First of all let me state that your post made me think a bit and I mean no disrespect or offense in my comments. It isn’t my intent to start name calling or anything like that, so now that is out of the way…
The business people have a saying that the “market is always right.” If the people vote with their wallets and accept the M2, then it will work. I’m not against a small company providing a product and as a business profiting off of their efforts to improve and refresh the product. Trying to stay in business by making money isn’t price gouging, it is business. If it costs too much, basic economics will follow and they either have to lower their price or they go out of business. The M2 comes with a new shield and the pre-cut sled. I agree their asking price is higher than my budget, so I choose to not buy one, but I think your rant is a little more emotional than logical. If they added $50 of precut aluminum profile as you stated, and added the $50 precut sled (which is what I paid for mine before the M2 came out) and a little for their time and effort in incorporating the new processor and firmware, the gouging argument is merely inflammatory.
The USB stick is more a marketing swag than anything because the latest software should all be downloaded, not installed from the stick. The great thing about this forum is we don’t have to agree on everything. I really hope the price increase represents value and new maslow users feel it is worth the price. In the end, you may have it right. Thanks for sharing your opinion. It made me think and that’s why I responded.