James Dyson answers design questions from Twitter [video] • Hacker News Board

Re: James Dyson answers design questions from Twitter [video]

#111

Post by ploxiln » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 2:19 AM UTC

LeoPanthera wrote: post #53

tigerlily wrote: post #19

Well, the worst product I own is one of his bagless vacuum cleaners. The crummy look and feel, the unbelievably loud and high-pitched whine and the accompanying tinnitus-inducing higher order acoustic harmonics, and just the overall plasticky shittiness of it after about an hour of dragging it around is simply vomit-inducing. My pet hate is the 100x added friction between the retractable bristles and my plush carpet.…

It's funny how polarizing they are. I have one of the handheld battery powered ones with the long stick so you can clean the floor, and it honestly works better than any vacuum cleaner I've ever owned before, and pulling the lever to dump out the contents into the trash is immensely satisfying. I love it. I definitely think that people hate more things, in the past few years. It's no longer enough just to dislike som…

People hate things which they dislike and are popular. Nickleback, for example. If no one ever listened to Nickleback, nobody would hate them, there's lots of worse bands. But it's the popularity that really gets people riled up.

For cordless stick vacs, for a city apartment, I say Dyson is really pretty good. But they can get quite expensive, and they look high-end (while also goofy-futuristic) so wealthy people buy them, and they're not the best vacuum of any kind, so ... yeah they really rile up the haters.

Re: James Dyson answers design questions from Twitter [video]

#112

Post by 8note » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 2:26 AM UTC

turtlebits wrote: post #77

verisimi wrote: post #3

Does he talk about the design of the legal structure for his tax avoidance vehicle that holds the land he has bought up in the UK? lol https://whoownsengland.org/2017/09/19/why-is-james-dyson-hoo... "By July 2017, Farmers Weekly was reporting that Dyson’s empire had grown to 13,355 hectares, or 33,000 acres."

I don't get why people hate him so much. I already do the most that I can to reduce my tax basis, is that immoral? I know several people who have moved to Nevada/Texas to avoid paying estate taxes.

Yep, it's immoral, and it gets more immoral the richer you get.

Re: James Dyson answers design questions from Twitter [video]

#113

Post by 8note » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 2:29 AM UTC

dylan604 wrote: post #92

blitzar wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats gonna be tricky, you thinking dig up the corpse and ask him or break out the Ouija board?

Either way, the point stands. Just because you don't like someone isn't really justification for asking a tough question if you're not willing to ask similar tough questions to somebody you do like.

If he doesn't want to be asked about it, he shouldnt tell the public about it.

Re: James Dyson answers design questions from Twitter [video]

#114

Post by mountain_peak » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 2:38 AM UTC

blitzar wrote: post #27

rootusrootus wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hit or miss. For a plug-in vacuum, there are others I would choose first. But for a cordless stick vacuum, nobody else is comparable.

> But for a cordless stick vacuum, nobody else is comparable. I own one; if it is better than the rest then the whole genre of stick vacuum cleaners should be taken out back and shot. Core function (sucking things up from my carpet and disposing of the content): charitably I would say it is poor for the half a room that the battery charge lasts for. Build quality: terrible cheap brittle cheap shattering cheap plastic…

> if it is better than the rest then the whole genre of stick vacuum cleaners should be taken out back and shot

Great (and amusing) comment; we have three vacuums in the house: a 1984 Central Beam, a 2002 Miele corded canister, and a Dyson cordless stick vac. I've replaced the bearings, motor brushes, power head belt and beater, and smooth floor head exactly once each on the Beam. Other than changing bags and HEPA filters, the Miele hasn't needed a thing, and the Dyson, well as I detest throwing things out, I've fixed it several times to-date, but it truly is shoddy quality for the price.

The battery pack died twice - the first time, I replaced it with another Dyson pack thinking I could repair the original - no such luck as the PCB is sealed with a thick layer of silicone, and the thermal cutout pretty much has to be destroyed to be removed as it's epoxied between two of the batteries. I managed to remove all six batteries and found one faulty cell, damaging the PCB in the process. I repurposed the rest of the cells to fixing a laptop battery pack.

We were careful with the second pack and ensured it was only charged for three hours at a time after the batteries were drained, but it also died, while its cheap ($60 vs. $250) Amazon replacement has been solid ever since.

Then the powerhead stopped working. After taking it apart, it was obvious that the wires traveling through the swivel joint lacked mechanical protection from repeated stress . Most of the wires on "good" vacuums that pass through a swivel joint are protected by a coiled spring with plenty of slack. In the Dyson, there are two 18GA wires with thin insulation passing through the joint. The positive wire was severed, and the negative wire was very close to failure. I managed to strip away enough insulation to attach two new wires with appropriate slack within a protective spring (from a ballpoint pen). So far, so good.

