You want to know why anything branded and discovered via R&D is so expensive when first put out on the market compared to generics and such? It all has to do with the cost of discovery. And what does this have to do with fishing?
You've seen the certified scale I'm using for weighing anything of size that I catch. But accuracy of counting the total catch is something I like to do also. You start getting into one of those 30 or 40 or even 50 bass days, it's very easy to lose count of just how many fish you really are catching. Not that it really matters that much, but it's just another one of those things record keeping-wise that I like to have documented accurately. This is especially the case when it comes to fish in numbers, like schools of crapppie, white bass or bluegill.
Anyway, I use a simple field counter that can be purchased from several places. You'll see it hanging from my neck in many of the fish pics posted, or at least the lanyard that it is attached to. What prompted this post is my finding this particular counter just this week in my new Bass Pro 2007 Fishing Master catalog. It is a new item they just started carrying called the Mr. Crappie Fish Counter. It can be yours for the incredibly low price of just $3.99, and I strongly recommend one if you like keeping track of this type of thing.
Back to the quick reference I mentioned about the cost of R&D. You can also purchase a counter referred to as a Tally Meter from Ben Meadows, an outdoor/environmental supply house where I also purchased my scale from for $11.40 for 1-4 of these. Or if you really want to, you could go to Fisher Scientific and purchase their brand name counter for $32.84 each. So with just a brief look around the Internet at 3 different shops you see why the cost of R&D is so expensive. We're talking a 723% mark-up, and this is just a single little counter that we have half a dozen of in use just in my department alone. Now multiply this out to include everything from trash bags to lab ware, plus the cost of employing all the people actually doing the work, and you'll have a good idea of why the price to recoup your investment and make a little profit on the side is so steep on these "branded" biological products.
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