291–300 of 456 posts
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Each wheelchair is custom so it's totally different than other products.
Is it totally different? Bikes are made and adjusted for a huge variety of body types. I understand there are different needs for wheel chair users, but I would think some level of adjustment would be possible to accommodate most of those.
$1k for a manual wheelchair? and that is considered cheap? I have no idea why a wheelchair should be that expensive. We get them here in India for far less - you can buy pretty good wheelchairs for much less than $100. You can get powered wheelchairs for around $500. https://www.amazon.in/b/ref=dp_bc_aui_C_3?ie=UTF8&node=11365...
Here in Malaysia we can get pretty good quality wheel chair for US$46. I am genuinely surprised to see people consider $1k cheap for a wheel chair! https://www.lazada.com.my/products/gt-medic-germany-ultra-li...
$1k for a manual wheelchair? and that is considered cheap? I have no idea why a wheelchair should be that expensive. We get them here in India for far less - you can buy pretty good wheelchairs for much less than $100. You can get powered wheelchairs for around $500. https://www.amazon.in/b/ref=dp_bc_aui_C_3?ie=UTF8&node=11365...
I am not a wheelchair expert but $1k is quite a lot, also there are quite a lot of cheap options in Europe for less than ~$350 and some of them are covered by the public health care system.
$1k for a manual wheelchair? and that is considered cheap? I have no idea why a wheelchair should be that expensive. We get them here in India for far less - you can buy pretty good wheelchairs for much less than $100. You can get powered wheelchairs for around $500. https://www.amazon.in/b/ref=dp_bc_aui_C_3?ie=UTF8&node=11365...
Those are not good wheelchairs for independent people to spend 16+ hours in. I work in EMS and see all kinds of "budget" wheelchairs and they'll all shit. The parts alone for this lightweight chair have to crack $300.
https://monfauteuilroulant.com/Fauteuils-Roulants/Fauteuil-r...
Just wondering - why is it that a bunch of tech bros who would think nothing of spending $2-300 on some fancy-ass keyboard because it’s incrementally more comfortable to their fingertips than a $15 one from Microcenter think that a person doesn’t care about the quality of a wheelchair they’re going to be stuck in for all their waking hours?
I have no knowledge of this specific product area but wondering what aspect of the wheelchair in the photo results in this seemingly high cost? (to note, I understand that this is still far cheaper than other wheelchairs). Is it the material cost? It looks like it's just a few pipes, a cushion, and a pair of wheels. About the same build as a basic bicycle.
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I've mentioned in other comments the difference between "hospital" style wheelchairs and full time use wheelchairs used by people with spinal cord injuries or other mobility issues. Full time wheelchairs are 1/3 or more lighter than the hospital style, more rigid which makes pushing more efficient, more comfortable, and easier to maneuver. You cannot compare these wheelchairs to what you might sit in at the emergency…
Amazing that a group of people who are generally the type to be sitting on $3000 ergonomic office chairs are insisting that $50 wheelchairs ought to be enough for anyone.
That's the reason why Xerox have failed, IBM and Microsoft succeed, GNU/Linux succeed over other unices and so on. It's the same reasons why our EVs who are indeed a bit superior over Chinese ones can't succeed give a mean 4x price tags and their OEMs end-up with lobbying for stellar custom duty and alike to stop them.
Sure, design a light and rigid chair demand a significant research effort, but in the end you give a simple product, you can't count on warm welcome at certain prices. Like designed a road bicycle, it's expensive, you have used complex materials etc, but you can't count on big sales if you push your profit too high.
Currently in the west ALL the few who still produce something have climbed the prices claiming inflation so much that they are no more interesting, competitive respect of China. It's a lesson too many do not want to accept.
So I follow some disability activists and it's kinda depressing just how hostile society is and people are to people with disabilities. And this crops up everywhere. So for wheelchairs, for example, airlines routinely damage or destroy or lose wheelchairs, like 1000+ a month [1]. You need to be aware that wheelchairs typically need to be customized for the user. You typically can't just buy a wheelchair on Amazon and…
By chance, don't you know why we cannot have electric wheelchair for everyone who needs it? Manual wheelchair seems to be not very convenient and to require lot of effort to use it.
They're good for some uses, for some folks, but are not a solution for all.