Poll of the Day > You know how I KNOW we are dumber as a whole?

(+) Yeah! (+)

This is an actual product and that is an actual price tag.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/55235fd2.jpg

$40 for 2 basic magnets wrapped in a small piece of leather.

HornedLion posted...

You know how I KNOW we are dumber as a whole?

Because you have absolutely no grasp of history, or an awareness of anything outside of your very narrow personal experience bubble?

I've seen way dumber shit than this being sold back in the day.

I think this is more proof of anxiety taking hold on our society.

VioletZer0 posted...

I've seen way dumber shit than this being sold back in the day.

I think this is more proof of anxiety taking hold on our society.

Besides the Pet Rock, give me an example.

The "Name a star" scheme, multi-level-marketing memberships, new age medicine, masculine self help books.

VioletZer0 posted...

The "Name a star" scheme, multi-level-marketing memberships, new age medicine, masculine self help books.

Though I dont disagree with you I believe naming a whole star after you is like $25. Still cheaper than two magnets wrapped in leather. Plus, if you name a star after a chick, no matter how BS it is it may help you get some action later that night. If I give a girl 2 magnets wrapped in leather she wont ever want to see you again, much less sleep with you.

I don't see the problem, it's hardly a saturated market so they can set the price. This is how luxury items invent obscene prices, if something has a USP, there will be someone rich enough to buy it just because others don't have it.

Kyuubi4269 posted...

I don't see the problem, it's hardly a saturated market so they can set the price. This is how luxury items invent obscene prices, if something has a USP, there will be someone rich enough to buy it just because others don't have it.

Youre not wrong but even with NO creativity or know how I can bet either one of us can walk into Michaels right now, get 2 small magnets, leather, leather hole puncher, and suede yarn or whatever, and make those things for less than $40. With enough material left over to make more.

HornedLion posted...

Youre not wrong but even with NO creativity or know how I can bet either one of us can walk into Michaels right now, get 2 small magnets, leather, leather hole puncher, and suede yarn or whatever, and make those things for less than $40. With enough material left over to make more.

I don't even know what a shell cordovan is so I couldn't market it to the same degree.

Kyuubi4269 posted...

I don't even know what a shell cordovan is

Pretty sure that's a Star Wars character

HornedLion posted...

Besides the Pet Rock, give me an example.

Ear candles. Tricks people into thinking there's a buttload of cerumen clogging up their ears,. Most of it is actually candle wax, and THAT can clog up your ears. Also burn your ear canal or drum if you don't use the "right" type AFAIK.

Oh, and don't forget those master cleanse formulas which contain clay and gelatinizers. THe result is pooping out long rubbery, ropy, shiny grayish brown turds. They think that the ropeturds (because they sure as hell don't look like normal feces) are "toxic mucus fat" that was lining the walls of their colon for years.
Oh, it gets better. Some of the people who use this snake oil poop into a colander they affix to the toilet. Then they take their ropeturds outside and sift through them for "parasites" and "cancer fuzzsies" Don't know if they still exist, but there was a time (in the 2000's) when people posted pictures of their ropeturds, sometimes dangling on a stick.
Imagine having these people for your next door neighbors.

Don't forget ball steaming. It's like the idiotic vaginal steaming, except that you bathe your scrotum in hot steam to INCREASE fertility.

Also, there are people who think that they receive health benefits from drinking their own pee.

FYI, those magnetic fidgets actually sound kinda fun, though I agree it's absurdly overpriced. Don't deny it, people. It's probably like a stress ball, bubble wrap, or sea anemone nematocysts. The TC just thinks it's stupid because he doesn't have a need to keep his fingers busy during all waking hours.

HornedLion posted...

Youre not wrong but even with NO creativity or know how I can bet either one of us can walk into Michaels right now, get 2 small magnets, leather, leather hole puncher, and suede yarn or whatever, and make those things for less than $40. With enough material left over to make more.

