The Wall Street Journal obtained the marketing materials for Gillette's new razor [log-in required], the ProGlide FlexBall. "It's a men's razor that does what every other men's razor since time immemorial has done - removes hair from your face - but with "a swiveling ball-hinge" that the company says will make it easier to get a clean shave. It will retail for $11.49 and $12.59, depending on whether you want the battery-powered version or not, and Gillette is planning to sell $188 million worth of the things in the next year alone. I won't mince words: ProGlide FlexBall is a bad idea. A really bad idea. In fact, the razor represents everything terrible about America's innovation economy." The article continues:
By now, everyone knows how razor companies make their money. They sell you cheap razor handles, then burn you later with expensive cartridge refills. On top of that business model, Gillette and other market leaders introduced an arms-race component to the industry - going from two blades to three, then to four and five and six. Each new blade adds only a smidgen of extra utility, but it convinced gullible customers that they needed to upgrade their models every few years to stay current.
These twin strategies created a $3.7 billion industry, with Gillette controlling more than 65 percent of the market. A few years ago, though, something happened that threatened Gillette's dominance. Upstarts like the Dollar Shave Club began exploiting the obvious - namely, that it shouldn't cost $20 for a pack of razor cartridge refills, and began to shave away (sorry) some of Gillette's competitive edge by selling razors for cheaper over the internet. The shaving industry, as they say in Silicon Valley, had been disrupted.
Procter & Gamble, Gillette's parent company, had a few options for responding to the disruption. It could have lowered Gillette's prices, and accepted that its profit margins would take a hit in exchange for preserving its market share. It could have thrown more money into research and development for a completely new, whiz-bang product - an affordable home laser hair-removal system, for example, that would eliminate the need for razors altogether. It could even have copied the upstarts and introduced a mail-order razor club of its own while it figured out the next big thing.
Instead, Procter & Gamble - a company whose scientists once led the way on American innovation, coming up with revolutionary products like laundry detergent - decided to go with a glorified marketing gimmick. According to the Journal, Gillette plans to spend $200 million promoting the ProGlide FlexBall, with a campaign that centers on telling people that "the blades miss 20% fewer hairs with each pass and that it can cut each whisker 23 microns shorter - about a quarter of the width of a strand of human hair."
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:12PM
I don't shave the hair off my face...
you insensitive clod.
Following a recent trend, I'm going to suggest that this isn't tech news -- although it may be marketing news. Now I'll try to read the article.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:30PM
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Saturday April 19 2014, @06:35PM
After using an electric razor for many years, I'm a fairly recent convert to double edge shaving. It takes a bit longer, but gives a much better shave and I find it's more of a 'ritual' than a task to be done. Once I decided it was for me I splurged on a really nice razor and brush, but you can get by quite nicely for very little money. You can get pretty good blades for about ten cents each on Amazon and they last a week or so for me. You really probably spend more on soap. I find it all feem]ls quite luxurious with the nice lather.
It does take a little practice before you're really good at it, but not much. It seemed quite strange to be learning how to shave at my age.
(Score: 1) by DrMag on Saturday April 19 2014, @09:07PM
Any man who hasn't discovered the double edged safety razor is doing himself an extreme disservice.
The problem isn't just with the crazy multi-blade designs, it's also the awful chemical stuff they sell to lather on your face. A quality shaving soap with a good, comfortable safety razor (or straight edge, if you like) is leagues beyond anything massive corporations will try to sell you.
(Score: 1) by kwerle on Saturday April 19 2014, @06:23PM
hear hear
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Tork on Saturday April 19 2014, @09:21PM
There's a fair number of people on this site that seem to think that nerd-news is entirely composed of "devices with blinkie lights that sometimes emit RF." I wish they'd open their minds a bit. The most interesting discussion I ever read on a site like this was made by a guy inspired by a marine-biology story to tell us about his pet octopus. Broaden the reach a little, it won't hurt.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 1) by Ben4jammin on Sunday April 20 2014, @04:17AM
Agreed...the "tech news" is just a starting point. Many interesting discussions could be classified as "off topic".
(Score: 2) by Angry Jesus on Sunday April 20 2014, @11:59AM
The modern internet is about 99% marketing driven. Behemoths like Google and Facebook make 99% of their profits from marketing. If there is one thing that the modern well-rounded geek ought to be paying attention to, it is how marketing is done and done to them.
(Score: 1) by hellcat on Sunday April 20 2014, @09:43AM
I don't mean to split hairs, but it's very much tech news in a different way.
P&G is both a preeminent consumer packaged goods company - and tech company. They didn't last for almost 200 years or grow to be the biggest through M&A.
If they're saying the shave is 23 microns closer, I'm willing to bet that's been validated and replicated many times. Because it's their science, we'll never see the data.
As for the other side of tech, consider this. Perhaps the device you use for shaving isn't as relevant as the PROCESS we use. Long story short, I've been experimenting with razors for the past few years, recording blade life versus shaving process. The blades are one of the variables. I'm now getting a full month out of a two bladed razor and as much as 100 days out of a five blade.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Hairyfeet on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:24PM
And get rid of the bullshit. The ones I use are two blade models and come 5 razors for a buck so even with the little woman snarfing razors off of me its a buck a month, big whoop.
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
(Score: 1) by Rune of Doom on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:29PM
The dollar store razors don't quite cut it for me. I agree that the Gillette razors are ludicrous (anyone else remember the old SNL 7-bladed razor skit?)but finding a decent, non-stupidly expensive disposable is a bit of a pain. I keep meaning to try a classic safety razor instead (straight razors are not for me).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 19 2014, @08:15PM
Actually, they had a parody of a three-blade razor back in the 70s.
http://snltranscripts.jt.org/75/75atriple.phtml [jt.org]
(Score: 2) by tathra on Saturday April 19 2014, @04:06PM
i've used those cheap, disposable, 1 or 2 blade razors occasionally after using a mach 3, and there is a huge difference. those generic razors are flat-out awful. i have sensitive skin, so that might have something to do with it, but still. the only thing those generic razors were good for was shaving berets.
i've also seen people say the battery-powered vibrating razors are a useless joke, but again, i can feel the difference they make, and its huge.
(Score: 1) by linsane on Saturday April 19 2014, @04:51PM
A Gillette shill on SN, we must be making progress! Kidding, I've got sensitive skin so I know where you are coming from, but while my s.o. steals my cheap disputable razors, I steal her overpriced moisturiser and it makes a big difference...
(Score: 3, Informative) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday April 19 2014, @05:02PM
Those shitty disposable razors are good enough as long as you don't let your whiskers grow out more than 2 or 3 days. Then you might as well get your face waxed, because that's what it's gonna feel like saving that with a shitty disposable.
Gillette Fusion snob here. Gillette awhile back actually made a commercial tacitly begging their users to replace their Fusion cartridges more often. What likely happened was that, in winning the shaving arms-race, Gillette had created a product that was too good for its own good. Shavers were probably using those cartridges longer than Gillette wanted them to, and rightly so, because one cartridge lasts over a month for me and I have pretty bristly and fast-growing fur. Indicator strip be damned, those things last a long time, long enough to justify their enormous cost.
