[HN Gopher] Dyson, techno-centric design and social consumption
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       Dyson, techno-centric design and social consumption
        
       Author : 2earth
       Score  : 75 points
       Date   : 2025-07-07 14:45 UTC (8 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (2earth.github.io)
 (TXT) w3m dump (2earth.github.io)
        
       | 2earth wrote:
       | Please, James, don't sue me. It's just my opinion as a fellow
       | Design Engineer... and in my defence, I probably wouldn't have
       | written this if your company didn't constantly proclaim how
       | amazing all your products are. And besides, these days, I can't
       | exactly opt-out of a Dyson-altered existence, given that you're
       | systematically making public washrooms everywhere louder, wetter,
       | more expensive and more confusing. I don't really like your
       | products, James, I don't like what they stand for and I don't
       | like you either, for that matter. Anyway, here's (just some of)
       | the reasons why. But please, James, don't sue me.
        
         | detourdog wrote:
         | The germ spreading of the circulating air always creeps me out.
        
           | echelon wrote:
           | The particulate aerosolization worries me.
           | 
           | In the future we're going to regret breathing bad air. It's
           | the accelerant for so many health problems.
        
             | eddythompson80 wrote:
             | > In the future we're going to regret breathing air. It's
             | the accelerant for so many health problems.
             | 
             | A non-oxygen dependent energy system for the human cell is
             | the only option moving forward. We need to utilize a clean
             | energy source like sunlight and dump that oxygen dependency
             | once and for all. Cyanobacteria was a crutch dependency
             | that helped bootstrap that whole life thing pretty quickly
             | for the demo. We have a proven concept now that we know
             | work. Can we leave the idea to use oxygen back in the GOE
             | era where it belongs now? Building all this complexity on
             | top of a fundamentally flawed bases like oxygen reactivity
             | was the main mistake.
        
       | mkj wrote:
       | It didn't include the terrible battery pack design of the vacuum
       | cleaners either. They could have added a few resistors (already
       | supported by the battery management chip they're using), but
       | instead they didn't so the battery packs just fail.
       | https://old.reddit.com/r/18650masterrace/comments/tifbgr/dys...
       | and the eevblog original linked there.
        
         | ok_dad wrote:
         | Jesus, they have a battery handshake? We truly do own nothing.
        
           | nancyminusone wrote:
           | This is hardly unique to Dyson. Pretty much everything that
           | has multiple lithium ion batteries does the same. It sucks
           | but that's the price you pay for lithium ion.
        
           | wpm wrote:
           | Sadly, the lack of good sense and typical selfishness and
           | shortsightedness of a human being means that when you don't,
           | you get the spate of e-bike battery house/apartment/highrise
           | fires that were hitting NYC. You kinda can't fuck around with
           | li-ion.
           | 
           | I don't like that my Bosch e-bike batteries have closed-
           | source schematics, software, and chargers (i mean really,
           | what the fuck am I going to steal Bosch), nor that the
           | software that runs on the bike is utterly locked down to the
           | point where I can't even pay for a copy (it's available only
           | to e-bike dealers and none of them have leaked it as far as I
           | can tell), but unfortunately, I have no trust in my fellow
           | schmuck to not accidentally or negligently build bombs when
           | they rebuild their battery packs, nor would I trust them not
           | to do stupid shit with the e-bike software like remove speed
           | limiters.
           | 
           | I barely even trust myself to rebuild packs, and I kinda-
           | sorta know what I'm doing, which is just enough to get myself
           | into trouble. I still look at the two packs I have rebuilt
           | with a side-eye, months and years on from when I built them.
        
             | bitmasher9 wrote:
             | > nor would I trust them not to do stupid shit with the
             | e-bike software like remove speed limiters.
             | 
             | I'm not going to lie, this is the first thing I would do if
             | I could flash e-bike software.
        
             | AlexandrB wrote:
             | This kind of comment is ridiculous in light of the last
             | hundred years of transportation which worked on _gasoline_
             | , a highly flammable liquid fuel that can even explode
             | under some circumstances. Why do we trust people to handle
             | gasoline safely, but Li-ion batteries are a bridge too far?
             | 
             | I'm tired of being treated like an idiot consumer because
             | someone, somewhere, fucked up their Li-ion battery.
        
