Search doesn't work, it autocompletes but doesn't search
Yeah, same here, Firefox 81 on Linux is throwing a "type error" on the console when I try to search.
Show HN: I built a Rotten Tomatoes-style platform for durable products
281–290 of 413 posts
Re: Show HN: I built a Rotten Tomatoes-style platform for durable products
#282Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes. Sometimes a manufacturer will switch battery types but I've seen this more with real consumer grade products than prosumer/pro ones. (Have a couple Black and Decker products I've had to throw out because batteries died and couldn't get replacements even online.) But it's pretty much a given that anything like a cordless drill will have the batteries give out long before (and even multiple times) before you need…
> because batteries died and couldn't get replacements Search for “battery repack”. The batteries inside are always a standard size, and can be replaced by cracking the case. There are specialist companies that do it, but you have to find them. You can do it yourself if the tool is worth spending the time on - basic soldering skills, and glue the case back together after you break it open to replace the cells (ugly,…
One I threw out many years ago. The other one (a hedge trimmer), the main problem is that I don't have the charger (or can't find it) and I couldn't find a replacement anywhere. In any case, I bought a (better) substitute that works with a tool that lets me switch out heads.
Re: Show HN: I built a Rotten Tomatoes-style platform for durable products
#283Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think the comparison to Rotten Tomatoes makes sense because you aren't aggregating professional reviews of these products. To me it is just another product review site tackling a niche. But the idea of tracking cost per month is very intriguing (a measure of TCO, which you may want to tackle as well, because for some products that may include electricity usage, upkeep, etc). I think it is something that can t…
> because you aren't aggregating professional reviews of these products outdoorgearlab.com looks like a professional review site to me in the context of being an affiliate marketing / review site. IMHO almost all reviews online are affiliate marketing these days, so what I'd really be interested in is a site that hosts reviews and doesn't allow _any_ affiliate marketing or external links. IE: No incentive to game the…
> No incentive to game the system with inflated review scores.
There huge incentives from the companies who make the products to influence the ratings, regardless.
Is there any way that this site can prevent fake reviews?
Re: Show HN: I built a Rotten Tomatoes-style platform for durable products
#284I like the concept but since it's open to the public it will suffer from ignorance. For example, take the Salomon Quest boots that are listed. I own a pair of them. While they're good boots for the price they do not deserve an A- score. They are not BIFL. The soles are glued making them not resoleable. The sole on one of mine has started coming unglued too. The same can be said for the Victorinox Fibrox knife that ha…
"how long have you owned the product"
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Re: Show HN: I built a Rotten Tomatoes-style platform for durable products
#285I like the concept but since it's open to the public it will suffer from ignorance. For example, take the Salomon Quest boots that are listed. I own a pair of them. While they're good boots for the price they do not deserve an A- score. They are not BIFL. The soles are glued making them not resoleable. The sole on one of mine has started coming unglued too. The same can be said for the Victorinox Fibrox knife that ha…
Op can't avoid this problem if following the reviews-masquerading-as-affiliate-marketing pattern. What's needed is to turn it all upside down: rather than reviewing new products, review broken products. Make a site about how things break -- review broken and worn-out products to teach how to identify cheap products (where are the stress points, what manufacturing techniques exist to alleviate those). Then compare tho…
I like that idea. Include a spot for "how do I fix it" or "repair guide".
Re: Show HN: I built a Rotten Tomatoes-style platform for durable products
#286Nice concept. I had an idea a while back to make a reviews site where the prerequisite was having owned the item for something like 5 or 10 years.
Re: Show HN: I built a Rotten Tomatoes-style platform for durable products
#287The key challenge for any reviews site is how to maintain quality over time. As a site gains popularity, the incentive for malicious actors increases and the site will eventually fall prey to them. How will this site avoid this fate?
Re: Show HN: I built a Rotten Tomatoes-style platform for durable products
#288Without some constraint for how people review things under the BIFL umbrella, it's hard to trust ratings. Most people don't understand what BIFL means for a certain products because they don't use it frequently, understand its breadth of use cases, understand its construction, etc.
Things like knives or cookware require a decent understanding of the materials used, construction process, and potential use cases to really guage if it's BIFL or not in all common contexts. You'll wind up with most people rating it based on two things I think: How long they've personally had it, and how much they like it.
You'll also get people adding items like an iPhone because they just like it. But a phone is essentially a disposable electronics device. It doesn't really belong on a BIFL website.
Perhaps a series of parameters need to be defined in order to enter a review at all. Try to determine the attributes that comprise a BIFL product and have reviewers define how the product meets these criteria. How is it durable? Why? What is repairable about it? Is it easy to find repair services? How long do you think it would really last for a typical owner?
Just trying to help - I'm a major fan of BIFL items, but over the years I find I'm routinely disappointed by what others believe fits in the category. I essentially don't pursue BIFL items on the internet through any social means anymore because it tends to be pretty bogus.
Re: Show HN: I built a Rotten Tomatoes-style platform for durable products
#289I like the concept but since it's open to the public it will suffer from ignorance. For example, take the Salomon Quest boots that are listed. I own a pair of them. While they're good boots for the price they do not deserve an A- score. They are not BIFL. The soles are glued making them not resoleable. The sole on one of mine has started coming unglued too. The same can be said for the Victorinox Fibrox knife that ha…
Op can't avoid this problem if following the reviews-masquerading-as-affiliate-marketing pattern. What's needed is to turn it all upside down: rather than reviewing new products, review broken products. Make a site about how things break -- review broken and worn-out products to teach how to identify cheap products (where are the stress points, what manufacturing techniques exist to alleviate those). Then compare tho…
Damn, I love this! Sort of a crowd-sourced ifixit for anything broken. It would be hard as hell to get good content, but if you could I think it would be gold.
It would be so hard to maintain repair guides with how frequently products update these days. Everything from vacuums to laptops to shoes go through frequent enough revisions that guides might be invalidated often.
I went to repair my vacuum last month and discovered most of the guides out there cover an revision which uses a totally different latching mechanism for the door to my intake filter. The doors look identical, but the internal latch works differently. Overall that would have been fine, but I got blocked on the door part because the procedure didn't work and I assumed I was going to break it if I tried something else, haha. Turned out I just needed to push in and slide down.
Re: Show HN: I built a Rotten Tomatoes-style platform for durable products
#290Earlier quoted context omitted.
> because you aren't aggregating professional reviews of these products outdoorgearlab.com looks like a professional review site to me in the context of being an affiliate marketing / review site. IMHO almost all reviews online are affiliate marketing these days, so what I'd really be interested in is a site that hosts reviews and doesn't allow _any_ affiliate marketing or external links. IE: No incentive to game the…
outdoorgearlab.com ? you must be kidding me, in their reviews, they leave out ~50% of competition, and their sorting of best product in category is apparently a bidding game, shifted just right to make the results believable. I do spent lots of time on researching outdoor products for my own needs, and outdoorgearlab.com is a joke
OGL used to be great. They didn't get to where they are because of scumminess. However, the quality has dropped in the last few years, and they do seem to be more influenced by affiliate marketing these days.