I have no plans on buying that ball-jointed monstrosity, though, because shaving involves a lot of finesse going around your nose and other places which could be susceptible to cuts even while using a "safe" cartridge. Could you imagine trying to get those spots with that oafish dodo-brained swivel?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 19 2014, @05:27PM
Don't worry, they may take lessons from the ink jet printer industry soon! Just as soon as they can figure out how to block you from using a still good blade.
(Score: 2) by tathra on Saturday April 19 2014, @07:24PM
yeah, i dont see how a ball joint at the head could do anything that i cant already do with my wrist. the cartridges are way too expensive though for sure. i only shave about once a week unless i'm on active duty where its a requirement to shave daily, but i still usually get over a month out of each individual cartridge even with shaving daily.
i heard from a friend that you can keep your blades from going dull if you let them soak in isopropyl alcohol when you're not using it, saying that it was oxidation that caused them to get dull. i've never tried it cuz i'm too lazy but i would like to know if its actually true (she's not a bullshitter, but false stories are exceptionally easy to get passed along). i dont actually like brand new cartridges anyway because i always get cut up pretty bad, but no cuts at all after about the 3rd use or so.
(Score: 2) by TK on Monday April 21 2014, @08:56PM
I tried soaking blades in vodka once. I couldn't tell the difference with regards to the blade, but the moisturizing strip (3 or 4 blade Gillette cartridge) disintegrated very quickly. That and I was wasting vodka. Maybe a higher proof will work.
I've had some success prolonging the life of my multi-blade cartridges by deburring them on my forearm*. It doesn't sharpen the blade so much as removes the mountains and valleys that are likely to nick your face and neck.
*Wet razor and forearm. Put razor, blade down, on your forearm. Move in the direction that doesn't shave your arm hair off for the whole length of your forearm. Do this a total of seven times every week or so.
The fleas have smaller fleas, upon their backs to bite them, and those fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum
(Score: 1) by isaac on Saturday April 19 2014, @07:32PM
No idea why you were moderated 'troll.'
I use regular (non-"Turbo") Mach 3 cartridges to shave my face and head twice a week in the shower. They are manifestly better for this purpose than cheap disposables, old-school safety razors, or straight razors. The cartridge mount leaves the space behind the blades completely clear so it rinses out cleanly and doesn't get packed with stubble. This is a big deal if you shave your head. Having previously used disposable twin-blade razors exclusively, it was a revelation.
A cartridge lasts me a month, so I'm spending on the order of $20 per year, which I can trivially justify in savings on hair cuts (haha, but seriously, I miss my hair.) Looking forward to the patents expiring.
The article is way off the mark, BTW. P&G's razor marketing machine is positively benign compared to, say, the industrial food industry (ConAgra, ADM, etc) or the military-industrial complex. Gilette's products, after all, mostly don't kill people.
-Isaac
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 19 2014, @09:11PM
No idea why you were moderated 'troll.'
I'm going to guess **people with empirical data points to the contrary**.
I just scraped off 10 weeks of (very gray) whiskers.
I used one of those plastic things I got $1/12. No sweat. YMMV
-- gewg_
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 20 2014, @01:00AM
Punishment for posting racist commentary some time back.
I expect to have much of my posts mod-bombed "overrated" or "troll" with the simplest excuses (like using a curse word or other insults, even ones which don't fall under "politically-correct protected catagories") as justification in the mods' minds. I'll never see any score higher than +2 again!
Posted anonymous because offtopic.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 20 2014, @01:11AM
Shit like that is why M^2 needs to be implemented as quickly as possible.
Mod points are not to be used for your personal vendetta! People who let their own personal prejudices influence their actions are basically the same as racists. Everybody downmodding Ethanol-Fueled's posts due to one journal post are bigger bigots than he is.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 20 2014, @01:02AM
That does not make a troll comment.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Saturday April 19 2014, @07:58PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 2) by edIII on Saturday April 19 2014, @10:55PM
I've used the exact same razor you are talking about and have had a single cartridge last me 6 months. Not a hint of rust, and I ended up changing it one day simply because I got bored and had 4 more sitting in some plastic case they give you.
For me it's a yearly purchase at Costco to get replacement cartridges. I have had the same handle for it since probably 2007.
I sincerely doubt Gillette considers me their optimum customer.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 1) by sjwt on Sunday April 20 2014, @03:51AM
Shaving is a personal art, the first thing I though when the 3 bladed ones came out was 'why the hell haven't they put a ball join on these damn things..'
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Saturday April 19 2014, @07:25PM
I tried those. They are dull right out of the package. I know it's not environmentally PC, but I use single blade Bic disposables. They are good for a dozen shaves (or more) and give a very good, close shave.
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 2, Insightful) by jasassin on Saturday April 19 2014, @11:56PM
I know it's not environmentally PC, but I use single blade Bic disposables.The single bladed Bics (the orange and white ones) are as close to an easy shave as you can get to a double edged safety razor. You should really try one if you haven't. The blades are cheap for DE safety razors on amazon. 100 pack ($8US). The Merkur 34c razor was like $35 on Amazon, but it should be something I can use my entire life.
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 1) by blackest_k on Sunday April 20 2014, @10:54AM
I probably spend around the same on fusion blades over the year, i've tried cheaper razors and find they tend to clog badly which is the main reason you end up changing blades. you can strop most blades if after a few months you find it losing its edge. I used to use the double edged safety razors but in the end this system works for me well. I've tried cheaper blades but honestly i find them useless as hairs become more and more trapped between the blades.
(Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Sunday April 20 2014, @06:59PM
Uhhh...that is when you throw them away friend, when they begin to clog. I get around 4-5 shaves out of each and the SECOND they start clogging or pulling? Into the trash they go. It is usually 6 for a buck (buy 5 get 1 free) so there really is no point in trying to cheapskate and hang onto for longer, just toss and get another one.
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
(Score: 1) by blackest_k on Sunday April 20 2014, @10:47PM
I guess it depends how often you shave. I probably give shaving a miss at weekends and that is where problems start. 2 or 3 day old stubble kills most multi-blade razors (double bladed safety razors doesn't have this problem). Sometimes you can't even get a full shave out of one.
Honestly the fusion blades have managed to get something right that most other blades gets wrong. I tried a 5 blade unknown brand system and the blades were useless because of the clogging issue.
Don't get me wrong I still feel like the fusion blades cost too much for what they are, however the fact i get them to go for months and months before changing a blade makes them economical. Getting to be an old git now i've decided that maintaining gray patchy hair is a mistake so now i am shaving the lot and the fusion takes it in its stride. I also never get the side ways cut that could occur with some razor systems.
I really can't see a reason to change to anything else. I think like most of us I got given the fusion as a small present and I wouldn't have bought new blades for it if it wasn't good.
(Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Monday April 21 2014, @03:31AM
Well I guess you are lucky friend, as if i go more than a day and a half I start looking like the skunk striped Ewok on ROTJ has the mange, just this horrible patchy salt and pepper mess. I keep threatening to just go grab a bottle of Grecian Formula because with the exception of the grey i look NO different than I did 20 years ago, if I were to dye it back I would look exactly the same as i did in 1988, good genes i guess...sigh but sadly my woman has a royal fit when i even suggest it as she says 'but salt and pepper is so sexy, its that Sean Connery thing that looks great on guys'. of course then she dyes HER hair because "grey hair looks like shit on a woman"...ARGH!
But with the disposables so cheap i really just don't see a point, even if they only lasted 2 shaves that's...what? A buck a week? That's still less than a single coke at the gas station, not really worth trying to stretch the life any and I've found that for me the two blade seems to be the sweet spot, the single leaves me too stubbly, the triple leaves my face feeling raw, double blades is doubleplusgood IMHO.
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Tuesday April 22 2014, @04:26PM
Cheap-ass razors work horribly. The answer is to use a good old-fashioned double-edged safety razor, which hasn't changed in a century. The blades are dirt cheap (I got a pack of 100 Derby Extra from Amazon for about $9 a couple years ago and haven't even used half of them), they don't get clogged like the multi-blade razors, and you won't get a closer shave with anything else but a straight razor. The only downside to the DE safety razor is that it requires a modicum of skill to use without cutting up your face, so if you're a complete klutz with zero hand-eye coordination you should avoid them.
(Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Tuesday April 22 2014, @08:42PM
I can't risk it as I have psoriatic arthritis which means I simply cannot risk getting cut as it can easily turn into psoriasis and will be hell getting rid of. But I've found the 2 blades have the least amount of risk while giving me the smoothest shave and the least amount of hassle, YMMV. I tried the electric shavers but they just didn't work well for me, I always ended up stubbly and the blades just didn't seem to last, so after much experimenting with everything from 1 to 5 blades I found the double blades are double perfect for me. Of course now that I have a wife I'm finding I have to buy razors twice as often because IT NEVER FAILS that she runs out of hers and instead of simply going and getting some more she just starts using mine....thanks honey.
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday April 23 2014, @03:00PM
In your special case, then, I'd definitely NOT recommend using DE safety razors. There's definitely a learning curve there, and it's very easy to cut yourself badly. I've been using them for about 2 years now and still occasionally nick myself, but not much. I heal quickly though so it's not a problem for me.
It sounds like you need to find a secret hiding place for your razors.... Just leave one out where she can use it, but keep the rest safely hidden away.
(Score: 4, Informative) by hemocyanin on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:26PM
I use one of those old butterfly razors. I've had it for 20 years or more -- black plastic handle, stainless head. Nothing special -- I probably paid less than $5 for the handle. Blades cost about $5 for a pack of 10 double sided blades. Here's an example: http://www.ecrater.com/p/18623756/vintage-safety-r azor-double-edge?gps=1&id=52211034499 [ecrater.com] (not a recommendation, just using this for illustration purposes)
When traveling and forgetting my razor, I've used the double or triple blade contraptions and what I noticed was that I got a whole lot of razor burn and the space between the blades quickly filled with hair bits. Compared to my single blade butterfly razor, they were uncomfortable, painful, and didn't do a better job.
The butterfly style also can get clogged, especially if you haven't shaved for a week, but then you just open it up part way so the razor won't fall out, stick it under the faucet, and it all washes out immediately. A triple blade might be like doing three passes at once, but we're talking shaving, not nuclear engineering -- it's no big deal to just swipe thrice and you probably do that anyway no matter what razor you are using. As for the ball bearing, a butterfly razor's head doesn't pivot at all, but there is no razor on earth that can pivot as well or in as many directions as that pivoting mechanism built in to most humans: wrist and fingers.
So, butterfly type: works great, feels better, costs much less.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:33PM
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:38PM
Nope -- just the going rate in my area. Same price at all the stores around here.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:40PM
Lame self reply -- never thought about ordering them online. I see I can get 100 blades for 10-15 bucks. Guess I'll be doing that. Thanks for the hint Buzz!
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:44PM
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 19 2014, @09:58PM
drugstore where I pick up shaving soap
I don't even do that.
When I went home for Daddy's funeral, I inherited his shaving mug, brush, and supply of round soap.
After I had depleted the first soap cake, I took aluminum foil and made a cannister slightly larger[1] than the inside diameter of the mug.
Take all the slivers of bath soap that are too small to use and put them in the cannister with boiling water.
Wait a week[1] and you have zero-additional-cost shaving soap.
[1] As it dries out, the cake will shrink a bit.
Go back to colonial days and folks made their own soap from scratch.
Remember Granny [wikipedia.org] making lye soap out by the cement pond?
Drip water through ashes from your fire and you get lye. (Drain cleaner; nasty stuff. Be very careful.)
Take the grease left over from frying meat (or use vegetable oil) and bring that to a boil with the lye.
Let it cool, scoop into forms, and let it sit.
-- gewg_
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 19 2014, @04:19PM
Try shaving in the shower with shaving oil.
Blades go dull because of rust, not usage. When you shave with oil it leaves a protective layer on the blade. The result for me is that I can shave 5 times a week and a single blade will last me about 9 months.
Also, shaving in the shower has other benefits - no worries about cleaning out the sink and the hot humid environment relaxes the whiskers for an even closer shave. Downside is that you need a fog-free mirror, but that's not terribly hard to find with google (some are better than others though).
Every girl that I've convinced to try shaving oil has converted too.
I use this cheap stuff from walmart: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Shave-Secret-Shaving-Oil -0.63-fl-oz/10324376 [walmart.com]
Apparently there is something called "pre-shave oil" for men with super elaborate shaving rituals. Don't use that stuff.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday April 19 2014, @09:23PM
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by opinionated_science on Sunday April 20 2014, @02:06PM
actual it is no CO2 , no rust. But same principle...
(Score: 2) by hankwang on Saturday April 19 2014, @09:24PM
I moved from cartridge razors to butterfly a few months ago and I must say it was a bloody transition, although I'm getting the hang of it. No brick-and-mortar store here sells the handles, but I found a cheap Wilkinson Classic online, essentially the only one that can be bought for less than 35 euros here in Netherlands.
If you were to believe sites such as http://www.shaving101.com/ [shaving101.com] , you would have to invest 100+ euros in premium handles, blades, bristles, and soap although you would still save money compared to the Gilette stuff.
Avantslash: SoylentNews for mobile [avantslash.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Sunday April 20 2014, @06:16AM
I can't remember the last time I nicked myself shaving with my butterfly razor, but I have certainly sliced myself with the newer cartridge type. Anything different is sometimes hard.