               | rangestransform wrote:
               | We don't let people fill up their cars inside their
               | residences either. Lithium ion batteries are additionally
               | dangerous because side the fires burn hotter, are self
               | oxidizing, and can't be extinguished with conventional
               | fire extinguishers.
        
         | rej696 wrote:
         | I had a terrible experience trying to replace failed battery
         | packs for a family member's dyson handheld hoover. They seem to
         | fail every 2 years or so, and the first time around we ordered
         | the wrong part (all the different models seem to have slightly
         | different interfaces). Dyson wouldn't allow us to return either
         | the failed or functional but incorrect batteries, so now we
         | have a pile of 3 or 4 hoover batteries in the cupboard!
        
         | ToucanLoucan wrote:
         | This shit should genuinely get your company hauled into court
         | and fined significantly. Render batteries unrecoverable to
         | save, what, a penny on your BOM? Fucking pathetic.
         | 
         | Engineers need a union. I'm sure this was a bean counter
         | decision and not something they wanted to do.
        
           | bboygravity wrote:
           | As an EE I feel this was either extreme incompetence
           | (unlikely) or deliberate planned obsolescence.
           | 
           | Battery packs can be expensive and have huge margin if you
           | make them (mechanically) fit only 1 year of 1 model of 1
           | brand. Which is exactly what Dyson seems to be doing.
           | 
           | Designing BMS'es so that the batteries (safely) fail as
           | quickly as possible is not hard.
        
       | Onavo wrote:
       | Dyson is like the IKEA for household appliances. They are pretty
       | and fancy and somewhat featureful but they never seem to hold up
       | to the truly high end stuff like Sebos/Miele. Those brands will
       | cost you an arm and a leg but they will do exactly what it says
       | on the tin, and nothing more. No gimmicks, just suction.
        
         | autobodie wrote:
         | My Oreck is more than I have ever needed and I think it was
         | around $100.
        
           | pipeline_peak wrote:
           | Push forward, push backward, lift up cord and turn to the
           | right
           | 
           | Push forward, push backward, lift up cord and turn to the
           | right
        
           | jahsome wrote:
           | I have a corded oreck and a Dyson stick vac. I absolutely
           | adore the oreck, and I rarely use the Dyson.
           | 
           | In terms of maintenance and performance the Oreck is a
           | reliable, one-click WordPress install, and the Dyson is a few
           | dozen fickle micro services.
           | 
           | I got the Oreck for like $20 on Craigslist a decade ago
           | because it was listed as "broken." I bought it on a whim to
           | see if I could repair it after one of the famous vacuum guy
           | reddit AMAs. Without exaggeration, it may very well be the
           | best $20 investment I've ever made.
           | 
           | I was amazed how simple it was to disassemble and reassemble.
           | There were surprisingly few components and every single one
           | had an appealing heft and remarkable quality.
           | 
           | As a somewhat funny aside: The woman I bought it from said
           | she had three teenage daughters and it couldn't keep up. The
           | first time I serviced it, I removed enough hair for several
           | wigs.
           | 
           | Ever since, it's worked incredibly and in the rare event
           | performance has started to suffer I've been able to service
           | it myself multiple times over the years, and replacement
           | parts are readily available. It's designed to be maintained.
           | After each service it works literally good as new and I fall
           | in love with it all over again.
           | 
           | Contrast that with my hand-me-down Dyson. It's awkward as all
           | hell to store. Battery is pathetic and charging is a pain. So
           | much delicate plastic. It clogs practically every use; though
           | to be fair my children and animals are all filthmongers. The
           | components feel cheap, and I can't help but feel like it's
           | hostile to the average consumer attempting to repair it. It's
           | deteriorated in performance even though I've used it lightly.
           | If I had spent even a single dollar on it, I'd be so pissed.
        
         | rapnie wrote:
         | Or the Nilfisk consumer vacuum cleaners. They used to be
         | frequently seen in Dutch households, nowadays less so.
         | Indestructable.
         | 
         | My first confrontation with a 'Dyson Airblade Wash+Dry short
         | hand dryer' was after paying 50ct to enter a newly modernised
         | toilet on a Dutch railway station. I got totally splashed with
         | water blown out of the sink, all over my clothes. Quite
         | embarrassing to walk out a toilet like that.
        
