone MIGHT need. Attempting to dod so can
result in too much UNSOLD/NON_MOVING stock which can lead
to bankruptcy and/or closure due to not being able to meet
the bills. Inventory costs money and if it's not moving
then the shop has a lot of money tierd up in useless to
them stock. Far better to get rid of that stock and carry
something that does sell. Don't forget that shops are now
competing with online ordering which means they are even
less likely to have a lot of things as stock items.

The rule of inventory is that the one item you DON'T have
is the one a customer wants.

I don't think Joerg understands a lot about bicycles or
bicycle shop operation.

Andrew hasn't commented on inventory, has he?

Seems to me his marketing plan is far different from the
shops that cater to whatever is advertised this month.



I did comment. I was the one who noted that dead or slow
items can't justify their shelf space against ROI.

That said, a shop not far from me:
https://hostelshoppe.com/

stocks things your average bike shop wouldn't touch. And he
sells healthy numbers too. He's an expert in his specialty
field, an industry in some ways similar to but in some ways
very different from my own.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

The problem with this is that you drive your customers to buy on line and that's a habit that's hard to break. Since you don't move many of this or that you have to charge a great deal more for it than they can get on-line.

On Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 2:54:21 PM UTC-7, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 4:55:55 PM UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 4/19/2017 3:37 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 11:13:07 AM UTC-4, Joerg wrote:
On 2017-04-18 20:04, John B Slocomb wrote:
Snipped
Exactly. It costs money to maintain inventory. Something Joerg doesn't
seem to realize. If it doesn't move then have a sale and get rid of it
(hopefully at the wholesale cost) and stock something that does sell.


That is the philosophy of a simple sales guy or a short-sighted bean
counter. They come and go and nobody remembers them anymore.

I run a successful business for decades and my philosophy is different.

On Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 7:52:22 PM UTC-7, John B Slocomb wrote:
On Wed, 19 Apr 2017 14:54:20 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot
wrote:

On Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 4:55:55 PM UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 4/19/2017 3:37 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 11:13:07 AM UTC-4, Joerg wrote:
On 2017-04-18 20:04, John B Slocomb wrote:
Snipped
Exactly. It costs money to maintain inventory. Something Joerg doesn't
seem to realize. If it doesn't move then have a sale and get rid of it
(hopefully at the wholesale cost) and stock something that does sell.


That is the philosophy of a simple sales guy or a short-sighted bean
counter. They come and go and nobody remembers them anymore.

I run a successful business for decades and my philosophy is different.
Customer service is key. A bean counter would tell me that it does not
make sense to keep lab equipment like a logic analyzer or stock of rare
long leadtime electronics parts that I won't need for years. The proof
that their philosophy is poor came once again two weeks ago. A client
had a line-stop in production because units started to fail final
testing, a nightmare for the executives at a manufacturer. Using that
analyzer and some parts allowed me to find the root cause very quickly
instead of weeks later after some long-leadtime parts are finally
delivered here.

The bike shop owner where I bought my MTB shares that philosophy, else I
would have bought it online for $100 less. When the saddle broke he had
a nice WTB saddle in stock. It's been there for many months, I could
quickly try it out and next day I could ride again. That was not a
profitable item for him. However, I steered two people to him to buy
bicycles there and he does not sell cheap low-margin bikes. That is what
I call a successful business strategy.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Many brick and mortar bicycle shops are NOT in areas that have enough bicyclists forthe shop to try and stock every little thing someone MIGHT need. Attempting to dod so can result in too much UNSOLD/NON_MOVING stock which can lead to bankruptcy and/or closure due to not being able to meet the bills. Inventory costs money and if it's not moving then the shop has a lot of money tierd up in useless to them stock. Far better to get rid of that stock and carry something that does sell. Don't forget that shops are now competing with online ordering which means they are even less likely to have a lot of things as stock items.

The rule of inventory is that the one item you DON'T have is the one a customer wants.

I don't think Joerg understands a lot about bicycles or bicycle shop operation.

Andrew hasn't commented on inventory, has he?

Seems to me his marketing plan is far different from the shops that
cater to whatever is advertised this month.


