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The Worst

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Re: The Worst

#151

Post by tptacek »

Domenic_S wrote: post #147
tptacek wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the notion that things "count" or "don't count" that is eliciting the snippy responses from me. We are not here to sit in judgement of Dustin Curtis. No, I don't think I'll build a case against your obviously implied argument that he's done nothing of note. I find the idea that Curtis is accorded a lot of respect on HN amusing, because most of what he's accorded are comments like yours.

You're not getting it. This was my general train of thought: -Dustin said he just got back from a few months in Asia. What'd he do for money? Maybe he's a startup geek and lives lean. -Hmm, further down he says he bought flatware at $50/5pc, and everything he's purchased is of like quality. Kind of contradicts the 'living lean' thought, so scratch that. And that got me to thinking of all the bits and pieces I've pick…

I stand corrected.

Re: The Worst

#152

Post by jonnycoder »

npsimons wrote: post #34
njr123 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think cutlery is probably the worst possible example to illustrate the argument. The cheapest cutlery you can buy is still works 90% as well as the best, and they last approximately forever. I've never in my life been eating something and noticed the quality of the cutlery. I think a better example would be dress shoes. The cheap versions are uncomfortable and wear out all the time, where as a good pair of leather…

Precisely. I know it's fiction, but Terry Pratchett sums it up nicely in "Men at Arms": But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

That might not be too far off. I actually already posted a comment regarding boots, but I know people with $400 boots that last 6+ years under hardcore/milaage whereas the $100 cheap boots give out once a year...and I'm not talking about worn out soles.

Re: The Worst

#153

Post by lubujackson »

The "best"'s problem is that there is no clear "best" of almost anything. (Especially that silverware.) I think the point, though, is that buying highly-rated things tends to pay off in ways you might not be aware of, such as avoiding silverware with toxic chemicals. So let's say to buy "better" stuff.

The "worst"'s problem is he is only really concerned about the cost. Ultimately, I think this is a shift many people have as they get older and more settled - they want to buy a chair that lasts, silverware that is nice, etc. When you're 19 and moving every other year it doesn't really make sense.

Re: The Worst

#154

Post by thaumaturgy »

tptacek wrote: post #134
thaumaturgy wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're in a mood. This thread finally break you?

Where be these enemies? Spoonians! Antispoonians! See, what a scourge is laid upon your hate, That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love.

For some of us it is performance, for others, patronage. They are two sides of the same spoon, or, let us say, being as there are so many of us, the same side of two spoons.

Re: The Worst

#155

Post by rthomas6 »

mistermann wrote: post #127
rthomas6 wrote: post #27

Could it be possible that there is a spectrum of choices which represent a trade-off between cost and quality? What if both authors took an already understood and practiced idea in our culture and took it to an absurd extreme? Every person will desire different quality for different items. Even Dustin Curtis doesn't get "the best" of all of his items. He says that he does, but if you keep reading, what he really mean…

> I love listening to music at work, so I did a lot of research and got a nice pair of $150 headphones with a $30 headphone amp. I was looking into this very same thing yesterday, I'd be very interested in knowing what you decided on for the headphones and amp, or even particularly useful websites for research. (And does an amp make a big difference in your opinion?) I was looking at a bit of a lower price point, aro…

I got the Audio Technica ATH-M50s headphones with a Fiio E11 amp. I don't think the amp makes a huge difference, but it does make some difference. For a lot of my research, I read reviews and opinions on head-fi.org and its forums. I picked the ATH-M50s because they seemed to have comparable sound quality of headphones in the ~$300-$400 range, but were reasonably priced. With the amp, they also have a good amount of bass. With and without the amp, they sound very clear, especially high up. This is the first "good" set of headphones that I have owned, so my ability to compare is limited, but I think they sound a lot better than the Bose noise-cancelling ones, and those sound pretty good to me.

Re: The Worst

#156

Post by jaggederest »

tptacek wrote: post #151
Domenic_S wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not getting it. This was my general train of thought: -Dustin said he just got back from a few months in Asia. What'd he do for money? Maybe he's a startup geek and lives lean. -Hmm, further down he says he bought flatware at $50/5pc, and everything he's purchased is of like quality. Kind of contradicts the 'living lean' thought, so scratch that. And that got me to thinking of all the bits and pieces I've pick…

I stand corrected.

Mensch of you.

Re: The Worst

#157

Post by Tomis02 »

crazygringo wrote: post #50

I think the authors of "The Best" and "The Worst" are both right. In fact, pretty much everything I own is either "the best" or "the worst" -- no middle ground. I identify the very few things that really make a difference to me (my laptop, my stereo, my kitchen pots & pans & knives, my jeans) and buy the absolute best I can afford. And I identify the things I don't really care about (the rug, the chairs, most kitchen…

Could you people stop splitting hair in fours and get back to work? I'll be in the middle ground if I so damn please.

Re: The Worst

#158

Post by jaggederest »

I like Ikea tables, dishes, and flatware because I can smash them into tiny bits and chuckle while I work, but they serve their purpose as well as any ten-times-as-expensive model of the same thing.

I think there's a threshold effect relative to the longevity and expense of material goods. It's better to buy durable goods with quality, but it's silly to buy consumables with the same strictures because they inevitably will be consumed.

Re: The Worst

#159

Post by jaggederest »

ricardobeat wrote: post #125
1337p337 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know where you shop, but the "traditional flatware" of my people is whatever was cheap enough at the department store. Our rich native customs dictate that we spend $15 on a set, and then use it until there are not enough non-bent spoons, and then to spend another $15.

Thus resulting in an endless stream of quick-decaying stuff from china to your home. And a hundred round-trips to the department store, if you apply that to everything in your life.

I hate to tell you this, but expensive spoons bend just as easily as inexpensive ones, and cost more to replace.

Some things really are consumable items. There's no t-shirt on earth that is going to last beyond about 200 wash cycles.

Re: The Worst

#160

Post by alook »

crazygringo wrote: post #50

I think the authors of "The Best" and "The Worst" are both right. In fact, pretty much everything I own is either "the best" or "the worst" -- no middle ground. I identify the very few things that really make a difference to me (my laptop, my stereo, my kitchen pots & pans & knives, my jeans) and buy the absolute best I can afford. And I identify the things I don't really care about (the rug, the chairs, most kitchen…

Agreed - my problem with "The Best" was the idea of spending weeks researching to find the best quality things, for every belonging you own.

For a while, I favored "The Worst" - I liked having a few missing keys on my laptop, and the challenge of programming with less RAM than I should have. I liked having an old car that barely scraped by. The freedom of not feeling attached to my belongings made me feel a sense of purity - like my code on github is the only possession I really cherish.

After a few car breakdowns and failed hard drives, however, I've learned to pick a few things worth focusing a little effort on!

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