It's not outrageous. Even if it is just a glorified computer with some webcams, its got to have a better than bottom-end processor to handle 4 live video streams with motion analysis, and it *IS* being sold as a dedicated machine, which usually has some markup. If i told my boss "We can buy a desktop for $600, a monitor for $150, and some good quality outdoor webcams for $100 each, then all I have to do is find some good open source and/or free software, configure it, make sure it works, and we're off." Or... for a couple hundred dollars more, we can have a shop monkey buy this and set it up in a few minutes, and we know it will work, and I don't have to spend my time doing it.
I know which option *my* boss would pick.
For a home solution, yeah, do it yourself if you have time. For small businesses, most people don't want to screw with DIY stuff when an out of the box solution is only a couple hundred dollars more, and you have someone to yell at if it doesn't work.
-Taylor

interesting. it says:
"Processing requirements:
- 1.5 cameras per core
- 2 cameras per core on a dedicated machine"

Not totally free though. The beta is free until January 31st, then it doesn't say.
-taylor

Why am I low ranked? I'm not suggesting they stole my idea or anything stupid... I really did work on some of this stuff for myself... Oh well.
-taylor

I had this idea! Got some cool stuff started working too. Never wanted to finish it though. Glad to see someone taking off with it!

Well, they *can* include whatever they want, its their list...

@dude above me
Well, lots of people already pay that much for a phone... so they might as well get the best one on the market.
-Taylor

Considering there might be some parents reading this (possibly after their kid sent them the link), it makes a lot of sense to include the Droid. Its an awesome GPS device, and some people out there might be on a family plan at upgrade time, or ready to start one, so it makes perfect sense to mention it. I've actually really surprised it isn't on here...
-Taylor

Personally I've been considering hacking my scale with wireless so I can keep a record on my PC.
I'm trying to lose weight and a nice graph that shows my (lack of) progress would be good for me.
I'll have to check the price, but I might buy one of these.
So yes, maybe not *everything*, but on this, yeah. It's not like you don't have other options for a scale if you *don't* want wifi.
-Taylor

Actually, I always used to think this, till just now. Reading the comments, I think i can put it together a bit better:
Most every car operates with a MAF, or Mass Air Flow sensor, on the intake. It calculates the mass of the air coming in and then uses that to determine how much fuel to shoot into the engine, so that you get the correct air fuel ratio, which is a really important to your engine operating properly. When air gets colder, it gets more dense, and since the engine pistons are a fixed pump, one piston full of colder air contains more mass of air, which requires more fuel. So yeah, your engine puts in more fuel when the air is colder, lowering MPGs. :)
In fact now I can't believe I never realized that before!
-Taylor

I dunno, mine is getting on my nerves.