WHY ARE THE DATAJACKS NOT BROKEN UP LIKE
THE SMARTLINK?
Who knows? Our best guess is that they thought it would be too
fiddly to have a list of components.
Here's what I've worked out so far for datajack components:
Mini-Router (5 port)
This is a specialized version of the router described on p. 22
of Man and Machine. In it's most common configuration two of the
router ports are already 'spent'. One of the ports connects to
the external datajack connector and the other is usually given
over to a connection to the brain.
[Designers Note: The full router includes is 10 ports + 1 'dedicated' port to the brain. Breaking down the full router we see that each port costs .01 Essence (duh!) but is only 100¥ per available port connection.
It is important to remember this is for port space on the router itself. The actual "ports" mentioned on p. 22 include the wiring and connecting costs so should actually be called "Links" - which I will hereafter refer to them as. So if you wanted to build a 20 port Router it would cost .2 Essence and 2,000¥. A 12 port Router would cost .12 Essence and 1,200¥. Not rocket science. The Links still cost the same.]
Headware Links
Most datajacks have at least one headware link - this is to some
connector that allows data to be transfered through the datajack.
It is also common practice to have another Link to the brain.
Since most datajacks are located in the head (or neck) these links are assumed to be 'headware' links. Links to other areas of the body require a bit more wiring and signal boosting equipment so are more expensive.
[Designers Note: The actual "jack" port of the datajack is ALWAYS assumed to be headware for purposes of datajack construction. After all it's connected directly to the datajack unit itself! The connector from the datajack to other areas of the body (or other routers) can be a lot longer and thus count as non-headware Links. This depends on the specific datajack however. Obviously palm mounted datajacks would have to pay for the non-headware link if it wanted to link up to another router.]
Plug
All datajacks require a method connecting to outside media. For
the most common datajack this is a small ceramic and plastic "jack"
that looks like a small button. It has the necessary photoptical
electronics to translate information from industry-standard fiber-based
datacords. For non-standard media types it is trivial to purchase
dataconverters that plug into the jack and translate incoming
data into a format that the jack can understand.
[Designers Note: Well obviously you have to plug the cord in somewhere. Basing this jack off the multi-slot chipjack for Essence costs we get .05 Essence and looking at the induction pad for price we get 200¥. I'm willing to buy that an external unit would be much cheaper then a subdermal mount (no worries about skin resistance, implantation, etc) so we'll drop the price to a low-low 100¥.]
Command Transducer
Although not as fancy as the newest full-scan transducers now
hitting the market, most datajacks integrate at least a command
transducer. The command transducer is an old technology, but it
operates on well-understood principles that later transducer technology
has built upon.
Command transducers are simple devices and are not capable of two-way communication. They are strictly one way 'sending' devices. Learning to use this limited system takes a bit of time (it operates based on biofeedback techniques for the most part). The user can only send approximantely Intelligence(+Rating if using Shadowtech jacks) x 6 words per minute using this crude device. For most purposes this is enough, the transducer formats the commands using the MLINK standard for easy interoperability. Some datajack manufacturers add in a special "subset" of special commands, though these rarely enter into peoples daily lives and are primarily a manner of convenience.
[Designers Note: I had to make this thing up from whole cloth. It was the only way to explain how you can send commands to cyberdecks and other equipment without a full-on DNI adapter. This is one the questions I've asked Mr. Mulvihill so let's hope he can give us an answer.
The device is QUITE limited. A word is 5 characters, so the average person could only send 90 characters a minute this way. It won't be replacing the keyboard any time soon. I've priced this at 1/5 of a normal full-transceiver so that comes to .02 Essence and 200¥. Does that sound fair?]
So the standard SR3 datajack would break out as follows:
| ITEM | COST | ESSENCE |
| Router (5 port) | 500¥ | .05 |
| Headware ports (2) | 400¥ | .02 |
| Plug | 200¥ | .05 |
| C. Transducer | 200¥ | .02 |
| TOTAL | 1200¥ | .14 |
Where does the extra Essence loss come into play?
We can explain the price differences away with "mass production" and "bundling" discounts. I believe it's 20% in VR2 for prebuilt decks. Why not jacks?