As an example, when I got my first OSX laptop years ago, after having used Linux exclusively for at least 3 or 4 years, I wanted to remove an icon from the dock. Back then, when you right or alt clicked on an icon in the dock, there was no "remove from dock" option. So I spent several hours hunting down the text file that defined what was in the dock, and made my changes. I sort of shook my head in amazement at how hard it was and Macs were supposed to be so easy. Some weeks after that, and a clumsy mouse slip where I accidentally dragged an icon off the dock -- I saw a dock icon go "poof." I was flabbergasted. Anyway, I was applying what I was used to doing in the wrong context and as a result, I made my life really hard. I didn't even google right because I was looking for a file I could config by hand and so my entire focus was wrong. Probably the same is true with shaving differently. Don't apply what you know.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by hash14 on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:43PM
Don't be a stupid consumer. Do your research. Distrust everyone (especially marketers and people who want you to buy your product - they're never doing it to help _you_ in any way).
Obviously most Soylentils do this already. But the general population couldn't be bothered to think for 2 seconds about the products that they buy. The problem isn't innovation or research, it's the fact that the general population isn't holding these companies to it.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday April 19 2014, @03:47PM
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Angry Jesus on Saturday April 19 2014, @05:02PM
> Don't be a stupid consumer. Do your research. Distrust everyone (especially marketers and people
> who want you to buy your product - they're never doing it to help _you_ in any way).
Unfortunately that is a luxury available to very few. That takes time, lots of time. It simply isn't feasible for normal people to develop the kind of domain knowledge necessary to really know who is being duplicitous and who is being straightforward with them in every area of their lives.
It's that lack of available resources that marketers take advantage of. They are experts because it is their full-time job to know as much as possible about their specific products and their competition. It's like buying a car. The salesmen do it day in and day out all year long. A normal person does it once every couple of years or even less. That puts normal people at a significant disadvantage.
If it were really as simple as "do your research" this kind of bullshit engineering wouldn't happen.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Saturday April 19 2014, @09:09PM
Strongly Disagree. The average consumer pays about ZERO attention these days, and there is no excuse for the laziness.
You can go to the store and do comparison shopping in the store. They adjust prices near constantly when attempting to get rid of stock that is not selling at the absurd prices. There are specific days each month that I can rest assured that boneless skinless chicken will be at least 50% off. I'll pick $100 worth, wash and clean it, and pack it away in freezer bags.
Did you know you can take a decent rice steamer (Costco $30-$40) add some rice, two frozen pieces of chicken, fresh vegetables, spices, cup of chicken stock and have a full healthy meal with almost zero effort in about 30-40 minutes? It's CHEAP too. I live on $4/day for food at the moment, and it's good food.
The secret is to not be a moron at the store and suffer through the high margin crap they are trying to move. Whole Foods is for people with way more money than sense. You can get amazingly decent food at farmer's markets, and smaller outfits like F&E. Even at Albertson's which is the king of high margin crap, walking around the store you can find something to eat at near clearance prices that tastes great and is made with good food. It involves the eyeballs and a little concentration though. Ohhh, and cooking. If you can't cook sucks to be you. I guess poptarts and ramen is your life.
Just walking around and paying attention while you are running errands can save you a fortune. There are a large number of tricks out there for comparison shopping and they work.
This isn't 1995 either. We have the Internet now. While I am keenly aware of the signal/noise ratio and conflicting advice, 10 minutes with Google can teach you almost everything you ever wanted to know about a razor, the companies making it, what experts think, what the average idiot thinks, and how it all interacts nicely and supports the Mayan conspiracy that life as we know it will end in 2016.
There is also the most amazing aspect of the Internet. It's self-assembling. Entire groups of assholes decide they want to be assholes, but organized! Hello, Reddit.
Consumer Reports IS ON THE INTERNET too.
The sheer amount of information is astounding, and entirely unprecedented in human history. I don't shop at Staples anymore because their asshole CEO receives $40 million over 4 years, but felt it necessary to reduce a pregnant employee's hours to less than 30 to bypass paying for health care increases. Even admitted that those in need most would only cost $7 million, while the sociopath was receiving $40 million. I can list a dozen companies that I have boycotted for over 2 decades now. We all have the capability to speak with our wallets, and all it involves is becoming an educated consumer.
It's entirely as simple as doing your research and being an educated consumer. Unfortunately, they don't teach research and critical thinking skills in schools at all these days.
An entire country of young dipshits with so much information available to them about the product, buying guides for that type of product, research posted online about use of the product, consumer reviews of the product (weed out astroturfing), websites dedicated to people talking about the product, websites dedicated to just showing comparative pricing of the product, and... despite all of that... "hur durr derpy derp put the shiny in the box it had the fancy words and art work and hey look 5 blades"
Information solves all of this, and if that information leads towards different choices, the engineering will respond to it. It has to respond, since pouring $200 million into advertising deceit and misinformation can't work when it doesn't fool the average person.
Corporations may be the most pure form of intrinsic evil on this planet, but it's Lawful Evil. If fucking with your head and emotions doesn't work anymore, then by golly, they may just have to work on innovation to keep getting more money.
It's a luxury available to nearly everyone. If you have Internet, you have what you need. In my experience it doesn't take all that long. I can perform an impressive amount of research in just 10 minutes. If I really am just that good, it might mean 30 minutes to another person. The information is out there though.
There are entire websites out there just dedicated to WEED. If potheads can become organized and start using chemistry widely in their own writings and documentation, there is no excuse for the rest of us. Even a couch-locked red-eyed hippie is participating.
Unless, by luxury you mean the intelligence and understanding of how to perform the research in general. If that's what you believe, we are all fucked proper anyway. I'm still hoping the average person is not such an idiot that we couldn't put them in a room with a computer for 30 minutes and expect a reasonable report on razor blades. God I hope they aren't that stupid. I still have to live on this planet for a few decades more.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 19 2014, @10:10PM
take a decent rice steamer (Costco $30-$40)
Save the 40 bucks.
...and don't add to atmospheric CO2 levels.
parabolic+solar+cooker [ixquick.com]
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by edIII on Saturday April 19 2014, @10:46PM
Parabolic solar cooking is a little ridiculous. Setup and teardown just to make rice with that is hugely inefficient. Unless you are in the middle of nowhere I don't see the use. Even then, you would carry all that crap just so you don't burn firewood.
Induction cooking is where it's at. As a bonus, it supports all the cast iron stuff I want to cook with anyways. It's purportedly very efficient as well so you can reduce your carbon footprint just by using solar polar and batteries. Setup and teardown is streamlined to the point it's practically no different than a regular kitchen.
Did I mention I could cook at night when the sun isn't out? That's pretty sweet too.
Electricity is not the enemy of nature. It's how you use it.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by Angry Jesus on Saturday April 19 2014, @10:16PM
> The average consumer pays about ZERO attention these days, and there is no excuse for the laziness.
That's begging the question - your proof is simply a restatement of the premise in the very same sentence even.
> It's a luxury available to nearly everyone. If you have Internet, you have what you need. In my experience
> it doesn't take all that long. I can perform an impressive amount of research in just 10 minutes. If I
> really am just that good, it might mean 30 minutes to another person. The information is out there though.
