Just need @AOC or @realdonaldtrump to do a little tweet and the DOJ will get on it.
How badly are we being ripped off on eyewear? Former industry execs tell all
241–250 of 317 posts
Re: How badly are we being ripped off on eyewear? Former industry execs tell all
#242It's articles like this that make me wonder how much of our middle class burden comes from hidden rent seeking parasites like this. I honestly don't know. I'm not trying to imply any particular thing. I honestly wonder. These sorts of things can stack up through the layers of companies that make things. And where does this money go? What does it end up doing?
>It's articles like this that make me wonder how much of our middle class burden comes from hidden rent seeking parasites like this.
One third of it.
The other third is from advertising: a huge industry using all kinds of manipulation, psychological tricks, constant brain washing, and (nowadays) surveillance, to make us buy all kinds of crap we don't need, and didn't want until yesterday.
And the last third is from jobs that make the middle class so tired and give it so little time and space, that shopping feels like therapy, and giving in to rent-seeking is the only option.
Re: How badly are we being ripped off on eyewear? Former industry execs tell all
#243Adam Ruins Everything - The Conspiracy Behind Your Glasses
Re: How badly are we being ripped off on eyewear? Former industry execs tell all
#244It's articles like this that make me wonder how much of our middle class burden comes from hidden rent seeking parasites like this. I honestly don't know. I'm not trying to imply any particular thing. I honestly wonder. These sorts of things can stack up through the layers of companies that make things. And where does this money go? What does it end up doing?
> how much of our middle class burden comes from hidden rent seeking parasites like this. If you include the unwillingness to respond to demand by building enough new homes in the popular urban areas, probably a lot. A 1000 sq.ft. home (house or condo) should not cost more than $200,000 to build. Anything above that, someone is making profit.
Even $200,000 is a hell of a lot.
Most US houses I've seen are not even made with bricks and cement, just wooden construction that shouldn't cost more than say 50-100K.
Re: How badly are we being ripped off on eyewear? Former industry execs tell all
#245Earlier quoted context omitted.
What you mention about polycarbonate is interesting. I just got my first pair of glasses (well, the first in about 35 years) and I can't quite put my finger on it but they bother me. Clarity is better, but there's something about the colors of things, especially where things contrast, that is bothersome. I end up taking them off (they are only really for computer use at this point, my vision isn't all that bad yet) j…
Also got my first pair of glasses a few week ago when visiting home! I love them, everything is so clear, it's almost like switching to 4k! But something is off when I read my computer screen. Also they cause eye strain after a while if I am reading. Several people mentioned having separate pair of glasses. I have started reading about lenses and all that, very interesting. I'm considering getting extra pairs for che…
I recently purchased glasses online for the first time, from EyeBuyDirect. I got a pair specifically for computer use, with a weaker prescription, smaller pupil distance, and lower index of refraction to cut down on chromatic aberration. For $45 I'm fairly satisfied, even though I haven't quite got the frames adjusted for a perfect fit yet. The chromatic aberration is still noticeable when I look for it, but definitely smaller than my regular glasses, and I'm hoping that in the long run it will be less distracting with the new pair.
Re: How badly are we being ripped off on eyewear? Former industry execs tell all
#246For the recent years I stopped paying for vision insurance, and just pay out of pocket at Jins when I need new pairs. They have a brick and mortar near me (San Jose CA), and also do prescription sunglasses.
When I had vision insurance I feel obliged to get new pairs every year (covered by insurance), and also often pay a fair amount out of pocket because at most shops that accept the insurance the strictly under the coverage pairs are usually ugly or in shitty quality, or both. Jins lenses and frames are actually in good quality and durable.
Re: How badly are we being ripped off on eyewear? Former industry execs tell all
#247Earlier quoted context omitted.
> one for distance, one computer-specific How do you find the correction for the computer specific glass? I have a pair for distance but it is a horror to use with computers.
Life-changing. I should have gotten them decades ago. I had no idea how much I was straining my eyes trying to use distance glasses for the computer, until I finally got them. I sat at my desk and measured the exact distance to the monitor, then asked my optometrist to give me glasses with a focal length of that +/- about eight inches. For me, it's roughly arms' length, about three feet. Many optometrists try to sell…
Exactly this!! I have an extra wide computer screen for work, it is a gamers screen. So when they tried to sell me progressive, I refused. I want 2 good solutions, not 1 half assed one.
Next time I see an optometrist, I will have to ask them with my precise focal length. They have the details of my correction, so they should be able to figure it out.
Can I bother you more? What is your take on undercorrection? I am wondering if I should go for that for my future computer glasses, or my regular glasses.
Re: How badly are we being ripped off on eyewear? Former industry execs tell all
#248Earlier quoted context omitted.
> $27 for three pairs of prescription "computer monitor" glasses You are the second person to mention "computer monitor" glasses so I wonder, are they the same correction as your normal glasses? I am new to wearing glasses. I have a pair I use outside, they make everything crystal clear. I love them!! But for computers they are a pain after while, so I don't use them. As other people mention costs, I paid about $30 t…
Guessing "computer glasses" means that they have a blue light filter. The filter doesn't cost much extra and really helps.
Just got a reply- it's not. It has a different focal length, so you can relax your eyes when working on a computer screen.
Re: How badly are we being ripped off on eyewear? Former industry execs tell all
#249Earlier quoted context omitted.
I decided to take a break from society last year. I'm fortunate enough where I am that it's eminently reasonable to do. I found some Mennonites that build small 14 * 28 foot cabins with two sleeping lofts. It costs about 8k, and that includes delivery to your land. They come with the exterior/roof finished, but the interior is up to you. Your personal asceticism modulates the cost. My shower is actuated by a ball val…
Don't get me wrong, it's great that you found a way to reduce the work stress in your life! But ... I genuinely cannot tell whether the guy posting on Hacker News that he "dropped out of society" is being serious or tongue-in-cheek. If paying society's currency for all the solar panels and the batteries and the gas and the generator and the refrigerator and the laptops and the deeded property and all the other stuff…
>I genuinely cannot tell whether the guy posting on Hacker News that he "dropped out of society" is being serious or tongue-in-cheek.
For reference, 90% of people in subsaharan Africa, whatever the country, have a cellphone (with some kind of internet). And around 40% have internet connection (predicted to be 50% 3G in 2020).
In the US many homeless people have internet access and even laptops.
"Dropping out of society" in a concrete sense and posting on HN are not contradictory. You can do it from a small mobile home in Alaska, your own log cabin somewhere out in Wyoming, or from some hut in the Amazon, all of which qualify to my book.
Re: How badly are we being ripped off on eyewear? Former industry execs tell all
#250Lens Crafters charges a huge markup if you want their lenses put into your own frames. It's almost cheaper to buy new frames from them (and in the case of particularly-expensive lenses, it is in fact cheaper to buy new frames). That's clearly a scam. Warby Parker sells glasses at more reasonable prices, but their frames are god-awful hideous tortoiseshell plastic abominations. If you want nice metal frames, they have…
My modus operandi is to buy the frame from US under my vision plan with ultra cheapo glasses, and then get the glasses replaced abroad for half the price of what I would have paid in US.