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Overkill objects for everyday life

neil.computer

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Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#471

Post by kube-system »

BeFlatXIII wrote: post #464
kube-system wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Engineered to fail” and “planned obsolescence” are both pejorative rephrasings of “consumers prioritize price” Engineering is an exercise in prioritization. If 90% of consumers buy the cheapest blender on the shelf, the blender made with the cheapest materials wins. Hobart still exists, and still makes good blenders. Consumers just started buying new designs that were more cost efficient. If you look at the prices o…

Does the following scenario often happen with value engineering or is it just my mind playing tricks on me? A product category exists at around $450–500 and there are plenty of household who do without. It gets value engineered down to a $100 product and sees mass adoption. However, 90% of the market for the original $500 product also chooses the half-broken $100 version, leading to the $500 quality moving upmarket (…

For sure it does. But it’s also common for technologies to mature as they gain widespread use.

When I was a kid, something like a preset for popcorn, or a turntable, was an a feature you’d get on a very expensive microwave.

Many luxury features of yesteryear are now standard.

Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#472

Post by BeFlatXIII »

throwawayboise wrote: post #300
whatshisface wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The beaker example is the worst one, because the shape of the beaker is meant for controlled pouring out one point and no spills anywhere else around the perimeter. A drinking glass is designed for sipping which is completely different. If you tried drinking out of a beaker the flanged opening would tend to make the beverage pour down either side of your mouth.

It's also sort of a bad idea to normalize drinking out of laboratory glassware. Granted your home is different from a real lab, but lab workers have died drinking something they thought was water. In my dad's lab in the 1970s, they used to make coffee in a large Erlenmeyer flask and filter it under vaccuum with a Buchner funnel. The safety director eventually banned it and made them buy a Mr. Coffee.

I wonder how many undergrads will disassemble their bongs made from spare bits of chemistry glassware after reading your warning about drinking from lab equipment.

Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#473

Post by MonaroVXR »

aflag wrote: post #465
MonaroVXR wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.)

Interesting. I've been buying thinkpads throughout most of my career. However, my latest laptop is a XPS 13. I really enjoy it, I use it to develop and it works very well both in docked mode as well as on the go. It's lightweight and super powerful yet quiet. Meanwhile, my business laptop, the one the company provides me, has been macbooks for the most part, recently I've got a dell latitude. The latitude is one of t…

There are differences between Laptop lines from the same manufacturer. (0) I especially mentioned Latitude 7000 series. Anything else may be worse.

(0) Same goes for ThinkPads, not every ThinkPad is equal, even if it's the same one.

Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#474

Post by pvillano »

jrockway wrote: post #276
rsync wrote: post #3

I appreciate the link and summary for McMaster-Carr[1]. It is so pleasing to use this site and it is simultaneously full of utility as they stock a wide array of fixtures and hardware that are difficult to search for elsewhere. If you place an order before noon (typically) the box of goods will be in your hands the next day. The user interface is a wonder. It's too good to be true. In fact, using the UI actually sadd…

McMaster's website loads so quickly I looked into what server they're using, because it seems so much better than whatever everyone else has. Apparently it is an ASP.NET app, served by IIS, cached on Akamai's CDN. Not quite what you're going to see on your average HN blog post.

works tho

Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#475

Post by killjoywashere »

Not sure about some of the other things, but if you're looking for binoculars outside of work, it's probably for hunting, birding, or sailing. Having done those things, generally a decent 8x42 is all you need. And remember, you're taking them into the field, so some exotic Swarovski 10x50 or Steiner 8x32 laser range finder with compass at $9k is going to make you really sad when it fails. But a 8x42 Nikon Monarch is fine. Absolutely fine. And you won't hate yourself when you drop them out of a blind, or in the water, or swing them into a ladder as you shuffle down in the dark.

That said, smaller binos are fine in most circumstances. I often carry pocket 8x23s around, or even a small monocular, just in case.

Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#476

Post by yourapostasy »

IgorPartola wrote: post #436
neilpanchal wrote: post #401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I kinda disagree. These aren’t very good examples. Also the dough mixer is for restaurants, not military use. :-) Although I want one now. Here is a kitchen scale I bought. Made in Switzerland, no less. It’s bloody beautiful: https://neil.computer/notes/mettler-toledo-ml3002e-teardown/ Does that mean all consumer grade stuff is bad? No. Leatherman tools and 3M consumer grade stuff is usually great. Nalgene bottles. D…

There are definitely nice finds out there. That doesn’t mean that the military equivalent of a consumer good is better. Duct tape is duct tape. A Humvee is a shit grocery hauler. Military boots aren’t going to be as nice or comfortable as a pair of Italian hand made boots. I remember looking at ToughBooks because their shells are amazing. But what does that do for me if inside it has a 10 year old computer?

