If you remember a few days ago, I reused e-waste to install a network camera in a tree facing our lake, so my wife who can’t go out easily can watch the birds and the nature.
And early this morning, she saw this.
This camera is fabulous: it’s so sensitive in the dark, it captured the northern lights in vibrant colors! That really made her day and mine.
Certain industries like to pretend they sell “special” devices and are heavy on subscription models for gullible customers, and customers who think that’s just the way things are done because things are never done any other way, because the whole industry is kind of a giant scam in which all the actors are in on the scam.
Locksmithing and physical security are two such industries. In scammy industries like that, manufacturers refrain from providing MSRPs and never sell directly to the customers, because the scam involves distributors setting their own prices - more often than not with outrageous markups - and bundling crappy subscriptions with the devices, that you often can’t buy without the subscription. The unwritten rule is that the manufacturers only quote the distributors and never undercut them by selling direct.
This is a security camera. I don’t use it as such, but that’s what it is. I bought it from a security company at the price they quoted me, which may vary wildly from other resellers. I’ve seen those cameras sold for anything between $500 to over $1000, with the typical price being around $700.
If you want one, you’d better shop around to find the best deal.