Review broken products instead of new ones • Hacker News Board

Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#61

Post by watwut » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 7:16 AM UTC

Igelau wrote: post #30

IgorPartola wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You pinpointed what I’ve been feeling. There are things I want to buy for life. Things like (most) tools, camping equipment, or things I don’t expect to improve over time. But there is a large number of products that I don’t plan to hold onto because they are imperfect either because state of the art hasn’t advanced enough or because I can’t afford the better version yet. For example: Boots. I can afford the boots I…

> a $60 T shirt will need to last me more than 20 to make it worth it. And then there's the $120 T-shirt they endorse: https://www.buyforlife.com/products/33/outlier-ultra-fine-me... That better last more than 40 years and be wholly responsible for saving my life +1 family member, wash/dry on any cycle I want, and never get chewed up by mice if I leave it on floor.

Utility of merino is not in them being super ultra durable. It is more that it is warm even when wet when you sweating and they are comfortable when exercising/hiking/whatever in bad weather conditions.

Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#62

Post by swatkat » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 7:16 AM UTC

Animats wrote: post #54

This would be a better idea if the site it promotes didn't have overreaching terms of service. If they get sued for defamation, you, who posted a review, have to pay their costs.[1] Despite the site being run from Zurich, the terms have the line "In any circumstances where the foregoing Arbitration Agreement permits the parties to litigate in court, the parties hereby agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of t…

Looks like they used this site to generate boilerplate Terms of Use: https://www.termsofusegenerator.net/

Same text is used by quite a few websites: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22Netherlands+County%2C+Californi...

Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#63

Post by CoolGuySteve » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 7:21 AM UTC

I recently had to replace a Bosch washer because the crappy plastic pump was too annoying/messy to replace.

I wish Consumer Reports or someone would do teardowns each year of their recommended washers/dryers/dishwashers/etc to look for shitty but critical moving parts and rate them appropriately. Finding anything about how these items will fail is an exercise in frustration since model numbers are frequently shuffled around year to year for minor/non-existant feature "upgrades".

I actually don't care all that much about how great a washer or whatever is at cleaning so much as I care that I never have to think about servicing/replacing it.

Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#64

Post by vvillena » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 7:23 AM UTC

Reedx wrote: post #29

Think Amazon will adopt an approach like this? Why or why not?

No, because their incentive goes the other way around: they want users to buy lots of things.

Reviews will eventually have to rely on non-store, external sites.

Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#65

Post by mlonkibjuyhv » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 7:33 AM UTC

So I recently went review-shopping for kitchen-aid style mixer appliance. One of the highest rated products contained a paragraph similar to: "Makes cracking noises when running under high load, 9/10". That thing was literally 10 minutes away from being a letterweight, but still highly rated...

Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#66

Post by axaxs » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 7:34 AM UTC

vvillena wrote: post #64

Reedx wrote: post #29

Think Amazon will adopt an approach like this? Why or why not?

No, because their incentive goes the other way around: they want users to buy lots of things. Reviews will eventually have to rely on non-store, external sites.

This doesn't make sense to me as it has the opposite effect. If I want to buy an item, I'm pretty dead set on buying it. Now it's just to figure out which company's to buy. If I can't rely on reviews and get a terrible unit, I will return it and no longer trust Amazon for that item and turn elsewhere. Ultimately, Amazon lost some money, I lost some time, and Amazon lost the sale.

Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#67

Post by MrStonedOne » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 7:35 AM UTC

CoolGuySteve wrote: post #63

I recently had to replace a Bosch washer because the crappy plastic pump was too annoying/messy to replace. I wish Consumer Reports or someone would do teardowns each year of their recommended washers/dryers/dishwashers/etc to look for shitty but critical moving parts and rate them appropriately. Finding anything about how these items will fail is an exercise in frustration since model numbers are frequently shuffled…

One of my favorite youtubers does this with power tools and other garage-that-doesn't-hold-cars appliances. (Arduino V Evil/AvE)

Takes things apart and critics the design, goes over some of the tradeoffs that might have gone into designing the thing, and tries to figure out what the failure modes are likely to be.

I wonder if anybody in the circle of youtubers around him does the same for appliances.

Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#68

Post by MrStonedOne » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 7:36 AM UTC

notatoad wrote: post #37

jonah wrote: post #18

Speaking of useful reviews, I'm a fan of AvE's BOLTRs[1]. Takes tools apart and analyses materials, construction, and estimated failure points. (Beware some NSFW language though.) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvgS71fU12Mbx-w18Chu_... [1] - Arduino vs. Evil - Bored of Lame Tool Reviews

AvE is fun to watch, and full of cool insights into the underappreciated details of tools. but you've got to take his reviews with a few grains of salt. He's coming at it from the perspective of somebody who buys tools to use in heavy industry. If you're buying a cordless drill to hang pictures or maybe build a desk or a fence once a decade, the things he derides as being "not very skookum" will likely last you a lif…

He almost always breaks that down thou.

Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#69

Post by melomal » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 7:40 AM UTC

mlonkibjuyhv wrote: post #65

So I recently went review-shopping for kitchen-aid style mixer appliance. One of the highest rated products contained a paragraph similar to: "Makes cracking noises when running under high load, 9/10". That thing was literally 10 minutes away from being a letterweight, but still highly rated...

I heard from somewhere that you can't listen to a review by someone without at least first knowing them. Which is a valid point when you consider the review that was left for 9/10.

Cracks and noises are OK for some but a huge issue for others - that review you mentioned literally appeals to both sides which is crazy.

Re: Review broken products instead of new ones

#70

Post by eecc » Mon, Jan 18, 2021, 7:51 AM UTC

s0rce wrote: post #35

Igelau wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a $60 T shirt will need to last me more than 20 to make it worth it. And then there's the $120 T-shirt they endorse: https://www.buyforlife.com/products/33/outlier-ultra-fine-me... That better last more than 40 years and be wholly responsible for saving my life +1 family member, wash/dry on any cycle I want, and never get chewed up by mice if I leave it on floor.

I wear merino wool t-shirts to bike to work because they don't get smelly, however, they actually wear out much faster than cheap synthetic shirts. I usually buy them on clearance/sale for $30-40. $70-120 is nuts for a t-shit. I also don't understand how that can be buy it for life anyways. Its a cloth shirt, maybe its decently made but any synthetic fabric will last longer (still not forever).

I have a couple sets of cotton t-shirts, about 5-8. Have had them for 5 years already, wear them daily and normally for 1, 2 Max before going back to the wash basket. Cost me perhaps 3€ a piece. I don’t see the need for these wonderfully expensive extravaganza...