You are fooling yourself.
It takes a lot more than 10 minutes of research to become familiar enough with a topic to discriminate between people who lie online, people who are simply misinformed themselves and actual informed and straightforward commentary. Without any domain knowledge you simply can't tell the difference - good grammar and internally consistent logic are not enough to rule out the manipulators and liars. Places like amazon reviews, yelp, and even dedicated topic-specific sites all have significant problems with astro-turfing precisely because it is so easy to fool people like yourself.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Saturday April 19 2014, @11:38PM
I'm not so easily fooled, and I still strongly disagree with your assertion that it's futile to try and become an educated and informed consumer.
Just 5 minutes even will remove the majority of the misinformation. I don't need to become an expert at shaving in 5 minutes to see the ridiculousness of Gillette's product and price. Less than 60 seconds here gave quite a bit of information that one could at least consider as possible avenues of further research.
You are strongly underestimating the amount of knowledge you can obtain in a short amount of time with the Internet, and you're flat out wrong about the quality of that information. It's not all lies and astro-turfing, and price comparison websites have to list the actual prices you know.
So we completely glossed over the part where I explicitly said to weed out astro-turfing right? AT is all positive. Come on man. It's not terribly difficult to look at the bad reviews, the good reviews, and weight it accordingly.
If you took apart my post with such a high and mighty attitude mentioning my logical inconsistencies, I'm pretty sure the average person could weed out obvious astro-turfing.
You are continuing to argue for your limitations instead of realizing that research on purchasing decisions is about the easiest and most streamlined activity possible today and it's barely used out of laziness.
Laziness.
It's all out there. You just have to get up off your ass and look. It's not a scientific dissertation either, and I don't need to create documented proof that the safety razor is superior. 5 minutes would tell me all the pros and cons from my peers, and the various prices associated with them in both brick and mortar retail outlets and online.
That's already nearly infinitely more knowledge than what was given to you in that $200 million dollar advertising push.
What are you on about? It's a simple statement. People are sheep and pay no attention, and there is simply no excuse for that.
It's not a logical fallacy to point out that people sitting on their asses refusing to become educated about a subject cannot complain that it's impossible to become educated when they expend no effort to do so. Especially when the Internet is available to you, even wirelessly in ways that not even Hollywood could think of 50 years ago.
Once again, this ain't 1995. It's not the 50's or 60's. We are not held hostage intellectually by the corporations forced to spend days in the library taking notes and more making phone calls to talk with smart people about a subject. It doesn't take a week of hard work to come to the conclusion that Gillette is full of shit with the advertisements and the price of using cartridges as often as they want is just insanity.
There is an entire world of information at your fingertips just waiting for you. As for your other points, that is once again, simply a matter of effort and perhaps education.
That is the only thing I might agree with you on is that the research skills of the average American 18 year old are approximately dick at this point. Although, admittedly, I'm biased when the only thing I see younger generations producing is #YOLO and new sub languages to communicate with. It doesn't help that young people produce the most wonderful examples of stupidity from Facebook/Reddit/Tumblr and copypasta them everywhere.
I can't possibly be that smart, and I refuse to believe that. The ability to do research just can't be that hard man. It just can't.
If I can do some research online before buying a product than anyone can. Without question AT ALL, if I can do some math in my head and figure out that the family sized can of Tuna is more expensive than the miniature ones (true story) than an 18 year old can do it.
The only thing that makes that so much worse is that grocery stores often list out the price per unit/ounce RIGHT ON THE DAMN SHELF. How stupid can some people be? It's not just a little savings either. Smart grocery shopping can cut your costs in half.
(Score: 2) by Angry Jesus on Sunday April 20 2014, @12:09AM
> I still strongly disagree with your assertion that it's futile to try and become an educated and informed consumer.
It's not futile, it is just time consuming. Not the kind of thing someone can do with any confidence in 10 minutes or even 30 minutes.
Judging by your loquacious responses, I'm thinking you are lucky enough to have the luxury of a lot of spare time.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Sunday April 20 2014, @12:36AM
Not as much as you would think. I might have spent 5 minutes writing that and I'm not the hunt and peck keyboard user. I constantly switch between these screens and remote desktops and SSH shells. If I'm gonna be chained to a computer 12 hours a day while working I might as well take breaks here.
Still, you're accusing me of having more time than others, and I have exactly the same amount of time as everyone else. 24 hours in a day. The economy may suck, but I'm still logging 10 hours per day on my time sheet and I have do the basics in my life myself too.
You're making me think I am some sort of special and unique snowflake in how I consume and produce information. I truly hope that is not the case and I still believe that just 10 minutes can almost entirely eliminate the more obvious misinformation from corporations.
Time is the most salient point here, and all the technology I reference has made it possible for me to conduct more research in less time. That is true for everyone.
So I still don't get the time complaint. We created more time for ourselves with a vastly improved information system, and use it to peruse images of screenshots of banal crap we post on Facebook.
I'm the one with too much time on my hands? While doing this I just finished migrating the database schema from one platform to another. Somebody else just finished watching an idiot on YouTube hurt himself.
I think we all waste a lot of time, and we all have 10 minutes to make a more informed purchasing decision.
Still going with no excuses over here other than stupidity and laziness, both of which are strongly solvable situations.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 1) by Angry Jesus on Sunday April 20 2014, @12:38AM
> You're making me think I am some sort of special and unique snowflake in how I consume and produce information.
Nope, just vastly over-confident.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Sunday April 20 2014, @02:01AM
Now, that sounds like a real insult.
You keep wanting to assassinate either my ability to do the research, or that the research can even be done in a viable time frame. Other than an arguable instance of a logical fallacy on my part you have presented nothing to support your position other than
1) It can't be done
or
2) I belong to a group of people that are easily fooled and lack the capability of gathering data, weighting it accordingly, and performing an appropriate analysis to provide conclusions that can withstand peer-review.
Neither of those directly address my position, or logically preclude them. So instead of insulting me, which is the only conclusion I can come to at this point, why don't you provide support for your position that an informed consumer is simply not reasonable or possible in the current environment?
I'm willing to strongly support my position because being an informed consumer is one of the very few things we have left. I can't control my senators, I can't control corporations with laws, but they haven't stopped me yet from being able to talk or listen. They haven't stopped me from being able to talk about it with you. Free speech and free assembly is still going pretty strong on the Internet. Not ideal to be certain, but it does exist alongside a plethora of other laws designed to require corporations to tell the truth wherever it's reasonably possible.
It's not a fucking mystery. The ingredients of your sandwich fixings are labeled on the side, and that's not a coincidence.
Yes, there is some misinformation out there. Yes, you might have to work at it.
Other than saying I don't have the capability of being an informed consumer, and that I am deluded to think otherwise, you haven't said anything to convince me that it isn't possible for someone else.
