"It sounds like their initial costs are too high and their batch size too small - "prize money, and the prototyping, copyright and jury fees"  - all that effort and cost for just seven racks will always leave unit cost stupidly expensiv, they are not getting the benefit from all the work they have put in. I expect production cost wouldn't be too bad, particularly if scaled. If they produced 50 rather than just seven the costs would be amortised and whilst not as cheap as the off-the-shelf options, they would be unique to Quebec and a more reasonable unit price. "

"I see it as one of those great ideas on paper, terrible idea in practice. The smoke alone would make it quite unpleasant. Similar problem to the ice-trough in picnic table you wrote an article a couple of weeks ago. "

"I think it is a good example of selling an experience rather than a product - its selling the experience of sitting in the sunshine drinking cold beers with your buddies - which is great. Whilst most will already have all the individual components to drink cold beers in the sun, this is offering a full all in one package - the end goal. Once users are sold on the experience the nuances of the practicalities of the product often go out the window. I'll stick with a deck chair and a bucket of ice."

"A few cities have their metro lines suspended above the roads, thus not actually interfering with the roads, seems to make more sense. "