I've been seeing a lot of commercials lately for new razors. I don't know the specifics. But apparently, my old razor (which was made by the same company, mind you) causes irritating "tug and pull." This is odd, because a year ago, my old razor was the pinnacle of human advancement.
I realize technology improves over time. I also realize that things often aren't as bad as companies make them out to be. If I believed what the commercials were saying, I've spent the past three years dragging a damp cat across my face.
Which is a vast improvement over five years ago, when "Gillette" says I was shaving with a handful of jagged glass and sharp rocks.
But there's just as much problem with the new models. How much better can shaving really get? Those blades are already half the thickness of a strand of DNA. Any thinner, and my stubble will be cutting through it instead of the other way around.
I'm not sold. And I'd advise you to not believe the hype either. No matter what the commercials claim, I highly doubt their new razor is like splashing a handful of rainbows on my face and hugging a unicorn.
Nor would I want it to be - weren't men supposed to be...manly?
Two words: Planned obsolescence. I remember growing up and playing my Atari 7800 on my parents' 13" tv that they had gotten when they were first married. I remember taking that tv to college and finally retiring it because I wanted something bigger (not because it didn't work). I then remember that less than 3 years later the coaxial input jack on the back of the "new" tv broke off...
ReplyDeleteNowadays, it's even worse - the tv's are designed to fail after a certain number of hours of use, cars seem to fall apart in 3-5 years and even my beer has an expiration date. Don't get me wrong, I'm no "pinkie-commie" or anything (I certainly like being able to buy bread without having to stand in a line all day), but sometimes capitalist greed pisses me off.
I hate planned obsolescence. And whenever possible, I try to use the old things. But it's like you say, even if that old 13-incher will be around a few hundred years after I die, I just need something with a bigger screen eventually. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteWith some of the next-generation appliances being made from rare earth elements in such limited supplies, you'd think it would be illegal.