--
- Frank Krygowski

I think that Andrew's shop; is not your average small b icycle shop. The smaller shops simply can NOT afford to have a lot of money tied up in inverntory that doesn't move very fast or move at all.

Unfortunately not having a lot of stuff on hand can be a liability too if the shop has to order it. A lot of timesthe customer simply orders the stuff online and has it delivered to their home or place of work.

There's a shop here in town that's pretty good but is 26 kilometers away from where I am. If I go there and they don't have what I want it's about a week for them to get it IF their supplier has it. Meantime I can order the thing online and have delivered to me and avoid a 52 kilometers long ride through town to pick up the I ordered things from the bike shop. Maybe this is why the one shop closed and another changes owners every few years? These shops are just to small to stock everything or even most things bicyclsits might want.

Cheers

My LBS, in Bangkok, is probably the largest bike shop(s) in the city
and have been pretty much since the guy started the business. They
stock what sells. Their stock is computerized and they know that
"these items" they haven't sold in a year and "those items" they are
selling 10 a day. They simply don't re-order any more "These items".

The Shimano agent in Bangkok doesn't stock wheel parts, rims, spokes,
hubs, any more. I asked him why and he tells me ":nobody buys that
kind of stuff any more".

Both the Shimano dealer and my LBS have been in business for quite a
while and from the real estate they are sitting on pretty successful.

But of course there are what might be called "no inventory", or
"service" businesses. The kid with the snow shovel that comes around
after the big snow storm. "Shovel you driver way, sir?" A very limited
inventory - his dad's shovel. :-)

Campy doesn't even MAKE any more wheel parts after a particular wheel is discontinued.

On 2017-04-19 19:52, John B Slocomb wrote:
On Wed, 19 Apr 2017 08:13:12 -0700, Joerg
wrote:

On 2017-04-18 20:04, John B Slocomb wrote:
On Tue, 18 Apr 2017 07:40:56 -0500, AMuzi wrote:

On 4/17/2017 10:29 PM, John B Slocomb wrote:
On Mon, 17 Apr 2017 13:06:01 -0700, Joerg
wrote:

On 2017-04-17 11:06, wrote:
On Monday, April 17, 2017 at 11:01:04 AM UTC-7,
wrote:

[...]

Though this is maybe just a idea at this point. The streamliners I
have seen on the Internet are built around more or less normal
recumbents so you have twice the necessary weight and
re-enforcement.


I have seen some on the bike trails that just have a clear plastic
deflector at the front. It is aerodynamically shaped but I don't know
how close that ride will come to a real streamliner in performance.
Probably not very but the rider won't sweat so much in summer so will
have more available energy.

Way back when, road racing motorcycles first used a rather small
fairing on the front which did, I believe, improve performance as they
very rapidly increased the size and coverage.

To be honest, I've always wondered why a fairing wasn't more common on
bicycles. It would be light and certainly small changes in drag is
very significant on a bicycle.


Well, it's not as if they don't exist:
http://www.zzipper.com/

and with a long history of 'prior art' too:
http://www.poziome.republika.pl/historia_obrazki.htm

But then again, just like your tin of alcohol, slow moving
items reduce ROI and so get no shelf space.

Exactly. It costs money to maintain inventory. Something Joerg doesn't
seem to realize. If it doesn't move then have a sale and get rid of it
(hopefully at the wholesale cost) and stock something that does sell.


That is the philosophy of a simple sales guy or a short-sighted bean
counter. They come and go and nobody remembers them anymore.


You talk below about all the service that you give yadda, yadda. But
did you have, oh say, $100,000 in inventory laying in the warehouse,
gathering dust? And maybe a, oh say, $75,000 credit line at the
bank.... which they were rather interested in you repaying in a timely
manner


Pretty much. When you do work in analog electronics and want to provide
really good service that is almost inevitable. Now this is all quite old
but it has brought steady business. Which was the goal. Programmers have
it easier because they just need a PC but, therefore, they also have a
lot more competition.

The downside is that now that the stuff is really older and there is
hardly a market for it I may not be able to sell it. However, the ROI on
it was great. I have already donated some of it, hoping there will be
engineers who step in when us guys leave planet earth some day.


