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Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

johnwhiles.com

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Re: Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

#221

Post by jchw »

kstenerud wrote: post #172
jchw wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am only comparing it to the Samsung. And for what it’s worth, I have not been buying cheap Samsung TVs. Also yes. You get what you pay for. But also, I have other reasons to not pay the Sony premium. I can actually mildly tolerate Android TV and its stupid home screen ads, for some reason, but having it shipped with my TV seems like a step too far, and that’s exactly what Bravia TVs do. My only real option is to ha…

A big reason I bought the Sharp TV is because it has Android TV built in. When it's disconnected from the internet (I haven't connected it to the internet except once to update the firmware), it behaves just like a monitor. Turn it on, it fast-boots in 3 seconds and displays HDMI1 (the last input I selected).

I can give you at least one reason why I do not own a Sharp TV: I haven’t actually seen one for sale. The most obvious place to buy one locally is Best Buy, and my Best Buy has legitimately zero. I could, of course, buy one online, but for TVs I generally haven’t done this in the past. There’s obviously pros and cons to this.

This is all getting very silly though. We went from a market where you got what you paid for to well,… this. You can get what you paid for… kind of, if you don’t care about certain things and do fairly thorough research. And sure. I can try to dilligently pick an option that works best for me. The average consumer is getting completely fucked, however, and they are the ones driving all of the demand.

Re: Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

#223

Post by adrr »

dazc wrote: post #4

The Gillette cartrdiges last quite a while and, for me, 15 shaves would be a conservative guess. I don't recall ever cutting myself either, unlike with old style razors and cheap disposables where it was pretty much a daily hazard. Nonetheless, I often go a week between shaves nowadays and this seems to be much more socially acceptable than used to be the case.

Gillette is ceramic coated and should last you about a month. Other razors are Teflon(PTFE) coated and last a couple weeks. I used to work in the shaving industry.

Re: Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

#224

Post by SamoyedFurFluff »

naet wrote: post #203
SamoyedFurFluff wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly the wetshaving (safety razor, brush, etc) community is also a wealth of knowledge for bang-for-your-buck shaving. It’s simple enough to get in, soak up the knowledge you need, get out. You don’t have to buy into the acquisition hype, and the community is generous enough that you can often get started for free on some decent basics.

Wet shaving is also a great experience IMO, even with dirt cheap razors and soaps and brushes I prefer it. As the article stated a single safety razor handle will last basically a lifetime too.

Dirt cheap doesn’t mean a bad shave too, which is where that wealth of knowledge can come in handy. Astra plat blades are both some of the cheapest and also smoothest blades around for example.

Re: Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

#225

Post by jrootabega »

bonoboTP wrote: post #131
jrootabega wrote: post #47

Shaving is like an Inception-level hierarchy of waste and affectation. It's easy to feel superior because you ditched the biggest brands, and still be wasting your money on unnecessary and crappy products because you were tricked by marketing. Those hipster shave-by-mail clubs are not really better than Gillette. And the safety razor market-disguised-as-a-community is also full of waste disguised by hipster affectati…

People are allowed to have hobbies and interests.

But it's not necessary to turn shaving into a hobby with toys and status symbols (look at all the conspicious brand-name-dropping going on in these comments). However, the anti-Gillette marketing zeitgeist makes you think that that is THE alternative. Looking for information about safety/straight razor usage will undoubtedly suck someone into SEO-friendly shaving "enthusiast" traps unless they avoid it. People should be aware that there is a cheap, simple, boring, utilitarian alternative, but the "alternative shaving culture" will try to mislead them, even if from innocent enthusiasm.

Re: Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

#226

Post by tabiv »

If you're reading this thread and wondering how to get started with a double edged safety razor, try this starter kit from Maggard. I wanted to try it for years but never knew where to start. I've solely been using this kit for about a year. https://maggardrazors.com/collections/kits/products/maggard-...

Re: Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

#227

Post by NoSorryCannot »

jzellis wrote: post #45

I use safety and very non-safety straight razors for trimming my beard. The converse of the TSA thing is also true: using a straight razor allows you to travel anywhere with a very, very dangerous weapon in your bag that nobody will look twice at. I just check my bag like a big ol grownup who doesn't need to Tony Stark it directly off the plane to get into my caravan of black SUVs.

First time hearing such a critique of traveling light and not wanting to wait to check and claim bagagge, or pay extra for it.

You can check weapons so no, I don't think a razor is going to be such a big deal.

Re: Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

#228

Post by sacrosancty »

oblak wrote: post #175
maxerickson wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The plastic waste thing is kind of silly. People commenting here mostly live near well managed landfills and aren't worrying about burning 10 pounds of oil driving to work. Like fine, feel free to use less plastic, but it really isn't a big portion of most people's resource consumption.

Quoted post unavailable.

It truly does less environmental harm than burning the typical amount of fossil fuel driving to work each day that he mentioned. You can quantify it. CO2 emissions from plastic production are comparable to the mass of plastic which is dwarfed by, say, a litre of petrol.

Landfills aren't an environmental problem. People have just been somehow conditioned to hate them for no particular reason.

Re: Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

#229

Post by Auracle »

throwaway821909 wrote: post #124
eckesicle wrote: post #75

My dad never taught me how to shave, and for the longest time I just used these disposable Gillette style blades, and got terrible results. Missed spots, cuts and skin infections. At some point I decided to do some research and settled on double edge disposable blades. I've never been happier, and feel much better about my skin too. These are the products I use: * A wooden synthetic shaving brush (I felt bad about th…

Mine "taught me" by handing over a cheap electric shaver and basically saying "you can't go wrong"... I think you can change the blades but he never did, so neither do I, just wait for the entire thing to break or get lost. So all the debate around what's cheapest or most manly has always somewhat confused me.

How well they work really depends on your beard hair. I get a pretty coarse, thick beard and quickly discovered electric shavers were a no-go for me.

Re: Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

#230

Post by Pulcinella »

seanwilson wrote: post #59

> Cooking equipment: essentially indestructible Cast Iron skillets transition into teflon pans. The newer pans perform worse, and must be replaced on a shockingly regular basis. I fell for this marketing thinking non-stick was the best out of everything always and kept having to buy new pans and trays when the teflon would eventually flake off thinking it was my fault. Stainless steel is fine: works without a lot of…

What the heck are y’all doing that you are flaking off the non-stick coating? We have a nice set we got for our wedding, and even after using them nearly every day for a decade they look brand new and the coating is still flawless.
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