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The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

priceonomics.com

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Re: The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

#81

Post by jmduke »

_Adam wrote: post #48

As stupid as this sounds, there is actually a difference between these ice cubes and the standard variety. And that's the appearance. Just look: http://www.glaceice.net/uploads/3/9/6/9/3969825/3969289_orig... Because there's no air bubbles, the ice is perfectly clear. That's not a trivial fact. Humans innately like clear stuff! Just think how unappealing cloudy water is in comparison to clear water. The only exceptio…

This doesn't detract from your point, but it's worth noting that that's probably not an ice cube in the photograph -- more likely, its plastic (in the same vein that photographers use glue instead of milk for cereal).

One of my favorite blogs, Alcademics, has a great set of experiments on how to capture the glory of clear ice at home:

http://www.alcademics.com/2010/08/a-homemade-giant-crystal-c...

Re: The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

#82

Post by logfromblammo »

SDGT wrote: post #61
paulannesley wrote: post #28

This brand is ridiculous, but… Crystal clear ice cubes look great in a drink, and are far more difficult to make than “filling a 50-cent plastic tray with tap water and throwing it in the freezer”. The author of the article seems to avoid pointing this out. See https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/danprovost/neat-ice-kit and https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wintersmiths/the-ice-ba...

I make clear ice cubes two ways. 1. Boil water twice beforehand 2. Strap a vibrating "toy" to the tray and put it on a solid flat surface in the freezer. Neither of these solutions ended up costing me more than $20 to make as many ice cubes as I can fit. The hardest part is finding ice cube trays that don't suck.

You can even use a silicone molded ice tray to make crystal clear ice in interesting shapes. I recall seeing Death Star shaped ice somewhere out there on the Internet.

Re: The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

#83

Post by opendais »

tjr wrote: post #13
opendais wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I should start selling Läce Oxygen, the better breathing experience certified to be fresh as it was extracted directly from a sealed room filled with plants. Don't breathe secondhand air from the mouths of peasants! Get Läce Oxygen! :/ EDIT: I was kidding, folks. ^^;

What kind of plants? I can see that idea working.

Feel free to steal it if you are serious. :)

I'm not brave enough to sell overpriced goods.

Re: The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

#84

Post by opendais »

DanBC wrote: post #66
opendais wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A fact that continues to depress and disturb me. However, they don't use plants. They use machines. So I was trying not to directly reference something real.

You could totally make high class oxygen by using plants. It's a business. You just need to be brave / shameless enough to charge a ridiculous amount for plant generated oxygen. I think this element of "I cannot bring myself to do this, even though some people are so rich they will not miss the money" stops some people from starting businesses.

Oh, you could. I'm sure you could.

Could it be profitable and have me sell it with a straight face?

No way in hell :P

Re: The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

#85

Post by lightblade »

DanBC wrote: post #80
lightblade wrote: post #58

I don't think this is ridiculous. I remember watching this one scene in Star Trek Into Darkness where Kirk was sitting in a bar enjoying a drink. The drink that he was enjoying had this perfect spherical ice in it. I remember talking to myself at that moment that this is a very nice business idea. Retail price aside, I do believe premium ice is a viable business.

You can buy presses to turn ice into a sphere. Is this an affiliate link? How do I turn it back into a regular link? http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00A1TMFSU?pc_redir=1401253883...

Thanks for the link!

Now I know I can DIY these.

Re: The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

#86

Post by DanBC »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #64
tjr wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of plants? I can see that idea working.

He'll use my line of high-end oxygen-producers. I can start him off with some Bambü, which produces a very nice texture, or we can skip directly to Alø, which has some very nice medicinal properties as well.

You need to tweak the phrasing to avoid regulatory scrutiny by FDA but beneficial properties of oxygen of different plants would sell.

I don't know how depressed I am by this.

Re: The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

#87

Post by Alupis »

jrockway wrote: post #71
Alupis wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure? Gold is one of the most soft/malleable metals used to plate connectors? (I know it's one the best best conductors). And we all know, there's no difference between the $150 hdmi cable and the $5 hdmi cable except cosmetics and perhaps some better shielding. They're all digital connections, so the signal/bits are either there or are not.

> They're all digital connections, so the signal/bits are either there or are not. Absolutely not true. There is quite a lot of engineering behind making an HDMI or Ethernet cable work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmission_line And, there are plenty of ways to mess it up and make a cable that only sort of works. TMDS, the signaling mechanism that HDMI uses, does not have error correction codes. It does do some e…

Again, the bits are either there or they are not (corruption).

I don't see your point, because it seems to back my earlier point.

Re: The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

#89

Post by pyre »

madengr wrote: post #59
louthy wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not an expert, and absolutely willing to be proven incorrect here. But I thought that gold was a better conductor, and that's why they're better for audio cables (less resistance). Surely the fact that gold is a soft metal would be a reason to not use it for reasons of 'extending lives'?

Gold isn't the best conductor. Silver is better, followed by copper, but they oxidize, and gold does not. It's the oxide that forms the insulator. There are both hard and soft gold platings is electronics. Hard gold is for wearing contact surfaces such as connectors and relays. Soft gold for solderable and wire bondable surfaces.

I assume that 'hard gold' is some sort of alloy, as gold itself is known for being soft (hence the idea of someone biting down on a gold coin to test if it's really gold).

Re: The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube

#90

Post by Alupis »

DanBC wrote: post #70
Alupis wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure? Gold is one of the most soft/malleable metals used to plate connectors? (I know it's one the best best conductors). And we all know, there's no difference between the $150 hdmi cable and the $5 hdmi cable except cosmetics and perhaps some better shielding. They're all digital connections, so the signal/bits are either there or are not.

I really hope the $150 cable has much better manufacturing and inspection. Obviously that doesn't mean they're worth that much, but still.

You'd be surprised. The $150 hdmi cable is likely manufactured alongside the $5 cables in the same factory, then just sold to different brands (Monster vs. Store-brand).

It's fairly common... Samsung makes almost all the parts of the Best Buy store-brand TV's... they're essentially a slightly lower-grade samsung tv with the store-brand slapped on and sold cheaper.

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