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Visiting the annual Braun collectors fair

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Re: Visiting the annual Braun collectors fair

#61

Post by Reason077 »

nehal3m wrote: post #52
Reason077 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "Miele and Bosch etc are still going strong." Not to mention Phillips, Electrolux (still the world's 2nd largest appliance manufacturer after Whirlpool!), and relative newcomers like Dyson.

Philips is not exactly a European household appliance manufacturer, they've sold off most of that and moved into health tech.

> "they've sold off most of that and moved into health tech"

They've kept health tech and "personal care products", which includes the Phillips shavers and toothbrushes. Phillips is a global market leader in those products and sells just about as many shavers as Braun does.

Re: Visiting the annual Braun collectors fair

#63

Post by unwind »

Reason077 wrote: post #39
eru wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> [...] they shared the fate of all European household appliance manufacturers — increasing competition from Asian companies, so by the 1990s, Braun was dead. Miele and Bosch etc are still going strong. So I'm not sure what you mean by 'European household appliance manufacturers': they have faced the competition from Asian companies and survived.

> "Miele and Bosch etc are still going strong." Not to mention Phillips, Electrolux (still the world's 2nd largest appliance manufacturer after Whirlpool!), and relative newcomers like Dyson.

You seem knowledgeable about these companies, but can I just please point out that the Dutch company is "PHILIPS" [1] with a single 'L'. I wrote it in all-caps to make it more clear, but see the logo on the linked Wikipedia page of course. Thanks.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philips

Re: Visiting the annual Braun collectors fair

#64

Post by throwaway290 »

maxglute wrote: post #59
makeitdouble wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At this point it not even for lower prices. I'm into coffee, and Timemore products are cleaner and overall better at what I want than from european or US brands. Same went for MUJI, who were never really cheap outside of Japan (and were just middle priced even domestically) but kept a foothold thanks to better and cleaner design. Increasingly Xiaomi's household products are also coming into that niche. Still daily us…

>Xiaomi's household products are also coming into that niche. IMO Xiaomi, more than Apple carries on Braun legacy. Relatively well designed, performant, and accessible (cheap) consumer goods. No one else is even trying to build out an ecosystem like Xiaomi with underlying design language. Muji has some nice kitchen stuff/home appliances in Asian market, but they're expanding their portfolio very conservatively. Bonus…

Once I rented a place with a pretty Xiaomi kettle and I'll never forget how I small ants came out from around the round button in the middle of the lid when I turned it on first time.

I can't say "well designed" if it is just spamming plastic. In this case design or manufacturing defect ended up with big enough gaps in the plastic for insects to enter and all that space under plastic that is impossible to clean. It's a kitchen appliance after all.

The lid button by the way is super inconvenient. You can't just pick up the kettle with a single hand and open lid while you are heading to fill it up. But sure it looks good to some I guess compared to more useful button on the handle a usual kettle has

Never saw any other Xioami kettles since or before. Saw other products though. Didn't notice some sort of consistent design language. Aside from plastic being mostly white maybe? But even that not always true.

I also thought its sensor is faulty because it keeps boiling water for more than 1 minute though maybe that's intentional? Bit later it seemed like metal inside was rusting. But that's more manufacturing than design.

Re: Visiting the annual Braun collectors fair

#65

Post by makeitdouble »

throwaway290 wrote: post #64
maxglute wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Xiaomi's household products are also coming into that niche. IMO Xiaomi, more than Apple carries on Braun legacy. Relatively well designed, performant, and accessible (cheap) consumer goods. No one else is even trying to build out an ecosystem like Xiaomi with underlying design language. Muji has some nice kitchen stuff/home appliances in Asian market, but they're expanding their portfolio very conservatively. Bonus…

Once I rented a place with a pretty Xiaomi kettle and I'll never forget how I small ants came out from around the round button in the middle of the lid when I turned it on first time. I can't say "well designed" if it is just spamming plastic. In this case design or manufacturing defect ended up with big enough gaps in the plastic for insects to enter and all that space under plastic that is impossible to clean. It's…

For reference, that's how it looks now, if it was different: https://www.mi.com/global/product/xiaomi-electric-kettle-2/

Looks basic enough for me, with the opening button on the handle, so they fixed it ?

