291–300 of 317 posts
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Curious - Where do you have the information fro that TAG have a smaller advertising budget than Rolex? I would've assumed the opposite.
That was more anecdotal than fact based.
The total cost was 47$ for both.
This was in Sofia.
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Curious - Where do you have the information fro that TAG have a smaller advertising budget than Rolex? I would've assumed the opposite.
That was more anecdotal than fact based.
But your original point might still be true, regardless.
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Well, my first thought was - if eyewear can be produced for less, why doesn't somebody take advantage of the opportunity and do so? Capitalism at its finest and all that. But the answer immediately struck me: if somebody was offering a product at half the cost everybody else was, I wouldn't trust it - and I suspect most other people wouldn't, either. Considering the size of the initial investment, this upstart wouldn…
Zenni Optical does, as well as several other online retailers. There have been a few good HN threads on the topic previously. Here are a couple I had bookmarked: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13091936 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15373992
I might not be able to get whatever pair I want right now, but I'd find a decent one. The quality from a fashion perspective would be miles ahead, I don't even care about brand name; just how they look. Sunglasses for me are something that I actively wear 1-5 pairs of at a time.
Frankly I could afford to pay $100-300, but don't need to. Most people care more about the brand and status aspect, but I don't, just how they look. $50-150 for something like a pair of shoes is a reality most people can and do deal with. If they (Zenni) looked like glasses I'd want to wear, I'd jump at them. American optical have aviators in that price range, and aren't owned by luxottica
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It doesn't even seem like anyone has interest in building $200,000 houses anymore, but they will sell you a poorly made condo for $400,000 and $600/mo HOA fees. I am a single person trying to find a house that is not four or five bedrooms (I only need one or two) and doesn't cost 1/2 mil minimum and it's difficult. This used to be called "the starter house" but it doesn't seem to exist anymore with new construction.
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…
You're more "on the grid" than you think. Those solar panels were built in China (probably), how did you get them? Where will you go to get replacement parts? Where do you go to get gasoline for your generator? How is that easier than paying a power bill every month? You can't drink straight out of the well, you'll need a filtration system which needs maintenance, why not just pay a water bill with a hookup from a city?
You haven't dropped out of society at all. You're intensely reliant on society right now. If anything in your janky setup breaks and you can't fix it in a few days, you will find yourself at a motel and fully back "on the grid". I'm not saying you need to be a condo living yuppie, but surely there's a happy middle ground.
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Well, my first thought was - if eyewear can be produced for less, why doesn't somebody take advantage of the opportunity and do so? Capitalism at its finest and all that. But the answer immediately struck me: if somebody was offering a product at half the cost everybody else was, I wouldn't trust it - and I suspect most other people wouldn't, either. Considering the size of the initial investment, this upstart wouldn…
ZenniOptical - I've only used their glasses aside from my very first pair. They've been fine, and if someone were to step on my glasses, I'd angrily retrieve spare # 3 from my desk and/or spare # 2 from my car since each pair is ~30-70 USD. Not an ad
It'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?
I've always followed the normal route--I have employer provided vision insurance, I would get myself tested every two years by a optometrist that my insurance covered, and I would buy glass using the prescription from the optometrist or a glasses store supported by my insurance. I don't have anything special in my glasses--single focal, no tinting or light sensitivity, and my glasses weren't remotely stylish, and I'd…
I lost a pair of plastic glasses in the Colorado River in 1992 or so, crazy to think they are possibly reasonably intact somewhere in the Pacific Ocean :|
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It doesn't even seem like anyone has interest in building $200,000 houses anymore, but they will sell you a poorly made condo for $400,000 and $600/mo HOA fees. I am a single person trying to find a house that is not four or five bedrooms (I only need one or two) and doesn't cost 1/2 mil minimum and it's difficult. This used to be called "the starter house" but it doesn't seem to exist anymore with new construction.
You must be referring to a major city. Sub $200k houses are the norm for most of the USA.
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Zenni requires you to do a bit of your own research, like every other new-economy self-service approach. But it's worth it. Switching to Zenni has allowed me to move to cheap CR-39 lenses rather than expensive high index material. CR-39 is soft, and if I'm paying a lot for frames then the lenses getting scratched is a Big Deal. Then pile on further costs for coatings etc. But if the frames and lenses are both inexpen…
Chromatic aberration drives me nuts, especially when driving at night or using a computer. LED headlights are particularly irritating; if I don't look through the centre of the lenses, the way they separate into distinct blue and white lights creates a visually chaotic scene. The last time I got new glasses (from Costco), I specifically requested lenses that would minimise chromatic aberration. But they didn't have a…