There is something so not right about your choices of examples…
So… you’re saying it sucks?
On those exercise machines…
What they don’t tell you is, only people who were born with the right body type will look like the people in the commercials. Someone who was always very thin will still be thin. Stronger, but still thin. Someone who naturally tends to be heavy will still be heavy. The plus side for the heavy/big guys is, they become incredibly strong - picture the Russian Olymic weightlifters. They are strong beyond belief, but they are still not “model material”. If it was just a matter of working at it, there would be a lot more Arnolds walking around. But alas, it takes a specific body type, and it boils down to genetics. Fortunately for the rest of us, not everyone wants a Hulk for a significant other.
I believe ralph is denouncing those Real Estate **“Systems”/b] or “methods”, “as seen on TV” thru which any schlub should be able to make his hometown his personal Monopoly[sup]TM[/sup] board – and he denounces them precisely because if it were so simple we would be selling houses to each other every day. Heck, we would have to sell houses to each other every day, 'cause we would not be actually producing any cash flow otherwise…
Very breifly, I sold Kirby vacuums. Now, they are good machines, but they are so higly priced as to be unreal and the high pressure tactics used by the salesmen are unbelievable. (Which is why I left.)
As a result, I got to use a lot of other vacuum cleaners and I learned the most obvious lesson. It’s not so much how good your vacuum is, it’s how often you use it. The Kirby demo models had a pad that collected the dirt they pulled up, so you coulds see what was left behind. In obviously clean houses, with folks who vauumed often, there was dammed little to pull up. In “dirty” housees (and yes I went into some really dirty places) you would get an unbelivable amount of dirt. In those dirty houses they often had a pretty good vacuum, maybe even an older Kirby. But they didn’t use it.
The kicker? The “clean” folks were more horrified by their little bit of dirt than the “dirty” folks by pad after pad of filth.
My opinion is that if you buy any midranged upright vacuum and use it regularly your house will be pretty clean. If you like the bells and whistles of the higher poriced vacs, fine, but the increased performance is probably minor. The Dyson does look pretty cool though.
I don’t think it has anything to do with whether these products work or not. It has to do with who’s going buy this crap. Go to any mall in Ameri… anywhere. Tell me how many shops are selling… rocks!
If people will buy it, there’s a market for it.
I have one of these too. I believe the remote is for when you hook up the DVD player to a regular-size TV (in which case you may be watching from across the room). At least, I HOPE that’s what they were thinking…
Okay, so how do you explain wireless remote controls for car stereos?
Oh, that’s for backseat drivers.
Yes, yes it does.
I kinda figured the same, but the remote and/or the sensor are so bad that it only works from a foot away or so, aiming very carefully.
They must enjoy the irony of vaccuum salesmen using high pressure tactics.
Heh. Me too. The one that baffles me is the fridge for three grand with a high-def tv in the door. How many times can you slam the door before you kill the tv? And it’s not like they can replace the TV without having you send at least the door to them…what the hell are you going to do with your food then?!
Please tell me you are joking, elfkin.
At least the TV can gnerate enough heat to keep the butter soft inside the door.
There are several TV models now with a picture inverter. They are designed to be watched by some facing opposite the set. You mount it on your bathroom wall, behind you as you face the vanity morror. The intent is that you watch the screen’s reflection in the mirror rather than the screen itself, as you shave or do makeup. You can then hit the button to return to a normal picture when you spin aound to face the screen directly and sit on the pot.
My GOD, I just can’t imagine how previous generations lived without this technology!
Really? I asked my vet about this, and he said that as long as I add a little roughage now and then, kitties were just fine for my dog.
Not necessarily a response to you in particular, but to the whole vacuum discussion in general.
I had a vacuum cleaner salesman come to my house who had this super duper vacuum (damned if I can remember what it was called), but he said that the vacuum does not use suction, but “air flow” or something. He was funny.
As for stupid products… eh, I don’t really have an example.
Heh, I’ve seen this as well. (Man, a lot happens when you’re waiting for a post to go through.) It’s made by LG, “Life’s Good” and it boasts that you can now do your two favorite things at the same time: eating and watching TV. I’d totally forgotten about that.
[li] Ergonomics. Not all cars are designed to be “driver oriented” and have all the A/C and radio controls within arm’s length of the driver.[/li][li] Asthetics. Some come with the remote because it would clutter the appearance of the head-unit to have buttons for all the available features.[/li][li] Safety. You can bring the remote into your line of sight to make sure you’re pushing the right button. Combine with ergonomics to have someone in an odd position reaching half-way across their car with their eyes off the road.[/li]
Also in the safety vein… the “decibel drag”. You do not want to be in the car when it’s making a 180dB attempt. For comparison, a jet engine at 50ft is 110dB… the Bell scale is logarithmic.
P.S. truthbot’s post is… er… interesting.
Not hardly. They’re $500 more than the ad I saw last month, even. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1077624214385&skuId=6366005&type=product
Wow.
Just…wow.