To be frank, if you view economics as some sort of a short sighted
bean counter sort of thing then one of two things. One you simply
don't know what you are talking about, or two, you are some sort of
wage slave who shows up at nine in the morning and leaves at five in
the afternoon and queues up for his pay on Friday.


Both wrong. If you head read more carefully what I wrote you'd know that
I ran a successful business for decades.


Or maybe you are going to tell us that you operate out of your hip
pocket and pay cash for all your business transactions? You must
either be exceedingly rich or exceedingly small time.


Neither. I made a calculated decision about 30 years ago and that turned
out to be a good decision. Yes, it was tough back then. However, my
business was steady and didn't come and go like cheapskate sales outlets.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On Thursday, April 20, 2017 at 8:05:34 AM UTC-7, wrote:

snip

I did comment. I was the one who noted that dead or slow
items can't justify their shelf space against ROI.

That said, a shop not far from me:
https://hostelshoppe.com/

stocks things your average bike shop wouldn't touch. And he
sells healthy numbers too. He's an expert in his specialty
field, an industry in some ways similar to but in some ways
very different from my own.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

The problem with this is that you drive your customers to buy on line and that's a habit that's hard to break. Since you don't move many of this or that you have to charge a great deal more for it than they can get on-line.

That is true, but then again, all shops cannot be all things to all people. In Portland, we have a lot of bike shops. https://www.portlandoregon.gov/trans.../article/71973 (doesn't list Western Bikeworks second location or the multiple REI and Performance locations). Many of them specialize. We have a recumbent shop, a "commuter" shop, a Bohemian bike shop with a bazillion Bromptons. http://clevercycles.com/bicycles/folding Much of what you see over at Clever Cycles isn't even available on line in the US.

Anyway, what is dead stock in one store may move elsewhere in town, and customers generally know that or should know that. Sales people in one Portland store often refer customers to another store for oddball items like dyno lights or leather bags, tweed saddles, etc., etc.

The internet is more a problem for sellers who do have the stock but get under-priced. Wholesale pricing through QBP for some parts can be higher than retail from PBK, particularly when it comes to Shimano parts. Some of my LBSs are internet sellers and will price match, but they can take the loss/low margin only because they move so much volume on line. Small shops can't do that.

-- Jay Beattie.

On Thu, 20 Apr 2017 08:12:29 -0700, Joerg
wrote:

On 2017-04-19 19:52, John B Slocomb wrote:
On Wed, 19 Apr 2017 08:13:12 -0700, Joerg
wrote:

On 2017-04-18 20:04, John B Slocomb wrote:
On Tue, 18 Apr 2017 07:40:56 -0500, AMuzi wrote:

On 4/17/2017 10:29 PM, John B Slocomb wrote:
On Mon, 17 Apr 2017 13:06:01 -0700, Joerg
wrote:

On 2017-04-17 11:06, wrote:
On Monday, April 17, 2017 at 11:01:04 AM UTC-7,
wrote:

[...]

Though this is maybe just a idea at this point. The streamliners I
have seen on the Internet are built around more or less normal
recumbents so you have twice the necessary weight and
re-enforcement.


I have seen some on the bike trails that just have a clear plastic
deflector at the front. It is aerodynamically shaped but I don't know
how close that ride will come to a real streamliner in performance.
Probably not very but the rider won't sweat so much in summer so will
have more available energy.

Way back when, road racing motorcycles first used a rather small
fairing on the front which did, I believe, improve performance as they
very rapidly increased the size and coverage.

To be honest, I've always wondered why a fairing wasn't more common on
bicycles. It would be light and certainly small changes in drag is
very significant on a bicycle.


Well, it's not as if they don't exist:
http://www.zzipper.com/

and with a long history of 'prior art' too:
http://www.poziome.republika.pl/historia_obrazki.htm

But then again, just like your tin of alcohol, slow moving
items reduce ROI and so get no shelf space.

Exactly. It costs money to maintain inventory. Something Joerg doesn't
seem to realize. If it doesn't move then have a sale and get rid of it
(hopefully at the wholesale cost) and stock something that does sell.


