I mean, it wouldn't take that much work to manufacture some nice, three foot long speaker cables that would retail at a $300,000 price point. And Beverly Hills and Brentwood are right there!

We could say they were artisinally hand crafted by a hipster in Silver Lake. I'd even wear flip-flops and drink PBR while I was doing it.

Jumper cables, strip off the jacketing, slide fancy jacketing over copper, and figure out how to get a connector on there that can fit in stereos and speakers. That much copper will surely make audiophiles jump for joy. After that, it's all about marketing.

I'd even wear flip-flops and drink PBR while I was doing it.

The sacrifices one must make for grifting art....

Or you could have someone weave organically grown cotton fibers around the outside - charge for the hand crafting. (wouldn't that be a good project for some kids in summer camp?)

Only because I started talking about it here. So, my father doesn't want used or refurb'd laptop, for fear it will break faster. Fine. No problem. I offered to buy through my university, to save him a couple bucks. He asked if I could send him a catalog with the various models explained... a wha? Catalog? Um. Dad, I don't think they do those anymore. By the time it's printed, a new model with different spec's comes out. They just send you to the website. Of course, at this time, he doesn't have internet, so going to the website isn't an option.

Oy. .

It sounds like it will be a tough sell, but Mac refurbs aren't "used", and they've been through QC twice. They're frequently in better shape than just new ones. Mac refurbs are a good, solid buy, and if he's refusing to buy a Mac refurb because he's getting hung up on the word "refurb", he's making an unsound decision. Like to the point that you should just buy one for him, lie to him and say it's new.

Sean, I tried to explain it. Most units are "oh, I don't like it" and checked over with a fine tooth comb. I'm Thinking about doing just what you said. If he tasks me to buy for him over the net, I probably will. I doubt he would know the difference, as he's not a hard core computer user. But it looks like he wants instant gratifaction.

Ordering from a catalog isn't instant gratification. It's waiting for shipping.

And, as you know, Apple refurb's aren't really used so much as cheaper, totally checked out and, most importantly, warrantied . I've had excellent luck with them.

Doesn't want to order from catalog, just thumb through it and try and get the model he wants at Best Buy. (I'm not quite understanding it myself)