I find the Neverlate product itself interesting. The same functionality is available as an application on just about every smartphone and most normal cellphones at this point. I wonder what this says about the clock radio form factor?

Maybe a bedside information appliance is a form factor with staying power, useful precisely because it is stationed permanently and won't be misplaced or forgotten? (Whereas I can imagine not waking up to my iPhone alarm because I left it on silent mode in my jeans pocket across the room.)

I think the alarm on the iPhone is audible regardless of the silent mode.

It goes off when in silent mode, but not if you turn the ringer volume down ( this has happened to me a couple of times accidentally )

Android's alarm clock app has a separate volume setting for alarms. It's really well designed.

That is really how it should be. I don't want the alarm volume to be tied to the ringer volume.

My iPhone makes it a point to not go off when I set it. I'm not sure what I've got going on but I've slept through it when it's on my bedside stand so many times that it's not funny.

Strange. I use mine twice a day with no problems. Is your ringer volume down? Got to be a setting thats been changed I think

Is that so? I don't use alarm clocks anymore. I still might sleep through the alarm if it's in my jeans pocket across the room, though.

Star Control name?

I guess I was half right. If you flip the silent switch it still goes off but it goes off at the level you have it at for your ringer.

Nope, never played that game.

Nixi tubes certainly bring memories. I remember my dad had made a nixie tube clock that used the oscillations of the AC power coming from the wall to count time. When I was a kid i discovered it somewhere in a closed, plugged it in, and promptly electrecuted myself.

But while nixie tubes are cool I don't know if you want to make a product with them. After all, they are no longer manufactured. Aren't you scared that your supply in eastern europe might run dry some day?

On the other hand the fact that the supply might run dry some day could add value to the product. People buying nixie tube clocks (and paying a premium over LED based clocks) are probably doing exactly because they are odd and obscure and won't be around forever. Lots of companies base their entire sales strategy around the fact that their product is only available in a limited number and after that it'll never be available again.

From reading the article he's not basing his entire company around nixie tubes, rather it's just one of the several niche products he's selling. So it's not like he'll have to close up shop just because he runs out of nixie tubes.

What's stopping someone (probably in China) from making more nixie tubes?

interesting that a SBA loan doesn't also require you to manufacture your products in the states - would be interesting to find out if he had to work around regulations or if they don't care what you do with the money once you have it.

Any article about how to have stuff made in the US?

Hire a project manager in US to go to China to make the stuff.

Very interesting... I have a friend in china that produces steel beams for the comm. construction industry. I really have no idea about how to sell though so probably nothing I can do with it. Also, I think you need a import license from the govt. atleast for steel.

> Also, I think you need a import license from the govt. atleast for steel.

Why do you think that?