Remove me from the equation and provide an argument that a normal person, having normal intelligence, with average resources lacks the ability to obtain information and process it, or learn how. Sounds vague doesn't it? It's that way for a reason. Critical thinking and figuring out our environment is something we all have to do everyday. Show me studies that the average level of intelligence for an 18 year old is barely above Forest Gump, and I'll stipulate that we can't do it.
If you can't do that, then you need to retract your position that nobody can become informed and defend themselves against misinformation and underhanded tactics of corporations that are easily revealed with some simple knowledge that is readily available.
We most certainly can. Every one of us. Except me. I'm too overconfident. I'll have to ask one of you.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by Angry Jesus on Sunday April 20 2014, @02:49AM
> You keep wanting to assassinate either my ability to do the research
Lol. I think you're doing a great job of that all on your own.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Sunday April 20 2014, @04:38AM
Ahhh, you're just a common troll.
I get it now.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by Angry Jesus on Sunday April 20 2014, @10:36AM
> Ahhh, you're just a common troll.
Whatever helps you sleep at night.
That you've demonstrated just how wrong you are with no self-awareness at all is going to be good enough for everyone else reading along to come a different conclusion.
(Score: 2) by hankwang on Sunday April 20 2014, @11:31AM
Well, a German consumer organization tested cartridge razor systems [www.test.de] and concluded that the Gilette offerings actually shave better and last much longer than the competition (both Wilkinson and supermarket home brands). This is data that you're not going to distill reliably from reading tens of user reviews and forum posts.
Avantslash: SoylentNews for mobile [avantslash.org]
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Sunday April 20 2014, @11:15AM
Here's a +1 for you... ...I have an autistic son who chews up a lot of our time, but I still have time to THINK...in the shower, on teh toilet, driving to work, whatever. THINK about why your razor costs so much and THINK about is it really better than what you had before.
Is the new Mr. Clean better than the old one? Is it better than plain baking soda?
You've got to actually THINK, though. Too many times I've had people run up to me saying "Do you have this new product i just saw on Dr. Oz, or Oprah?" (I work retail.... 'nuff said.)
Too many people are sheeple and don't think, whatever time they have... they just suck in the marketing and buy.
Just stop and THINK... next time you're on the toilet, think about why you just spent $6 on a new toothbrush that used to cost less than $1... why it's because it has a flexy handle! Sweet! That's worth an extra $5! Woohoo!
Problem is there are too many sheeple, going 'baaah' every time Oprah farts on stage. Sad.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday April 20 2014, @10:19AM
Everybody who's trying to sell you something.
How much domain knowledge was required to work that out - almost zero.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Angry Jesus on Sunday April 20 2014, @11:16AM
> How much domain knowledge was required to work that out - almost zero.
Perhaps you could explain how to identify who those people are?
Seriously. Just what is it that lets you know if a review on amazon is fake [forbes.com] or that professional game reviewer has been bribed [cinemablend.com] or that spontaneous forum post by a satisified customer [city-data.com] is actually secretly compensated? [dynamicmounting.com]
Because if you can answer that, you are a fucking super-genius.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday April 20 2014, @03:03PM
Likewise the game reviewer.
Likewise DAlba, in particular given that that post is blatant astroturf.
I am a fucking super-genius, thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Angry Jesus on Sunday April 20 2014, @03:11PM
You seem to have confused the forest for the trees.
Those are examples of a phenomenon for which there is no defense other than personal expertise in the topic.
That I have to explain that to you suggests that you are the opposite of a super-genius.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday April 20 2014, @03:45PM
Your assumptions are making an ass of u and mptions.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Angry Jesus on Sunday April 20 2014, @03:51PM
> False - I have no expertise in the fields those comments were made in.
It seems pretty clear you have no expertise in the forest either.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday April 20 2014, @04:06PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Angry Jesus on Sunday April 20 2014, @04:21PM
You only see that because you've been tripping on metaphorical shrooms.
Which explains why you aren't actually able to see the forest for the trees.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday April 20 2014, @04:34PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 20 2014, @04:40PM
> I think you will see my argument has remained 100% consistent right from the very start.
Yes, consistently poor.
(Score: 1) by blackest_k on Sunday April 20 2014, @11:16AM
Not really, the first sign of a flawed product is generally advertising !
The more heavily advertised the worst the product in general. A lot of the time you can find the problems in the small print that's on the screen.
Ask why you would want this and you generally have the answer no this isn't of any use to me.
If your eyes are open you see payday loans at 2049% apr for example. The answer is to cut your spending not add to your spending by servicing a loan at a stupid interest rate.
health products by Dr somebody (hmm it says in the small print he isn't actually a medical doctor).
A bit of common sense goes a long way.
(Score: 2) by Angry Jesus on Sunday April 20 2014, @11:37AM
> Not really, the first sign of a flawed product is generally advertising!
No, that is not true. There are two kinds of advertising:
(1) The kind that seeks to inform you of a product you are probably not aware of.
(2) The kind that seeks to trick you into purchasing a product by misrepresentation.
#1 is perfectly straightforward and acceptable.
#2 is duplicitous and where marketers spend the vast majority of their effort - from the obvious like booth babes to the deliberately duplicitous astro-turfing. [wikipedia.org]
Frankly, I'm surprised at just how naive the responses to my post have been. Where the fuck have you guys been over the last couple of decades? False credibility is practically the lifeblood of modern advertising - from society destroying stuff like the bogus AAA rated bonds that enabled the housing bubble and Big Pharma's manipulation of the published science evaluating their drugs [wikipedia.org] to the trivial like purchased amazon reviews. [dearauthor.com]
(Score: 3, Funny) by sgleysti on Saturday April 19 2014, @04:04PM
I just want to say that all of the comments I have read in this topic so far were helpful and in good spirit. Amazing. I'm off the internet for today, just to save this experience.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 19 2014, @04:06PM
So let me get this straight, there are electrical shavers and razors. The latter ones describe the manual thing that most people use I suppose where you need to cut with hand movement. So what in the world does a razor with a battery??
Sorry, I don't have a television so maybe I missed some advertisement that explains it all.
(Score: 1) by Twike on Saturday April 19 2014, @04:42PM
I believe it does the same thing as the cheapest battery-powered toothbrushes and causes vibration by embedding something like a phone vibration mechanism. I recall seeing the commercial and thinking "Gee, a razor that's vibrating in an unknown direction, that seems a bad idea." but then I remember learning to shave and allowing the safety razor(2 blade disposable model then) to drift sideways instead of down while in contact with skin.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 19 2014, @05:04PM
I always wanted a vibrator on my face, NOT
So if they already make another version it would appear people are actually buying those?? I never pay attention to that supermarket section since I do it oldschool (permanent blade) but Jesus, I'm always fascinated to learn how people waste money on stuff because of totally useless features.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 19 2014, @04:12PM
Any discussion of razors must include a reference to the seminal Onion article:
Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades! [theonion.com]
(Score: 2) by gallondr00nk on Saturday April 19 2014, @04:20PM
If there's money in a six bladed, swivel headed razor then you can get your ass someone is going to develop it sooner or later.
