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The Worst

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Re: The Worst

#141

Post by petercooper »

Any reasonable person wouldn’t feel liberated by a $50 fork, but constrained by it. One wouldn’t be able to help but worry: is it being cared for correctly, is my friend going to mess it up when absentmindedly tapping the table with it, is it going to get dropped or stepped on if a dance party erupts in the kitchen? After all, it is the perfect fork, what if something happened to it to make it not perfect?

The flaw here is assuming getting "the best" also means it has to remain "perfect."

I tend to err towards the higher quality and (usually) more expensive side in my long term purchases but have no qualms about treating them as I would anything else. My 2 week old retina MBP has a funky dent in it now, for example. It's still a great notebook! And so would a $50 dinner set remain an excellent dinner set, even if someone did chip or tarnish it.

Re: The Worst

#142

Post by philwelch »

ryanwhitney wrote: post #11

After years of having cheap, shitty can openers that made it a pain to do the task, I spent 20 minutes looking it up and bought the best that I could find on Amazon. While I may never figure out how to service it if something happens to it (the thought!), it has worked pretty well so far. Cans are opened with little to no effort. It stays out of the way, it does exactly the task it was designed for, and it does it we…

The finest hand-cranked can openers you can find are about $20 and will last forever without worrying about servicing it. Then you spend another $20.

Re: The Worst

#143

Post by dwb »

The right answer I'd bet, is, as it so often is, "yes and no." Both this and "The Best" are extreme points of view, and extremes never strike me as particularly realistic. There's a happy medium for pretty much everything.

I've never found too much trouble in judging how much research and care I need to put into any given purchase. How often will I use it? How long do I want it to last for? Is it likely to break? How much will I care if it does break? There's a limit to this of course, I don't go to Curtis' lengths. Not enough hours in the day. I have put a reasonable amount of care into buying a good laptop, desk, piano, headphones etc though. These are important to me. The list isn't particularly long.

For just any old thing (including, I would say, cutlery), I have a rule-of-thumb that's served me well: never buy the cheapest, always the second-cheapest. The cheapest of any particular thing so often has had an incredible number of corners cut, but the next one up is usually just fine.

Re: The Worst

#144

Post by yaix »

Some people just need expensive stuff to feel good, others don't. Whatever. Don't question the other's way of living and just be happy with your's.

Re: The Worst

#145

Post by drivebyacct2 »

Halfway through reading this I closed it with two conclusions:

1. Thank God I didn't read "The Best".

2. Why the hell am I reading this.

I don't have the energy to have such a trite opinion, let alone read a thousand words about it from someone else. I hate these pithy comments but this stuff feels like "Hacker Drama", not "Hacker News".

Re: The Worst

#146

Post by enraged_camel »

Look, I don't know why two extremities are battling it out like this when the reasonable and rational answer lies somewhere in the middle.

I care deeply about an item if it relates to a hobby. As a geek, I research every part of a computer I am building thoroughly. I read reviews, compare specs and prices, run it by friends on tech message boards for opinions, etc. When the time comes to play Skyrim on uber settings on the machine I built, I get more enjoyment out of it, and feel satisfied in knowing that the components in it won't melt.

Same mindset applies to my other hobbies. I always try to get the best and most reliable matches when I go cross-country backpacking, because if a storm comes and I need to light a fire, I want to make sure the matches won't fail me. Last month I bought a new set of tires for my commuter bike, and I did actually get the most tires because for the types of trips I make, it matters.

In contrast, I don't give a crap about things that don't relate to hobbies. I moved to a new apartment recently and was in need of a new trash bin. I went to the nearest Walmart (conveniently located across the across the street) and purchased the cheapest one that had a lid. Had I done more research, I might have gone with a metal one that had a mechanism for securing the trash bag in place, but I don't care. Here's why: a trash can is not something I want to be proud of.

Re: The Worst

#147

Post by Domenic_S »

tptacek wrote: post #133
Domenic_S wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you referring to "A blog network and designing websites"? Dustin had his rep before Svbtle. In the quest for determining the source of his design rep, I'm not sure Svbtle counts. As far as 'designing websites' goes, all I know of is his old blog (the AA redesign mockup). I can't find a portfolio or tweet or dribbble or github or... anything really showcasing even one thing he's designed for someone other than him…

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 picked up about DC that I can't reconcile:

-He claims to live in SF and NYC. OK, maybe he's got some big projects? If so, I can't find any evidence.

-He claims to be "a designer", and also claims to "advise early-stage startups on design". Where did he learn these skills, and what startups has he advised? There are no forthcoming answers.

-He seems to have no trouble onboarding writers for Svbtle. He could be paying them, but with what funding? Further, his reputation pre-Svbtle is what enabled Svbtle in the first place; where did that come from?

In sum, the guy is an enigma to me. His stuff gets frontpaged all the time here, and so I (pretty naturally) assumed someone knew something about him... but it seems like nobody does. It's an odd thing because technology circles are so notoriously meritocratic.

You think I'm being flip about Dustin, but I'm really not. I actually agree with most things he writes, and found the AA articles to be very fascinating (and pertinent -- at the time I was going through my own version of the same thing). If all he's done (imagine finger quotes around 'all') is a markdown logo and a kudos button and Svbtle, that's fine. I'm not judging. But he illicits such strong reactions -- your replies are a great example -- that I feel like I'm missing something, that there's some great Secret of Dustin Curtis and I'm missing it.

Re: The Worst

#148

Post by guyzero »

raganwald wrote: post #61

I'm a hypocrite. Coffee, anyone? http://raganwald.posterous.com/coffee-anyone

I don't think you have to apply the same philosophy to absolutely everything in life. You can buy cheap cutlery and have nicely designed, expensive plates. As a matter of fact, a lot of people have two sets of dishes - a "best" and a "worst" because there's a time for each.

Re: The Worst

#149

Post by Domenic_S »

apike wrote: post #119
Domenic_S wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> [the] idea of a scratched Audi makes people crazy. Why waste your energy worrying about this? Because other people worry about it when buying a used Audi. And the obscene cost to repair auto paint. A carelessly placed shopping cart or thoughtless lean against the car in riveted jeans can cause thousands of dollars of damage.

I fon't think resale value is why most worry about it, but ptobably some. If scratches decrease resale value so much, it seems those in the market for a luxury car should seek out a scratched one.

There's the rub -- dent/paint repair costs dealerships next to nothing. They often have a guy on staff to do it. So dealerships won't sell scratched/dinged luxury cars, they'll repair them for pennies and mark them up.

Re: The Worst

#150

Post by jonnycoder »

klawed wrote: post #29

And then somewhere in between are the partisans of "good enough" When I'm eating food I like to get as close to "The best" as I can reasonably afford (I'll spend $50 on a steak but I won't fly to Japan just to get some fresh Kobe). On most other things, "Good Engough" is a good enough. And when I buy a car, I ask myself if I'll care if the bumper get's scratched - if the answer's yes, I look for a different car.

I think of the "middle" as a place where I put in enough energy to learn and do my research, but settle with what fits my needs both economically and ergonomically. For example, the "best" burger is the one I've learned to make on my own because it contains my favorite type of bun, meat I've ground up myself, etc. Other times I enjoy the quick fix at Carl's Jr because I'm in no mood to cook.

I've also learned that I prefer the "best" when it comes to hiking/hunting boots. The ok ones at $100 work well for a while because of their high economic value, but great ones are $300-$430 for a reason, such as having a higher heel, very aggressive tread, having lasting leather that dominates cheap boots, and being a perfect custom fit (Schnees Granite or Whites Smokejumper for example).

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