           | GuinansEyebrows wrote:
           | Culturally, the Dutch expect higher quality at reasonable
           | prices (love to see frugality as part of a national
           | identity!). On the whole, American ad culture has us
           | convinced that we must either suffer with worse tools or
           | spend more on a name brand with increasingly diminishing
           | returns... to say nothing of the conspicuous consumption
           | we're all nudged/shoved into.
        
             | WrongAssumption wrote:
             | Not sure how America got caught in this crossfire. Dyson is
             | not an American company.
        
               | GuinansEyebrows wrote:
               | no, but companies like Dyson that promote conspicuous
               | consumption do _very_ well in the US where they might not
               | otherwise because of those cultural differences.
        
         | basisword wrote:
         | I have never seen anyone describe IKEA as 'pretty and fancy'
         | before. It's cheap and functional. I can typically get the item
         | I need in IKEA for cheaper than elsewhere and be confident it
         | will be at least average quality. Dyson products are generally
         | far more expensive than the competition.
        
           | ozgrakkurt wrote:
           | Not sure why this is downvoted, this is the exact same
           | impression I have. Ikea is mass produced decent quality
           | standard but dyson is really high end
        
         | Thaxll wrote:
         | The best cordless vacuum are made by Dyson though.
        
           | windowsrookie wrote:
           | Disagree. We have had to replace the battery twice in our
           | Dyson cordless. Dyson charges $130 for the OEM replacement
           | battery (yes there are cheaper aftermarket batteries
           | available).
           | 
           | The last time the battery failed we decided to buy an entire
           | Shark cordless vacuum + accessories kit for less than an OEM
           | Dyson battery. That shark vacuum is still going today 5 years
           | later on the original battery.
        
             | turtlebits wrote:
             | My V8 is still it's the original battery, almost 7 years
             | since purchase. Did your battery fail or just lose
             | capacity?
        
           | calmbonsai wrote:
           | I disagree. The best cordless vacuums all follow the same
           | basic flow-through (e.g. https://a.co/d/bpto7LL ) design and
           | are around $30 USD.
           | 
           | The cost multiple of a Dyson doesn't even result in
           | incremental performance.
           | 
           | The _singular_ use case for a Dyson cordless is frequent
           | cleaning of an uncarpeted floor in a public space (e.g.
           | coffee shop, gym) as it does have substantially reduced noise
           | while running.
        
             | hammock wrote:
             | > The singular use case for a Dyson cordless is frequent
             | cleaning of an uncarpeted floor in a public space (e.g.
             | coffee shop, gym) as it does have substantially reduced
             | noise while running
             | 
             | This problem was solved before electric vacuums ever even
             | existed. I can still remember the days of seeing these
             | things being used in hotels and restaurants: (google non-
             | electric electrostatic sweeper)
        
             | lurking_swe wrote:
             | that's maybe fine for cleaning a car or some crumbs in the
             | kitchen. It's a solid vacuum. But not so useful for
             | cleaning a room or house...different use cases.
             | 
             | The suction on the dyson v12 is fantastic at max speed, so
             | it's great for quick carpet cleaning. I also appreciate the
             | very quiet hardwood floor attachment. I'd recommend it to
             | any apartment dweller that's not cost conscious. If they
             | are, i'd recommend a cheaper shark vacuum.
        
         | andrepd wrote:
         | Dyson is expensive as fuck, not really a comparison with IKEA
         | which is truly about insane mass market scale and saving costs
         | everywhere you can.
        
         | epcoa wrote:
         | The Miele cordless stick vac is a piece of crap unfortunately.
         | Real missed opportunity.
        
         | zuppy wrote:
         | that is totally not my experience. you don't have to buy the
         | latest and greatest, I've bought a V8 a few years ago. it does
         | it's job perfectly fine like in the first day. it's the only
         | vacuum (of the ones I've owned) that is capable of cleaning the
         | cat hair from my sofa. maybe there are other products capable
         | of that now, some years have passed, but the quality of dyson
         | is pretty top notch.
        
           | burningChrome wrote:
           | I've had the same experience with dog hair and our Dyson
           | Animal vacuum. We've had it repaired twice. Once for the
           | hose, the other for something in the motor that went awry.
           | Even the people at the repair shop said they're worth
           | repairing since their performance stays consistent for so
           | long. It was a couple hundred bucks total for both repairs to
           | get another 7 years out of it? 100% worth it.
           | 
           | Still have that purple and grey beast. Best vacuum by a mile
           | and still going.
        