Re: Visiting the annual Braun collectors fair

#66

Post by myspy »

maxglute wrote: post #59
makeitdouble wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At this point it not even for lower prices. I'm into coffee, and Timemore products are cleaner and overall better at what I want than from european or US brands. Same went for MUJI, who were never really cheap outside of Japan (and were just middle priced even domestically) but kept a foothold thanks to better and cleaner design. Increasingly Xiaomi's household products are also coming into that niche. Still daily us…

>Xiaomi's household products are also coming into that niche. IMO Xiaomi, more than Apple carries on Braun legacy. Relatively well designed, performant, and accessible (cheap) consumer goods. No one else is even trying to build out an ecosystem like Xiaomi with underlying design language. Muji has some nice kitchen stuff/home appliances in Asian market, but they're expanding their portfolio very conservatively. Bonus…

I've seen the small Muji house last year and thought it would be a nice addition in our garden :D

Re: Visiting the annual Braun collectors fair

#67

Post by langsoul-com »

eru wrote: post #29
moritz wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sold to Gilette in 1967, expansion into many different areas after. Then, I guess their story is not really unique, they shared the fate of all European household appliance manufacturers — increasing competition from Asian companies, so by the 1990s, Braun was dead. After Procter & Gamble bought them in 2005, it now mostly exists as a brand to be licensed (everything other than shaving and electric toothbrushes).

> [...] they shared the fate of all European household appliance manufacturers — increasing competition from Asian companies, so by the 1990s, Braun was dead. Miele and Bosch etc are still going strong. So I'm not sure what you mean by 'European household appliance manufacturers': they have faced the competition from Asian companies and survived.

More accurate would be low margin businesses died off to Asia.

High margin/specialisation businesses are still around. Just because wages don't massively affect the bottom line.

Re: Visiting the annual Braun collectors fair

#68

Post by throwaway290 »

makeitdouble wrote: post #65
throwaway290 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once I rented a place with a pretty Xiaomi kettle and I'll never forget how I small ants came out from around the round button in the middle of the lid when I turned it on first time. I can't say "well designed" if it is just spamming plastic. In this case design or manufacturing defect ended up with big enough gaps in the plastic for insects to enter and all that space under plastic that is impossible to clean. It's…

For reference, that's how it looks now, if it was different: https://www.mi.com/global/product/xiaomi-electric-kettle-2/ Looks basic enough for me, with the opening button on the handle, so they fixed it ?

They have a few different kettle models with buttons in different places and varying amounts of plastic like any other brand. This is just my experience with one model and thoughts on its "design"

It was this year and kettle seemed brand new when I arrived, I guess it survived at most one other tenant. Not an old model for sure.

Re: Visiting the annual Braun collectors fair

#69

Post by moosemess »

benterix wrote: post #53

This is about the old Braun. The new one is the usual Chinese garbage. Not that different from Philips or Bosch though, this stuff just breaks so much faster than what I was used to two decades or more ago.

Companies selling stuff that lasts do not themselves last. Same reason there is no "ethical" consumption anymore.

Re: Visiting the annual Braun collectors fair

#70

Post by jnaina »

farslan wrote: post #51
jnaina wrote: post #25

Family had a Braun Mixer type 4142 when I was growing up and I used to marvel at the design. Clean lines, subtle curves, the stark simplicity of the dial. Had no idea who Dieter Rams was and his design legacy at Braun. Bought a Braun Aetlier 1 Stereo as a collectors item much later in life, to pay homage to Rams. A thing of beauty that now is a centerpiece, sitting next to the NeXT Cube.

How do you like the Atelier 1?

Unfortunately it does not work. Simply exists for it’s form, not its function.

yes, it is beautiful

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