How long would it take you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=029jcmv4tIU

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Beveren_Rabbit posted...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=029jcmv4tIU

This monotasker is actually just worse than using a pan.

EDIT: It is hilarious how there are so many hot dog dedicated monotaskers and not a single one has defeated a pan on a stove.

adjl posted...

How long would it take you?

You know Im tempted to fucking try and see. Maybe when Im done Ill give them to my kid to play with.

VioletZer0 posted...

This monotasker is actually just worse than using a pan.

EDIT: It is hilarious how there are so many hot dog dedicated monotaskers and not a single one has defeated a pan on a stove.

To be fair, it is a vintage product. From the 1960s, I would guess by the instruction manual. This was before home microwaves, so being able to cook something in 60 seconds would be pretty amazing.

Customers that can't see the produce bags that they are standing right in front of because they are knee level in small recesses built into the produce table.

SunWuKung420 posted...

Customers that can't see the produce bags that they are standing right in front of because they are knee level in small recesses built into the produce table.

That's a terrible design. Of course people can't see something that's at knee level in the table they're standing in front of. There's a table in the way.

HornedLion posted...

You know Im tempted to fucking try and see. Maybe when Im done Ill give them to my kid to play with.

I'd guess it'll be on the order of an hour from start to finish, depending on your hand stitching skills, and odds are it won't look that clean until you've got quite a bit more experience than I'm guessing you currently have. With practice, you'll get better and faster, but when you factor in the cost of the materials, the cost of the equipment, and the cost of shipping, I'd guess you'd only be looking at $20-30 an hour. Still a respectable wage for a relatively simple task, but nothing too insane.

It may be a real product with a real price tag but that doesn't mean anyone has purchased one. It doesn't cost much to create an online storefront to list whatever random crap you can come up with.

You know Gwyneth Paltrow's Snake Oil business (Goop) is valued at $250 million as of 2022 right.

That's a better example of a mass scam being successful.

adjl posted...

That's a terrible design. Of course people can't see something that's at knee level in the table they're standing in front of. There's a table in the way.

Nope. If you look down you can clearly see the bags. Also every table has 2 corners with the bags so that even if you don't look down, you can still see them if you scan the room. It's not a design problem. It's a people problem. They can't see what they aren't use to seeing even though their brains are picking up the information. Their preconceived notions of where the bags should be prevent them from seeing where the bags are.

SunWuKung420 posted...

It's not a design problem. It's a people problem.

If your design is meant to serve people but it doesn't line up with how those people expect it to work, it's a failed design. Yes, a truly foolproof design is largely impossible, but if a significant number of people are making the same mistake that means your design doesn't work well.

You can insist "people should just be less stupid" all you want, and you might not even be wrong about that, but unless you actually come up with a way to make people less stupid, your design should take that stupidity into account wherever possible. That's just the nature of engineering.

what store puts produce bags at knee level, they're all like above eye level

ConfusedTorchic posted...

what store puts produce bags at knee level, they're all like above eye level

I've never seen above eye level stands. My whole life they were on waist level stands. I only have one of those.

adjl posted...

If your design is meant to serve people but it doesn't line up with how those people expect it to work, it's a failed design. Yes, a truly foolproof design is largely impossible, but if a significant number of people are making the same mistake that means your design doesn't work well.

You can insist "people should just be less stupid" all you want, and you might not even be wrong about that, but unless you actually come up with a way to make people less stupid, your design should take that stupidity into account wherever possible. That's just the nature of engineering.

I'm going to strongly disagree.

This is 100% a lack of perception problem. It is in the same vein as the people who ask me where is something while standing next to it.

SunWuKung420 posted...

I'm going to strongly disagree.

This is 100% a lack of perception problem. It is in the same vein as the people who ask me where is something while standing next to it.

If you can fix it (fully or partially) with a redesign, but can't fix it by blaming people, you should treat it as a design problem. Otherwise, you aren't actually trying to solve it, you're just looking to complain about it to make yourself feel superior.