That is the philosophy of a simple sales guy or a short-sighted bean
counter. They come and go and nobody remembers them anymore.


You talk below about all the service that you give yadda, yadda. But
did you have, oh say, $100,000 in inventory laying in the warehouse,
gathering dust? And maybe a, oh say, $75,000 credit line at the
bank.... which they were rather interested in you repaying in a timely
manner


Pretty much. When you do work in analog electronics and want to provide
really good service that is almost inevitable. Now this is all quite old
but it has brought steady business. Which was the goal. Programmers have
it easier because they just need a PC but, therefore, they also have a
lot more competition.

The downside is that now that the stuff is really older and there is
hardly a market for it I may not be able to sell it. However, the ROI on
it was great. I have already donated some of it, hoping there will be
engineers who step in when us guys leave planet earth some day.


To be frank, if you view economics as some sort of a short sighted
bean counter sort of thing then one of two things. One you simply
don't know what you are talking about, or two, you are some sort of
wage slave who shows up at nine in the morning and leaves at five in
the afternoon and queues up for his pay on Friday.


Both wrong. If you head read more carefully what I wrote you'd know that
I ran a successful business for decades.


Or maybe you are going to tell us that you operate out of your hip
pocket and pay cash for all your business transactions? You must
either be exceedingly rich or exceedingly small time.


Neither. I made a calculated decision about 30 years ago and that turned
out to be a good decision. Yes, it was tough back then. However, my
business was steady and didn't come and go like cheapskate sales outlet

"Business" is a very flexible word but essentially means (more or less
) the activity of providing goods and services in return for pay.

Thus, you are in the business of providing a service in return for
payment. A store is in the business of providing material objects in
return for payment.

The difference is that the Serviceman needs only the equipment
necessary to accomplish the task he is hired to do. The kid next door
and his snow shovel in one discussion. The Storekeeper on the other
hand has to purchase and store everything that he plans to sell.

Thus the Serviceman with his limited inventory of equipment that
usually remain useful for a long periods of time is not normally
concerned with inventory although I remember electronics shops turning
down jobs because it would require buying test instruments that they
did not normally use.

The Storekeeper, on the other hand, can only receive payment for
material that he has previously purchased and stored in his warehouse,
and that material is costing him money either in interest payment if
he borrowed the money to purchase the goods or in lost interest if he
had to take the money out of the bank to pay for it.

As for service. Well, you undoubtedly own some sort of volt meter. Are
you prepared, to drive to Oakland to determine whether the batteries
in someone's flashlight should be changed? And charge a fee
commensurate with the service? Probably not, so you are not prepared
to provide every service.

As the stocking of inventory actually does cost the Storekeeper money
management of inventory becomes a (sometimes) critical factor in his
ability to remain in business. This is important enough the innovative
Japanese companies developed the "zero inventory" systems where
warehouse inventory is limited to only a few days usage.

In short, your scheme of a storekeeper that has every nut, bolt and
washer, for every bicycle every sold in the U.S. is impossible just as
it is impossible that you will drive to Oakland to check the batteries
in someone's flashlight.

On Thu, 20 Apr 2017 07:46:22 -0500, AMuzi wrote:

On 4/19/2017 9:52 PM, John B Slocomb wrote:
On Wed, 19 Apr 2017 14:54:20 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot
wrote:
On Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 4:55:55 PM UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 4/19/2017 3:37 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 11:13:07 AM UTC-4, Joerg wrote:
On 2017-04-18 20:04, John B Slocomb wrote:

Snipped
-more snip-

But of course there are what might be called "no inventory", or
"service" businesses. The kid with the snow shovel that comes around
after the big snow storm. "Shovel you driver way, sir?" A very limited
inventory - his dad's shovel. :-)

I'm not an expert on Thai tax and accounting practices but
in most of the world a snow shoveler's snow shovel is 'tools
and fixtures' and expenseable if worn out within some
shortish period. A large number of snow shovels or an
exceptionally durable snow shovel is magically proclaimed a
depreciable asset with a short or long schedule assigned.
Can't be inventory in any case.