I wouldn't call it innovation. It looks to me like product development.
When you boil it down, anything innovative that comes out of any corporation is a handy byproduct. They aren't in the business of innovation. Yes, it can allow them to produce new things to sell, but as the article states it isn't a prerequisite.
Take a drug company. Yes, innovation is a useful byproduct of their business model, and we've witnessed some fantastic technological advances in medicine. Yet profit is still their driving motive. If they could do it without innovating or inventing anything, I'm sure they wouldn't really care, and that was the strongest example I could think of.
Relying on the private sector exclusively for furthering research seems to get us some breakthroughs and an awful lot of shiny widgets.
I can't help but wonder if we in the west hadn't gutted public funded research at the start of the neoliberal era, would we be more advanced technologically?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Silentknyght on Saturday April 19 2014, @05:28PM
The most profitable companies will be continually in the business of innovation.
Like the summary suggests, if P&G were to innovate to create a cheap, simple, laser hair removal system for the home user, then they'd immediately obsolete an entire industry. Then, while they can maintain the patents/trade secrets on their invention, they will enjoy fat profit margins. When competition finally catches up and/or their patents expire, they'd be best off AGAIN introducing the next invention to obsolete the laser hair removal market.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by umafuckitt on Saturday April 19 2014, @04:52PM
Dollar Shave is a subscription model, which may not work for everyone. Another good option, therefore, is ShaveMOB. Their three-blade cartridges start at a buck each and all cartridges share the same mounting system.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Appalbarry on Saturday April 19 2014, @06:00PM
Seriously - buy a low end toaster today and you'll find that it does a lousy job toasting bread, and will last maybe six months.
This is fifty or sixty year old technology, technology that hasn't changed in that time (bagel settings notwithstanding). Even when it's being made at some cut the corners cheaper than cheap Chinese factory, it should work. It can't possibly cost more to make it work than not.
And that's the problem - we expect and accept that nearly everything we buy will be second or third rate. Right now we're dealing with a two year old Bosch dishwasher (not the cheapest by far) which periodically gets gummed up because of it's low water usage and because it can't adapt to soft water, and a three month old set-top TV box that has decided to stop connecting with Netflix and which refuses to retain changes to the aspect ratio in settings.
Last month it was a $90 kettle that failed because of a cheap connector on the base. Breville was great about replacing it, but shouldn't it have been better designed in the first place?
Some days it seems that my time is equally divided between stuff that doesn't work, and apparently was never even tested, and stuff that used to work, and now can't be repaired and needs to be tossed out.
(Score: 1) by adh72 on Saturday April 19 2014, @06:43PM
Thank God I'm not alone in this. Lately I have spent more time researching products than I do using them. Between my start-up and young son, my money and time are very limited these days and I can't afford junk anymore.
(Score: 2) by forsythe on Saturday April 19 2014, @08:40PM
If it lasted forever, what need would you ever have for another toaster? No company in their right mind would make such a thing!
I'm not that upset that low-end products are low-end quality, but higher-end products aren't that much better. A more expensive product [these days?] isn't better quality, and it doesn't last longer. It just has more gimmicks attached to it while it lasts. Sure, you can spend $3,500 on a fridge, but are you actually buying quality, or are you buying a touchscreen [gizmag.com]?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 20 2014, @11:14PM
I don't understand this logic. I strive for quality. I'd aim for getting one of my lifetime-warranteed toasters in *every* household. So that's like give or take 2 billion?
After that I'd go for built-for-eternity roasters, ovens, until I replace everything in the kitchen.
That's called sustainable. You're *not* supposed to be making billions in such an industry. You're supposed to supply a good product (and possibly support it).
Can't wait for open hardware and 3d printers to kick in and disrupt the shit out of most of these fucknuts!
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Appalbarry on Saturday April 19 2014, @06:09PM
Triple-Trac [jt.org]
[ FADE IN on a caveman on his knees by a river ]
Announcer (V/O): In the dawn of civilization, long before the Bronze Age, man first began his search for the close shave.
[ The caveman takes a club and hits himself in the face. DISSOLVE to the announcer speaking to the camera against a black background ]
Announcer: Since then, man has been ardently striding to design the perfect shaving instrument.
[ Shots of various razors are shown ]
Announcer (V/O): From the straight razor, to the safety razor, to the injector system, and finally the highly acclaimed twinblade cartridge.
[ The announcer picks up a twinblade and shows it to the camera ]
Announcer: Almost perfect, yet not quite the superlative groom. Introducing the Triple-Trac.
[ DISSOLVE to a close-up of the three-bladed Triple-Trac razor ]
Announcer (V/O): Not just two blades in one system, but three stainless, platinum teflex-coated blades melded together to form one incredible shaving cartridge, easily fitted into your old twinblade holder. Triple-Trac's triple-threat cartridge, with more close shaves than ever before. Here's how it works.
[ DISSOLVE to a cartoon showing a how the Triple-Trac shaves a whisker ]
Announcer (V/O): The first blade grabs at the whisker, tugging it away from your face to protect it from the second blade.
[ The cartoon shows how the Triple-Trac yanks painfully at the whisker ]
Announcer (V/O): Blade number two catches and digs into the stubble before it has the chance to snap back and injure you, pulling it farther out so that it is now ready for shearing.
[ The cartoon shows an even more painful whisker-yanking ]
Announcer (V/O): Triple-Trac's third blade, a finely-honed bonded platinum instrument, cuts cleanly through the whisker at its base, leaving your face as smooth as a billiard ball.
[ Finally, the cartoon shows the Triple-Trac completely shaving the whisker ]
[ DISSOLVE back to the announcer against the black background, holding up a Triple-Trac ]
Announcer: The Triple-Trac. Because you'll believe anything.
[ FADE ]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by sjames on Saturday April 19 2014, @06:45PM
I keep hearing all about how capitalism seeks the most efficient assignment of resources and blah blah blah, but what I keep seeing is huge corporations being rewarded over and over for wasting resources on crap like this. They get rewarded for shaving 2 cents off the cost of making an item that will sell for $20 even though that 2 cent saving cut it's durability in half. How efficient is that?
We have entire professions whose only purpose is to convince people that useless things are absolutely necessary and that key features are less important than the bells and whistles.
Efficient?
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Saturday April 19 2014, @07:06PM
Well, it's true for certain meanings of "efficient". It is remarkably efficient at separating marks from cash without their feeling the need to complain. (Or, sometimes, they're just too embarrassed to complain. See "This way to the Egress."
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 1) by kumanopuusan on Saturday April 19 2014, @07:24PM
Even in theory, capitalism is only efficient with perfect information and rational agents. Marketing attacks both directly, through misinformation and fostering irrational beliefs, thereby creating opportunities for profit that would not exist otherwise.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Sunday April 20 2014, @05:18AM
Agreed completely. Then top it off with branding. Most consumers would be shocked at how often the premium brand is exactly the same product off of the same assembly line as the off-brand cheapo model. For that matter, they'd be surprised how often the budget model is the same as the top of the line model except for the firmware loaded or a jumper snipped on the board.
