cost of charts

[michael_99]

Today, I asked in a shop about the price of a NAVMAN car navigatior complete with maps of Australia, the hole lot, and it was $800, maps and all.
My question is, why do we have to pay so much for charts of water, when land charts is given away.Are they not both fonded by the taxpayer?
I think, that many of the thing we are feighting, should we fought in the anti-discrimination court.
No parking fee for cars, no anchor fee. The list goes on.
Come on, lets all speak up before is to late. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[Talbot]

I totally agree with you, however there are arguments in favour of the opposite approach. USA takes the enlightened view that US citizens have already paid for the data so should not have to pay again, however most other countries rely to some extent on data from foreign countries, for which they have to pay royalties. The funds also help to cover development of other facilities.

Still a lot of money which I would rather spend elsewhere!

 

[MarkJohnson12345]

Charts, maps, computers, are much the same.

Costs millions of pounds to produce the first one, number two and the rest are just printing - manufacturing costs.

What about a system where they sold the first for ten million quid, and wouldn't sell the second for 50p until someone had bought the first.

But of course charts and mapping are constantly updated, and as technology moves on the different formats require more work.

Advent of GPS made a huge amount of work as mapping could then be updated from the older surveying methods.

If you think its expensive to buy a chart, try sailing without one!!

(PS I am a surveyor....)

Keep smiling

MJ

 

[aidancoughlan]

I'm just starting to realise the cost of paper charts, and the number of the damn things I will have to buy (over time) as I start to cruise further afield, so I'm sympathetic to the cost issue.

While it's painfull to have to cough up though, I presume it's a reality governed by market forces - the cost of production is high as stated above, and this is balanced against the market size. Land 'charts' are presumably easier to survey and there is a significantly larger user base to pay for them.

ps. There was a thread very recently about low cost charts (based on charts that are slightly out of date I think)... here it is in case it is of use.
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showflat.php?C...true#Post686720

 

[Superstrath]

Small Market

[ QUOTE ]
I presume it's a reality governed by market forces - the cost of production is high as stated above, and this is balanced against the market size. Land 'charts' are presumably easier to survey and there is a significantly larger user base to pay for them.

[/ QUOTE ]
I think that must be right. I used to manage (and correct) world-wide portfolios on merchant ships, and sometimes you would look at a chart or a correction and wonder that anybody had bothered to map it at all. I suppose paying seventeen quid for a chart of some atoll in the South Pacific represents a bargain, really. Some of the print runs must be tiny. I do get annoyed when you get a reprint issued for "Datum" reasons, though.

Alistair

 

[Ships_Cat]

Here in NZ right next door to you, charts are sold at the cost of distribution only along the lines of the reasons that Talbot mentions for USA.

Not such a big saving on paper charts (around NZD20 each) due to the costs of storage, correction of stocks, etc but the full set of all the official NZ electronic charts is only around NZD60 ex retailers. That includes a number of the Pacific Islands plus the small scale INT charts for the whole of the Pacific region.

John