A student at Brunel University in London has saved £100,000 by hacking USB microscopes.
The PhD student needed a highly sophisticated microscope for his research into cell movement. However, the best microscopes available for this type of work can cost upwards of £100,000 – something he couldn’t afford.
So, he bought 3 USB microscopes from the internet, costing around £30 each, and modified them to get the higher magnification he required. His modifications turned out successful and Adam Lynch ended up saving himself thousands of pounds.
He spent a whopping £160 on his invention that now allows him to use tools that were meant for kids to look at leaves, to look at the inextricably small movements of cells.
Source: BBC News
i think that just goes to show how some things are just glorified to cost consumers way more than whats actually in the product in parts and/or technology. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, or pounds in this students case!