Live data from Hacker News

Wall Street ruined the Roomba and then blamed Lina Khan

thebignewsletter.com

211–213 of 213 posts

Re: Wall Street ruined the Roomba and then blamed Lina Khan

#211
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one ever forced any company to work with China. They all went to China over decades because it was cheaper and made more profits, knowing full well there’d be technological transfer since it was always China’s goal and even explicit in contracts and agreements. Being surprised now that profits became technology transfer and China is now a real competitor is useless. They knew it, just didn’t think the Chinese coul…

> No one ever forced any company to work with China. "Forced" is a strong word here, but company's do need to compete or die. If your competitors are manufacturing in China and selling widgets at a price less than what an American factory can produce them for, what choices do they realistically have? To expect merchants to get together and act according to some greater good is a pipe dream. Government should have ste…

Yes, such are capitalism’s incentives, I’m afraid.

But this could have been managed. FDR managed it, other governments somewhat managed it with policy in times of war, like WW2.

The US had the technology edge for DECADES. More industrialization would lead to more inovation and more jobs. They could invest in factories and the like, and even marketing, since “american made” has always been a fine talking point for companies. But it was cheaper in the short term to ship it to China and just not care about the future.

The governments didn’t care, the companies (owners, shareholders) certainly didn’t care, and as a result, decades later, they’re stuck with fascism. Which I don’t think they care about either.

Re: Wall Street ruined the Roomba and then blamed Lina Khan

#212
post #209
post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't care if the CCP has my floorplan

"I don't care if they spy on my, I have nothing to hide."

What would they possibly do with my floorplan? It isn't like I am zuck where there might be risk of commandos breaking into my compound... Chances are that floorplan is in some city hall database that they already breached anyhow.

Re: Wall Street ruined the Roomba and then blamed Lina Khan

#213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> To be honest the Roomba sucked I have an old Roomba (980 perhaps?) and laud it as one of my best appliances. It’s a work horse! We’re had it for five-six years and it still works great. Nowadays it sometimes needs to charge twice to finish, but I only notice if I’m home - and I could just replace the battery. Parts are so easy to replace, that my wife has replaced most, and she isn’t a tinkerer. Maybe I just don’t…

I also have a 980 that's going strong. A number of parts replaced over time, so refreshingly repairable. My mother in law has had a whole lineup of Chinese robot vacuums in the time we've owned Roomba and they haven't seemed miraculously more effective. Ours does get stuck occasionally, but it runs every day so...it's not a huge deal if it doesn't finish on any given day.

I think a lot of people who have pets or kids who are outside a lot and some rooms with hard floors would be pleasantly surprised at how good even a really mediocre mopping does when it's done often enough.
Post reply on HN