I'd have to say Dyson stick vacs are engineered to fail in several ways. Interestingly, my wife purchased a Dyson canister vacuum for the night cleaners at her office, and it's still going strong 10+ years later.

Re: James Dyson answers design questions from Twitter [video]

#115

Post by blitzar » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 2:39 AM UTC

dylan604 wrote: post #110

blitzar wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well it was a terrible example; asking tough questions of a dead person is an incredibly tough thing to do. Asking a nonagenarian, alive, at the tail end of their life specifically their position on climate change is hardly a "tough question" anyway. It is a question of the future, unless one is challenging them on their past misdeeds (congratulations for berating a 90 something year old), which they will sadly exper…

So you're saying you wouldn't be interested in what Einstein, Newton, Turing, etc had to opine? It seems some people are really boring around here.

I think it would be absolutley interesting, I am not sure it would make any sense. If you rocked up at a press conference Newton was giving in 1727 and asked him his opinion on Climate Change or if he thought Mexico should or would pay for the wall what does one expect the answer to be?

Perhaps Nero would be better to ask about the wall, you might need to explain the whole fall of the roman empire, the sailing over the horizion, discovering americas, chucking tea into the harbour, baseball, stealth bombers, kim kardashian, twitter. And yes after all that, Nero thinks Mexico should pay for the wall.

Re: James Dyson answers design questions from Twitter [video]

#116

Post by thecleaner » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 3:31 AM UTC

verisimi wrote: post #3

Does he talk about the design of the legal structure for his tax avoidance vehicle that holds the land he has bought up in the UK? lol https://whoownsengland.org/2017/09/19/why-is-james-dyson-hoo... "By July 2017, Farmers Weekly was reporting that Dyson’s empire had grown to 13,355 hectares, or 33,000 acres."

Curious. Do you have referance to the legal text here ?

Re: James Dyson answers design questions from Twitter [video]

#117

Post by thot_experiment » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 4:05 AM UTC

I didn't know too much about him, thought he was probably a chill engineer type. Holding him in somewhat lower esteem after this. He sets off my bullshit detector, too good at business and showmanship and not enough of that spark for the science.

I would have respected him if he had said "there's a fan in the bottom and we blow air up out the circle in a way that pulls a bunch more in with it" with a glint in his eye. The way he described it made me want to throw up in my mouth.

Re: James Dyson answers design questions from Twitter [video]

#118

Post by seoulmetro » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 4:14 AM UTC

tlear wrote: post #72

blitzar wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But for a cordless stick vacuum, nobody else is comparable. I own one; if it is better than the rest then the whole genre of stick vacuum cleaners should be taken out back and shot. Core function (sucking things up from my carpet and disposing of the content): charitably I would say it is poor for the half a room that the battery charge lasts for. Build quality: terrible cheap brittle cheap shattering cheap plastic…

I wonder about this, I heard same claim before. I however owned 2 of them over the last 5 years(moved a country and did not bring first one). Fact that I bought the second one kinda tells the story. Honest I never had any issue with them.. maybe if you have a huge house? Or really thick carpets. I find it incredibly convenient and it works well enough, convenient means you can use it every day and do not need to get…

Seems like a conventional, more powerful and cheaper vacuum that was the same factor to fit next to the fridge would suit you better.

I haven't seen a cordless vacuum that actually worked and have resorted to corded vacuums for my entire life.

Vacuums should suck, they should suck a lot but Dysons don't really suck all that much (haha)

Re: James Dyson answers design questions from Twitter [video]

#119

Post by agumonkey » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 5:59 AM UTC

dylan604 wrote: post #89

city41 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find their stick vacuums are complete junk. I'll never buy a Dyson again. They get clogged almost every time you use them (you gotta either jam a butter knife down the main intake or take apart the filter, both susceptible to blockage). The max button gets stuck in the on position, the battery only lasts a few months. I don't understand the appeal at all.

>They get clogged almost every time you use them Sounds like Dyson would be a perfect to start making consumer printers!

With air flow based paper loading mechanism.

Re: James Dyson answers design questions from Twitter [video]

#120

Post by tim333 » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 6:26 AM UTC

verisimi wrote: post #3

Does he talk about the design of the legal structure for his tax avoidance vehicle that holds the land he has bought up in the UK? lol https://whoownsengland.org/2017/09/19/why-is-james-dyson-hoo... "By July 2017, Farmers Weekly was reporting that Dyson’s empire had grown to 13,355 hectares, or 33,000 acres."

It's an oddity of UK tax law that farms are exempt from inheritance tax and so a sensible investment for old rich people who want to pass stuff on. Clarkson's farm was bought for the similar reasons some years before they decided to do a TV show. You don't need odd legal structures - just buy a farm.