Cheap razor made after P&G watches Indians shave • Hacker News Board

Re: Cheap razor made after P&G watches Indians shave

#21

Post by sateesh » Sat, Oct 05, 2013, 4:03 PM UTC

singlecomment17 wrote: post #10

LOL. Rings true. "Indian men have thicker hair and a higher hair density than their American counterparts. Adding to that, they often shave less frequently than American men, so they wind up shaving longer beards." .. " "... observed men using a cup of water to shave. All the MIT students had running water. Without that, the razor stayed clogged." I live in a first world country now, and still use a bowl of water whe…

:: Take them one by one: one or two is probably enough.

Or carry and use a handkerchief.

Re: Cheap razor made after P&G watches Indians shave

#22

Post by mistercow » Sat, Oct 05, 2013, 4:05 PM UTC

>but instead of making the costly trip abroad, they had Indian students at nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology test the razor.

This is one of the hard things about being a tiny startup like P&G with very little capital to spare: you sometimes have to cut costs on little things that turn out to be more important than you thought. A few thousand dollars to fly your employees to India might not seem like much, but when you've only got $140B in assets, you have to make some tough calls, and you can't be right 100% of the time.

Re: Cheap razor made after P&G watches Indians shave

#23

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Oct 05, 2013, 4:06 PM UTC

option_greek wrote: post #19

meepmorp wrote: post #16

As an alternative solution to the problem, try growing a long, luxurious, and sexy beard. No unnecessary waste from shaving products, no razor burn, and less time dicking around in the mornings. When it gets too long, take 5 minutes and trim it back.

And get suspicious looks from strangers :) ? I used to shave once every 3 weeks but these days I try to do it at least weekly.

[deleted]

Re: Cheap razor made after P&G watches Indians shave

#24

Post by driverdan » Sat, Oct 05, 2013, 4:14 PM UTC

ekianjo wrote: post #15

raverbashing wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also hate to cut myself while shaving. That's why I use an electrical shaver. MAJOR improvement for me over the blades.

electrical shavers are not that great for me. I always feel they could shave closer to the skin and they take far too long to yield an acceptable result (and I have used several ones). Back to blades. Fast, clean, very close to the skin and I have absolute control on the shave. And I like the smell of the cream, too.

Try a Braun or a Panasonic screen shaver. My old Braun gave me the best electric shave, about 99% as good as a blade. Panasonics give me about 96% as good but for half the price. They cut so close that I've gotten nicks from both that drew blood.

Re: Cheap razor made after P&G watches Indians shave

#25

Post by steveplace » Sat, Oct 05, 2013, 4:25 PM UTC

mistercow wrote: post #22

>but instead of making the costly trip abroad, they had Indian students at nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology test the razor. This is one of the hard things about being a tiny startup like P&G with very little capital to spare: you sometimes have to cut costs on little things that turn out to be more important than you thought. A few thousand dollars to fly your employees to India might not seem like much,…

Departmental budget politics can lead to decisions like that.

Re: Cheap razor made after P&G watches Indians shave

#26

Post by yareally » Sat, Oct 05, 2013, 4:27 PM UTC

singlecomment17 wrote: post #10

LOL. Rings true. "Indian men have thicker hair and a higher hair density than their American counterparts. Adding to that, they often shave less frequently than American men, so they wind up shaving longer beards." .. " "... observed men using a cup of water to shave. All the MIT students had running water. Without that, the razor stayed clogged." I live in a first world country now, and still use a bowl of water whe…

> I live in a first world country now, and still use a bowl of water when shaving: it's the environmentally kind thing to do. People who keep the water running all the time while they brush their teeth or shave drive me nuts.

Haven't thought of simply turning the water off between rinses instead of using a cup?

Re: Cheap razor made after P&G watches Indians shave

#27

Post by lake99 » Sat, Oct 05, 2013, 4:28 PM UTC

jblow wrote: post #14

This is a contemptible article. It seems mostly to be a product of PR, and for an American audience it seems intended to perpetuate the cognitive capture regarding razors being things that a lot of thought goes into and that therefore justify high prices. Do the math for how much a razor "should" cost, and ask why you can't buy one for remotely that much at your local Walgreens. Ask why stuff like Dollar Shave Club e…

> intended to perpetuate the cognitive capture regarding razors being things that a lot of thought goes into and that therefore justify high prices

A lot of thought goes into anything that is mass-market and is still competitively priced. The article says, "each razor blade is 5 rupees, or 12 cents". Stuff like Dollar Shave club is way too expensive for most Indians, and that what this article is about.

If you still find it contemptible, fine, you make cheaper razors. If they work, I'll buy them.

Re: Cheap razor made after P&G watches Indians shave

#28

Post by r0h1n » Sat, Oct 05, 2013, 4:31 PM UTC

singlecomment17 wrote: post #10

LOL. Rings true. "Indian men have thicker hair and a higher hair density than their American counterparts. Adding to that, they often shave less frequently than American men, so they wind up shaving longer beards." .. " "... observed men using a cup of water to shave. All the MIT students had running water. Without that, the razor stayed clogged." I live in a first world country now, and still use a bowl of water whe…

> I think they intentionally put bad blades in the cheap razors.

Oh I think the likes of Gillette do far more devious things when it comes to the life of razors. For instance, I can almost swear that the blades on my Fusion razor seem to wear out much faster than the blades on my Mach 3, Sensor, Presto etc. (I've been nearly a lifelong Gillette razor user)

I think what Gillette does is to ensure that the lubricating strip wears out faster, thus causing discomfort while shaving and making one feel as though the razor itself has worn out.

http://gliddofglood.typepad.com/the_glidd_of_glood_blog/2012...

Re: Cheap razor made after P&G watches Indians shave

#29

Post by Aloha » Sat, Oct 05, 2013, 4:45 PM UTC

I think this is a really neat (small) study of how a product makes it to market. Truth is, I would probably buy this razor if I could, I dont need a 97 blade extravaganza I just want something to scrape the extra hair off my face.

As far as using Indian students from MIT - thats a neat way of trying to lower development costs, while still targeting the specific needs to the ethnic group targeted. It didn't work perfectly, because it couldnt test for local use cases, but its still a neat start.

Re: Cheap razor made after P&G watches Indians shave

#30

Post by paddy_m » Sat, Oct 05, 2013, 4:46 PM UTC

jblow wrote: post #14

This is a contemptible article. It seems mostly to be a product of PR, and for an American audience it seems intended to perpetuate the cognitive capture regarding razors being things that a lot of thought goes into and that therefore justify high prices. Do the math for how much a razor "should" cost, and ask why you can't buy one for remotely that much at your local Walgreens. Ask why stuff like Dollar Shave Club e…

Also take a look at http://dorcousa.com/ which is about 33% cheaper than Dollar Shave Club. Dorco is the wholesaler to Dollar Shave Club