Overkill objects for everyday life • Hacker News Board

Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#281

Post by renewiltord » Sun, May 30, 2021, 8:01 PM UTC

MonaroVXR wrote: post #158

dan-robertson wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dishwashers are another example. You could buy a commercial one but it will come with no roll-out trays (you load up different plastic racks for different things and you can load a rack while the dishwasher is running) and it’s designed for an environment with lots of ventilation (you just open it when it is done and let the steam get ventilated away) which people are unlikely to have in their own kitchens. Other ite…

This is the same for laptops, but most of the people (I assume?) buy Macbooks for programming which is... kinda weird, since it's difficult to repair. Than business laptops like the Z-book, ThinkPad or insert Dell business laptop eg; Latitude 7000 series (Dell XPS isn't a business laptop from my perspective.)

Repairability is a red herring. As a professional, I care about “time in service” and “maintenance cost”.

A completely unrepairable tool that is in service a lot longer for way less maintenance? I take that any day of the week.

And here’s the thing, I don’t really care that you can repair your Dell. I wouldn’t be able to do so without putting in a lot of time and it would be a little stressful. Reducing that time requires a significant investment.

Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#282

Post by Arch-TK » Sun, May 30, 2021, 8:01 PM UTC

cjonas wrote: post #145

birdyrooster wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much static electricity does it generate? That is my biggest complaint on burr grinders, they act like Van de Graaff generators and then the grounds get stuck all over the machine.

Add a miniscule amount of water to your beans before grinding

This is the way. The best way is to run the handle of a teaspoon under the tap and stir it through the grinds before grinding.

It doesn't matter if "burr grinders suffer from static build up" when they're categorically far better than anything else when it comes to grinding.

Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#283

Post by Symbiote » Sun, May 30, 2021, 8:03 PM UTC

mnd999 wrote: post #63

dkdbejwi383 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Military grade = the cheapest product that meets the spec.

Sure, but the spec usually says things like “Can be dropped 6ft onto concrete”.

Just buy a toy tested according to European Union standards, and labelled with the "CE" mark.

> Drop the toy, or the relevant toy component, five times through a height of (850 ± 50) mm on to a 4 mm thick steel plate with a 2 mm thick coating of Shore A hardness (75 ± 5) as measured according to EN ISO 868 or ISO 7619-2 and which is placed on a non-flexible horizontal surface.

> Prior to release, orientate the toy in a position that allows the most onerous impact onto the coated surface of the steel plate.

(850mm is 2¾ ft.)

More seriously, I think some of these regulations do prevent the lowest-quality stuff you might find in the USA being legally sold in the EU.

https://law.resource.org/pub/eu/toys/en.71.1.2014.html#s8.5

Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#284

Post by Ekaros » Sun, May 30, 2021, 8:03 PM UTC

notatoad wrote: post #4

I love to use professional-grade items where i can, but sometimes "overkill" means a worse product. like the professional-grade fan - it's not just designed for a high duty cycle, it's also probably designed to be operated in an environment where people regularly use hearing protection, so quiet operation is not a consideration.

Also there is question of scale. Like the mixer, the capacity is just too big for regular use. It would be massive waste for me to make much anything with it. As I don't think it scales to small enough amounts.

Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#285

Post by throwawayboise » Sun, May 30, 2021, 8:04 PM UTC

ValentineC wrote: post #200

user3939382 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tangentially related: if you do want an amazing electric coffee grinder, feel free to piggy back on my countless hours of research and go with this: Baratza Virtuoso+ It is excellent.

On the other hand: if you drink 1-2 cups of coffee a day, and don't mind putting in some elbow grease — a manual grinder like a Comandante or Kinu often produces much better grinds for the same price, since money can be allocated towards a better burr set instead of a motor. I've had a few friends whose only experience with a manual grinder was a Hario Skerton or its clones, and get turned off manual grinding because…

Absolutely. Much prefer a small hand-operated device that I can easily store in a cupboard to a big heavy device with a cord that needs to be near an outlet and takes up counter space all the time.

I have come to really, really resist buying plug-in kitchen gadgets. I have a few, such as a toaster and a kettle, that I actually use. For anything else I've found that they just end up living in the back of a base cabinet and I forget that I have them.

Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#286

Post by renewiltord » Sun, May 30, 2021, 8:04 PM UTC

lucb1e wrote: post #255

This started off as a fun article about "what's the most overkill way I can get this?" and then looking for second-hand fighter jet seats just for the shits and giggles. I like that. But then it goes south from there, the author seems to believe that anything that isn't from the USA military must be crap: > Made in the USA from military grade [...] preferably a military supplier [...] This is the real thing, used by…

Military grade end user shit is usually crap. It suffers from the same problem that so many IT departments have: the guy buying isn’t the guy using.

In the market, competition is strong. In the military market, your connections are way more valuable.

Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#287

Post by TeMPOraL » Sun, May 30, 2021, 8:06 PM UTC

kube-system wrote: post #199

convolvatron wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the shop vac pro i bought had a one-time current fuse soldered down (not replacable with a holder). over time all of these machines get a little friction in the fan assembly and blow this fuse. yes, you could argue that making this fuse replaceable would add $0.05, but we all know that its not because 99% of the purchasers wont crack it open, figure out whats going on, and short the fuse. you can argue that by keepin…

The 1% of people who try to fix their shop vac are probably the same 1% who are comfortable using a soldering iron. Reducing part count is value engineering 101. The number of consumers who buy a shop vac based on whether it has a socketed fuse is negligible. It’s simply a feature with zero commercial value. It’s all cost with zero benefit.

> It’s all cost with zero benefit.

Only because a good chunk of the true costs are externalized. If the vendor would have to pay for disposal of their product, suddenly that socketed fuse would become a cost-cutting measure.

Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#288

Post by ansgri » Sun, May 30, 2021, 8:08 PM UTC

nraynaud wrote: post #264

goatinaboat wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Military grade” means “made by the lowest bidder” in reality

French military takes the second lowest as a rule. So much better.

Very clever, I assume it’s far more difficult to game the system unless you control two bidders.

Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#289

Post by wyager » Sun, May 30, 2021, 8:08 PM UTC

lucb1e wrote: post #255

This started off as a fun article about "what's the most overkill way I can get this?" and then looking for second-hand fighter jet seats just for the shits and giggles. I like that. But then it goes south from there, the author seems to believe that anything that isn't from the USA military must be crap: > Made in the USA from military grade [...] preferably a military supplier [...] This is the real thing, used by…

Being made in the USA is absolutely a pretty good quality indicator. It’s not the only country that makes good stuff (most EU countries + Japan are good as well), but in the absence of domain expertise it’s a great heuristic.

Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#290

Post by jesselawson » Sun, May 30, 2021, 8:08 PM UTC

jlkuester7 wrote: post #265

Grustaf wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me that's one of the selling points. Modern life is so ridiculously over engineered to be comfortable, we can all use some rough edges.

For the most part I totally agree with you. That is why I enjoy leaving the comfort if my home to go backpacking in the mountains or something. Sometimes challenging yourself can make you feel more alive! It is just that from personal experience, a road trip with small children has enough rough edges that road/engine noise so loud that the kids can't sleep does not have to be one of them...

The way I describe it to people is like this: some folks like to feel a nicely sanded handle, and other folks like to sand down a handle so that it feels nicely sanded.