(Score: 1) by scruffybeard on Monday April 21 2014, @04:31PM
This is true, except that off-brands are sometimes the "seconds" from the premium line. They my be slightly off spec with respect to color, tolerance, or taste. Think of a can of green beans that were packed in water with a little too much salt, or a pencil with an eraser that is a little loose. This may or may not be a big deal for you. It also varies between batches, so you get one of high quality, and don't understand why I am disappointed, because I got the low quality one.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Monday April 21 2014, @05:39PM
Generally not. Sure, such things are sold and people who aren't so picky get a good deal, but I'm talking about things with regular availability all identical just like any brand, just in a less flashy wrapper/box.
Often, the premium brand buys from them and just custom orders some cosmetic detail to 'differentiate the brand'.
(Score: 1) by Programmatic on Saturday April 19 2014, @11:03PM
At one point I came across Marx's theory of alienation [wikipedia.org], and political junk aside it has some interesting points. One of the ideas that struck me most was from his first identified type of alienation:
(I) Alienation of the worker from the work — from the product of his labour
The design of the product and how it is produced are determined not by the producers who make it (the workers), nor by the consumers of the product (the buyers), but by the Capitalist class, who, besides appropriating the worker’s manual labour, also appropriate the intellectual labour of the engineer and the industrial designer who create the product, in order to shape the taste of the consumer to buy the goods and services at a price that yields a maximal profit.
Since reading that, I've noticed many occasions in which I would love to buy a certain widget, only to be given the option to either buy WidgetPlus(tm) with 90% more electrolytes!!! or nothing at all. The extra profit margin from selling a WidgetPlus(tm) instead of a generic widget (that works great and is exactly what the customer wants) is used to market the WidgetPlus and convince stores and people that the WidgetPlus is what they want, not a regular widget.
The solution escapes me; capitalism may be the worst system out there, except for all of the others...
(Score: 2) by sjames on Sunday April 20 2014, @05:13AM
Marx actually has a lot of good points. Obviously, his works shouldn't be swallowed whole, but neither should they be discarded.
I note that we seem to have actually discarded a lot of good points Smith had about markets as well. For example, his advice about keeping corporations small and the market regulated.
I don't have a complete answer, but we could certainly do a lot better with truth in advertising. I understand puffery and opinion, but advertising has been routinely allowed to stray into big fat lie territory. That wouldn't even scratch the surface of carefully crafted implication and even innuendo, but it would be an obvious start.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 19 2014, @07:24PM
Ever notice that if the WSJ has anything substantive behind their paywall, other sources report the substance of what they're saying? Usually with the filler stripped out. (For example, the WSJ usually pads out articles by getting the opinion of some random analyst not connected to the story.)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Lagg on Saturday April 19 2014, @07:35PM
This does indeed show a problem with something in America but not with innovation. They're innovating just fine as you can see in the marketing department. The problem is that the right things aren't getting innovated because they don't make money as well as shoveling crap on stupid people does. This has been slowly emerging as a trend in recent years and is now really starting to show itself in hardware like these silly razors (I got one once to see what the fad was about, meh.) and in software, particularly video games, with the shovelware that has been put out lately. One popularly referenced one is the plethora of bad "simulator" games on Steam, badly ported classic games because they can't be bothered coming up with something new or lame excuses of games barely suitable for a random flash farm site or facebook. All of this will stop once people stop making it so lucrative. But good luck trying to convince people that their Mach-10 20 blade turbo X-5 is not much better than any random 2-3 blade.
http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 19 2014, @08:08PM
"they don't make money as well as shoveling crap on stupid people does."
A person is smart, people are dumb.
Don't be like other people.
Burma Shave
(Score: 4, Informative) by sl4shd0rk on Saturday April 19 2014, @10:42PM
get yourself a (like gramps used to have) Merkur off Amazon along with a pack of variety blades. you can get the blades for about $0.10 , and you won't believe the nice shave you get from them. you'll kick yourself in the ass for not doing it sooner.
(Score: 1) by jasassin on Saturday April 19 2014, @11:39PM
get yourself a (like gramps used to have) Merkur off Amazon along with a pack of variety blades. you can get the blades for about $0.10 , and you won't believe the nice shave you get from them. you'll kick yourself in the ass for not doing it sooner.
That's exactly what I did, and I don't hate shaving anymore. The shittiest razors I have used are the ones with more than one blade. Even using just two blades caused the razor to fill with hair that cannot be removed, rendering the razor completely useless. More blades, more shit to plug up. I got a Merkur 34C double bladed safety razor ($35US) over a year ago with a 100 pack of Dorco blades ($8US), and I've only used about 15 blades so far. Just swishing it in the sink water effortlessly cleans it out. I highly recommend a double edged safety razor. Like the bald dood from Pawn Stars says "You only need one blade!"
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 1) by sjwt on Sunday April 20 2014, @03:48AM
I didn't get the M5 for years after it came out, horrible prices ect.. was Sticking with my old razor for ages, then I got one as a present, I shave using just water, no foam or anything and these M5 blades last for ever! They do go blunt, but even blunt keeps shaving, and at a better rate then a cheaper blade..
I own no shares in Gillette, receive no incentive or pay for writing this, the Mach 5's balde are fucking fantastic compared to anything else I've tried so far on the market.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Dr Ippy on Sunday April 20 2014, @10:54AM
So why are so many men still using razors?
Having tried my luck with a Gillette razor as a teenager, and cut myself several times, I changed to an electric shaver and I've never looked back. (Except for the many years when I didn't shave at all.)
What's the attraction of the old soap-and-water and sharp blade, when a quick couple of minutes' carefree buzzing will do the job perfectly well?
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(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 20 2014, @11:21PM
You've answered yourself there; I shave in ~30 seconds, you need minutes. Oh, and I don't need batteries or an electrical outlet.
To be honest, I did mean to try a newer-generation electrical razor for a while, but from my previous experience, they don't *really* shave you silky-smooth, which is how I like it; just like the silk-ah!
(Score: 2, Insightful) by muhgi on Monday April 21 2014, @01:17PM
Not everyone is you. Some of us have really tough beards that don't succumb to even the best electric shavers. The "modern" stuff like the Mach III work "ok" for me, but I don't get many reuses out of a blade. Given the cost of blades, it was ridiculous.
I discovered that the best thing *for me* is a Merkur handle with double-edged Wilkinson Sword blades and to change the blade for every use. Most people seem to prefer the Feather blades, but the Wilkinson blades are more flexible which seems to put them at a better angle for me.
Notice the constant "for me" in there. Everyone's face is different.
So are everyone's legs. My fiancee tried the top 5 best rated women's disposable blades and ended up with some unranked (as far as we know) standard single blade disposable razor as working best for her.