It's because some of us prefer to bake our beans.
For 2-3X the price?
aside from the it tastes more to my liking. Economically speaking...how do you get yourself to drop the "qwan" like that?
I guess it's like anything in life; once you can justify what you desire, you figure out how to pay for it. If I'm driving my '98 Accord and it's perfectly safe, reliable, and comfortable, I could ask the same thing you are about those driving Audis and Bimmers. I just have to remind myself that what's right/justifiable in my mind might not be right/justifiable in another person's mind.
As for roasters, it opens up the whole can 'o worms regarding features/controllability, and whether a person thinks those kinds of things are worth the extra "qwan". Is that like zarf, BTW?
"qwan"- Jerry Mcguire quote for lot's o cash.
Well I used to have a Bimmer, now got a infiniti, but I would much rather drive a Subaru STi unfortunately my job requires a certain status of car. I think most people drive a car that costs what they can afford or is expected of them at their position. They can't show everyone their pocketbooks for instance "so there is my Lambo", you get the picture real quick what kind of qwan the guy/gal has.
So it still doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me why a personal roaster or even a small business roaster would look past a sonofresco on the way to an Ambex, or dietrich, Us Roaster, etc..unless the business justified it.