Dupes took over the world

Post by xorcist » Mon, Jul 20, 2026, 11:47 AM UTC

jrochkind1 wrote: post #61

calvinmorrison wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's an ongoing lawsuit with another guitar maker who essentially is claimng something like the fender guitar body is basically independently / evolutionarily the only good body style and that there's a convergence and so it's like trying to patent the shape of a saxophone or violin

It's interesting you used both saxophone and violin as your examples, as they are very different historically. Violins are basically ancient and evolved gradually over huge time spans, yes. But saxophones -- invented by a guy named Adolph Sax and patented in France in 1846! It really was a kind of new thing, combining aspects of brass and woodwind instruments in ways that hadn't been done before. I think it's fair to…

Post by account42 » Mon, Jul 20, 2026, 12:19 PM UTC

j1elo wrote: post #100

cjs_ac wrote: post #7

> When Deckers, the company behind fleece-lined UGG boots, recently took Quince to court over its lookalike boots, it tried to bar Quince from referencing “dupe culture” at trial. > The bid failed, confirming that “dupes” and “dupe culture” — a commercial ecosystem built around providing consumers cheaper alternatives to name-brand products — are cultural phenomena here to stay. > The trial focused on whether Quince’…

> a commercial ecosystem built around providing consumers cheaper alternatives to name-brand products This is expected IMHO, given that name brand product do nothing more than raise and raise prices, with varying list of ~excuses~ reasons such as "war here or there", "material/labor costs", "crisis", etc... But consumers' salaries are the same than before price raises of the last 7~10 years, so the new prices are unj…

Post by julian_t » Mon, Jul 20, 2026, 12:22 PM UTC

throwaway219450 wrote: post #32

bcraven wrote: post #2

With decreasing quality of branded products, there's less to distinguish them from dupes. https://ledger.worseonpurpose.com/

Seems about the only kitchen things you can trust now are cast iron, carbon steel and sheet pans, because you can’t really do much to cheapen them in terms of materials except take them offshore (and most of the brands like Lodge are proudly domestic). After spending some time in culinary I started buying stuff from restaurant stores. It’s not always pretty but it tends to be a lot more practical. Glad Cambro is on t…

Post by wizzwizz4 » Mon, Jul 20, 2026, 12:34 PM UTC

inigyou wrote: post #98

bruce511 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always find this line of thought interesting. Because it implies the manufacturer has all the power. But they don't. The consumer does. Ultimately the manufacturer wins the horse-shoe battle because they are cheaper. And the consumers in the village prefer cheap shoes to locally made (expensive) ones. Fundamentally consumers like cheap stuff. Manufacturing shifts happen because as soon as there's a cheaper output,…

Look up "race to the bottom", a term that describes lose-lose situations resulting from rational market dynamics.

Post by dominotw » Mon, Jul 20, 2026, 12:43 PM UTC

efitz wrote: post #82

I asked my wife once, how to tell whether a fashion accessory is a knock-off. She said: “look at the woman”.