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Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

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Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#331

Post by taulien »

masto wrote: post #324
jws wrote: post #60

I married into toaster moguls. When they sold out in '97, domestic toasters had been infeasible for years already. And this was for a company where all the knowledge, equipment, and facilities had beed paid for many decades before. (They invented the electric pop-up toaster for certain definitions of electric pop-up toaster.) Toasters are refined brilliance, if done right. The concept of "done" is computed using an a…

They don't all have nothing that isn't required. My toaster runs Android, has a touch screen, WiFi and an app, and a camera for the AI to identify what you put in it and so you can watch a live stream of your toast or play back recordings from the cloud. It was a pre-order in 2015 that didn't ship for two years. Unfortunately they sold out to Weber a couple of years ago and the product has been discontinued, much to…

I can't say if you are kidding or not.

I am a little bit worried, that you aren't.

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#332

Post by terom »

iancmceachern wrote: post #231
frozenport wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the toaster on Amazon have these? If not they are extra.

Yes, they do. You can see the "UL" mark on the product label

https://photos.app.goo.gl/S6sFaEUxY89Tgxn56 here's an example of the safety/certification markings from a 24V power supply sold in the EU.

Take a close look at the TÜV/GS logo and font. I seriously doubt the UL file number E131992 exists. The Safety Mark 021068-00 code is for a Samsung AC Adapter [1], which this is not. You can see some of the same details in the AliExpress listings.

[1] https://www.go.gov.sg/safety-mark

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#334

Post by psc »

Semaphor wrote: post #95
eru wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> [...] and consumers who say they want reliable, well-made goods will balk and buy cheap stuff en masse when it comes down to the wire. And I've never really had much of a problem with cheap toasters being unreliable in the first place. But I guess there are people who do?

My main issue is usually that it’s so hard to tell if something is cheap but costs a lot, or if it costs a lot because it’s not cheap. Probably also partially because of price anchoring, where products seem expensive, because many very cheap ones cost even less.

Very true, unfortunately this means that for many modern products it only makes sense to buy the cheapest because then at least you know exactly what you're getting (low quality), even though it's not really what you want. Yet again an instance of Market for Lemons (or maybe Gresham's law).

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Market_for_Lemons [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gresham%27s_law

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#335

Post by thehappypm »

addandsubtract wrote: post #292
zemvpferreira wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I married into toaster moguls Truly, hacker news is the most wonderfully diverse ecosystem.

Ironic to see, that after all the litigations were settled, OP was toast.

[flagged]

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#336

Post by mst »

grepfru_it wrote: post #320
FirmwareBurner wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Intel makes pretty good toaster chips too. https://www.overclock.net/threads/worried-about-13900k-tempe...

Intel is tame. My Ryzen 9 operates at 90C and is considered normal

I wonder if my first gen. Athlon 850 still runs, and if so what (other than itself) I could potentially cook with it.

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#337

Post by diydsp »

zemvpferreira wrote: post #275
jws wrote: post #60

I married into toaster moguls. When they sold out in '97, domestic toasters had been infeasible for years already. And this was for a company where all the knowledge, equipment, and facilities had beed paid for many decades before. (They invented the electric pop-up toaster for certain definitions of electric pop-up toaster.) Toasters are refined brilliance, if done right. The concept of "done" is computed using an a…

>I married into toaster moguls Truly, hacker news is the most wonderfully diverse ecosystem.

That is a sign of a well-capitalized, but not diverse milieu.

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#338

Post by wegfawefgawefg »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #321
wegfawefgawefg wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The low trust part could mostly be a (percieved) race thing. I wont claim to understand human psychology. But I dont think thats enough to explain this. Something relevant, a lot of the houses that were allowed to be built in the 40s would be illegal now. I could probably build a decently sized small house with a garage with a cousin for 20-30k. But it would be illegal to live in. Even in the countryside... and event…

Hm. Where I live, I built my house in the country. There were no rules, no inspections except well and septic by the county health department. Maybe other counties have the resources to create bureaucracies. But her in the Midwest there's not the budget for creating elaborate rules, much less paying inspectors.

The majority of the US population lives in places where thats not the case.

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#339

Post by rmbyrro »

Although I feel sad for saying this, what I think is sane is: don't compete with the Chinese.

Unless you can build an audience of extremely loyal fans. In that case, I'd suggest to start pitching your vision for a US-made toaster and sell a refundable pre-purchase (like 10% of the toaster).

If you can't attract a large enough fan base, you won't be successful, I'm afraid.

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#340

Post by crazygringo »

masto wrote: post #324
jws wrote: post #60

I married into toaster moguls. When they sold out in '97, domestic toasters had been infeasible for years already. And this was for a company where all the knowledge, equipment, and facilities had beed paid for many decades before. (They invented the electric pop-up toaster for certain definitions of electric pop-up toaster.) Toasters are refined brilliance, if done right. The concept of "done" is computed using an a…

They don't all have nothing that isn't required. My toaster runs Android, has a touch screen, WiFi and an app, and a camera for the AI to identify what you put in it and so you can watch a live stream of your toast or play back recordings from the cloud. It was a pre-order in 2015 that didn't ship for two years. Unfortunately they sold out to Weber a couple of years ago and the product has been discontinued, much to…

I really thought you were joking until I just looked up "smart toasters".

I can't find any that have a camera inside though, and I can't imagine how there would even be room for a field of view for one.

Unless you mean a toaster oven which is different? Turns out Breville makes one with a camera, much to my surprise.

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