Not too many Thais here shoveling snow :-)

Equipment can usually be viewed as expendable and depreciated over a
reasonable lifetime but on the other hand it might be viewed as an
asset if it was necessary to perform some task. No shovel, no job :-)

I suspect that an oversupply of shovels, stored in the warehouse,
would be considered as stock in hand and would be considered a an
asset until such time as it snows.

On Thursday, April 20, 2017 at 8:12:26 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2017-04-19 19:52, John B Slocomb wrote:
On Wed, 19 Apr 2017 08:13:12 -0700, Joerg
wrote:

On 2017-04-18 20:04, John B Slocomb wrote:
On Tue, 18 Apr 2017 07:40:56 -0500, AMuzi wrote:

On 4/17/2017 10:29 PM, John B Slocomb wrote:
On Mon, 17 Apr 2017 13:06:01 -0700, Joerg
wrote:

On 2017-04-17 11:06, wrote:
On Monday, April 17, 2017 at 11:01:04 AM UTC-7,
wrote:

[...]

Though this is maybe just a idea at this point. The streamliners I
have seen on the Internet are built around more or less normal
recumbents so you have twice the necessary weight and
re-enforcement.


I have seen some on the bike trails that just have a clear plastic
deflector at the front. It is aerodynamically shaped but I don't know
how close that ride will come to a real streamliner in performance..
Probably not very but the rider won't sweat so much in summer so will
have more available energy.

Way back when, road racing motorcycles first used a rather small
fairing on the front which did, I believe, improve performance as they
very rapidly increased the size and coverage.

To be honest, I've always wondered why a fairing wasn't more common on
bicycles. It would be light and certainly small changes in drag is
very significant on a bicycle.


Well, it's not as if they don't exist:
http://www.zzipper.com/

and with a long history of 'prior art' too:
http://www.poziome.republika.pl/historia_obrazki.htm

But then again, just like your tin of alcohol, slow moving
items reduce ROI and so get no shelf space.

Exactly. It costs money to maintain inventory. Something Joerg doesn't
seem to realize. If it doesn't move then have a sale and get rid of it
(hopefully at the wholesale cost) and stock something that does sell.


That is the philosophy of a simple sales guy or a short-sighted bean
counter. They come and go and nobody remembers them anymore.


You talk below about all the service that you give yadda, yadda. But
did you have, oh say, $100,000 in inventory laying in the warehouse,
gathering dust? And maybe a, oh say, $75,000 credit line at the
bank.... which they were rather interested in you repaying in a timely
manner


Pretty much. When you do work in analog electronics and want to provide
really good service that is almost inevitable. Now this is all quite old
but it has brought steady business. Which was the goal. Programmers have
it easier because they just need a PC but, therefore, they also have a
lot more competition.

The downside is that now that the stuff is really older and there is
hardly a market for it I may not be able to sell it. However, the ROI on
it was great. I have already donated some of it, hoping there will be
engineers who step in when us guys leave planet earth some day.


To be frank, if you view economics as some sort of a short sighted
bean counter sort of thing then one of two things. One you simply
don't know what you are talking about, or two, you are some sort of
wage slave who shows up at nine in the morning and leaves at five in
the afternoon and queues up for his pay on Friday.


Both wrong. If you head read more carefully what I wrote you'd know that
I ran a successful business for decades.


Or maybe you are going to tell us that you operate out of your hip
pocket and pay cash for all your business transactions? You must
either be exceedingly rich or exceedingly small time.


Neither. I made a calculated decision about 30 years ago and that turned
out to be a good decision. Yes, it was tough back then. However, my
business was steady and didn't come and go like cheapskate sales outlets.

Joerg - analog designers are rare. I know exactly one of them after 50 years in the business. Charley Butten. He won an Emmy in 2014 I believe for his work on sound systems that wouldn't return echoes on outdoor venues for the wild bands of the 70's and 80's.

So if you're a good analog designer it's no wonder that you've had steady employment.

I'm an embedded system designer and programmer. They have a LOT of people that claim to be such but hardly anyone that actually knows what they are doing. But they make up for it by using 10 times the power to do the same work I would. That is why there are so many people around today that appear to be successful.