> Duct tape is duct tape.

Meant in jest: I find your lack of faith [1]...disturbing [2].

That said, I have found marked differences even in "consumer" duct/duck tape offerings at big box stores. Adhesive properties, abrasion resistance, UV resistance, backing laminate strength, vibration tolerance, and so on, have converged my choices these days to Gorilla and 3M brands, and only give other manufacturers that show up in the big box store shelves one chance with one sample roll.

[1] https://tapeuniversity.com/industry/industrial-mro/what-is-t...

[2] https://onemileatatime.com/duct-tape-airplane/

Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#477

Post by culturestate »

megablast wrote: post #421
bartread wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think one needs to be a bit selective here. About 8 years ago I bought the cheapest catering/professional microwave/combioven I could get my hands on. I did this because I got tired of consumer units with overcomplicated UIs designed (apparently) by unregenerate misanthropes, rotating dishes that are a pain in the ass to clean, overzealous bleeps that go off every 30 - 60 seconds after a cycle is finished, peeling…

> About 8 years ago I bought the cheapest catering/professional microwave/combioven I could get my hands on. I did this because I got tired of consumer units with overcomplicated UIs designed (apparently) by unregenerate misanthropes, rotating dishes that are a pain in the ass to clean, overzealous bleeps that go off every 30 - 60 seconds after a cycle is finished, peeling enamel, corrosion issues, and that are too s…

> The cheapest microwaves you can get have two dials, one for temp, one for time. Why not buy one of those??

I imagine two reasons: first, the market seems to have decided that simple microwaves must be small microwaves. If you want to heat anything larger than a bowl of soup you’re gonna forfeit the dials.

Second, most of the time the dials also suck. Want to heat something for 2 minutes 30 seconds? Good luck with that on a cheap microwave that shows minutes in 5mm increments with 2.5mm of play in the dial.

Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#478

Post by BeFlatXIII »

kube-system wrote: post #471
BeFlatXIII wrote: post #464

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the following scenario often happen with value engineering or is it just my mind playing tricks on me? A product category exists at around $450–500 and there are plenty of household who do without. It gets value engineered down to a $100 product and sees mass adoption. However, 90% of the market for the original $500 product also chooses the half-broken $100 version, leading to the $500 quality moving upmarket (…

For sure it does. But it’s also common for technologies to mature as they gain widespread use. When I was a kid, something like a preset for popcorn, or a turntable, was an a feature you’d get on a very expensive microwave. Many luxury features of yesteryear are now standard.

I think that scenario may be why so many people have a hatred for value engineering: once cheaper becomes available, the market bifurcates into value-engineered wares for people who don’t care and the high-quality end becomes higher quality and three times the price it used to be. The choices of other customers deny you the continued availability of the optimal price+feature set for your needs & budget.

Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#479

Post by drewzero1 »

crooked-v wrote: post #146
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.

Another obvious example here given the people on this website is servers: if you're going to have a home server, unless you can go put it in a soundproofed room in the basement, you're going to want to use consumer-grade fans that aren't inherently screamingly loud.

I found this out the hard way. Picked up a cheap surplus ProLiant to mess around with, and quickly realized it would be far better for my use case to use a business-class desktop or laptop and avoid the unnecessary noise, space, and power draw of pro server hardware. It sure looked cool, though.

Re: Overkill objects for everyday life

#480

Post by Noumenon72 »

rootusrootus wrote: post #434
yourapostasy wrote: post #417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The guy doesn't actually think that a fighter jet seat is better than a normal office chair in any practical sense. Now that people are discussing it, I do want to find out if there are former air force pilots reading this who can corroborate or refute my hypothesis: I suspect long-duration mission bombers like the US B-52 and B-2 have pilot seats especially tuned for extended operational comfort, even more so than…

I don't think you need to go to bombers to find good seats. Or even airplanes at all, though I've heard that airliners do tend to have pretty good seats for the pilots. Just start with buses and long haul trucks. Though honestly, I think it's actually a solved problem. I just buy aftermarket Recaro seats. They know what they're doing.

I've often thought about how superior my car seat is to any office chair. Do you still sit with your legs out in front of you, and lower your desk?
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