           | accrual wrote:
           | Similar experience here. I bought a refurb V8 that weirdly
           | needed service right away, but on the flip side, I got a new
           | motor/electronics for free since it was under a fresh
           | warranty. About 4 years later I still really like the V8
           | general vacuum tasks with the caveat I have mostly hard
           | floors and no high pile carpet.
        
         | thenthenthen wrote:
         | Disagree. A broom and mop will do better, costs less, has
         | almost no noise. Dust flying everywhere sure, but these dyson
         | gimmicks are plain useless.
        
         | lurking_swe wrote:
         | ikea is where you shop if you want new furniture but can't
         | afford real furniture. In this context, "real" means made of
         | real wood.
         | 
         | And im not judging, i too was a broke college kid at one point.
         | And many people just don't have the money. But ikea is ANYTHING
         | but fancy. Its super cheap.
        
           | dingnuts wrote:
           | Lots of IKEA furniture is real wood, and lots of "expensive"
           | brands are still flat packed particleboard. Ever bought
           | anything from West Elm?
           | 
           | I'm curious where people are buying "real" furniture, even
           | even they spend "real" money. I've had the best luck with the
           | Amish and at estate sales, but that's not super repeatable.
           | 
           | All the major furniture stores like Ashley or whatever are
           | similar in quality and construction to IKEA -- I don't really
           | think the "cheap" reputation is deserved just because IKEA
           | has $10 LACK side tables available.
        
             | lurking_swe wrote:
             | west elm pretends to be high end but it's not. As you said
             | it's hit and miss, some gems and a lot of junk. As
             | consumers in 2025 we are awash in a sea of cheap junk. It's
             | frustrating sometimes.
             | 
             | I personally recommend people go to a real furniture store
             | (a large one), where the salesperson is actually
             | knowledgeable and where they offer many brands. Ask for
             | what you want. Specific materials, finishes, price range,
             | etc. Make a note of the brands and manufacturers. Then dig
             | deeper. Often times these brands are featured in a niche
             | catalog or magazine, where you can find similar brands
             | offering similar products.
             | 
             | There are many high quality buy it for life items to be
             | found! But rarely at the convenience of a button click from
             | westelm's website.
        
               | seanmcdirmid wrote:
               | Real furniture stores lay somewhere between being useful
               | and being like a mattress sales money laundering
               | operation. I just find most of them full of gaudy
               | furniture that I'm not sure anyone would really buy
               | (hence my guess that money laundering is involved).
               | 
               | In the Seattle area, the best I could find is Dania,
               | which is a chain that is basically a higher end IKEA that
               | focuses more on furniture (Scandinavian style).
        
               | lurking_swe wrote:
               | I'll be in seattle in a few months, maybe i'll swing by
               | Dania for an hour just to see what they have. Thanks for
               | the recommendation!
               | 
               | Some brands that you might like if you are looking for
               | buy it for life. Some sell direct, some only sell via
               | wholesale to other furniture stores. This is a list from
               | a note i created 3 years ago when i was shopping for a
               | new dining table.
               | 
               | * MS&Wood. Bosnian company, 100% wood products. https://w
               | ww.adakezic.com/images/Zastupstva/mswood/2018_MS&WO...
               | 
               | * Ethnicraft - 100% wood (oak, teak, walnut). made in
               | belgium.
               | 
               | https://ethnicraft.com/us/en/
               | 
               | * Cattelan Italia. Italian company, very high end and
               | also very high quality. Styles are a mix of gaudy and
               | timeless - wood, glass, and metal.
               | 
               | https://www.cattelanitalia.com/en/products/index?c=new
               | 
               | On the lower price range, some good choices might be
               | "Article", "Blu Dot" and "HAY".
        
           | seszett wrote:
           | Ikea has every grade of quality from cardboard to solid wood
           | to metal furniture.
           | 
           | I will never understand why there are always such comments
           | saying Ikea furniture is bad quality, or in your case not
           | even "real" furniture, come on, it's like you have never even
           | been in an Ikea store.
        
             | lurking_swe wrote:
             | We can agree to disagree. yes Ikea offers _some_ products
             | that are made of solid wood. But i'd say maybe 75% of their
             | selection is particle board mixed with _some_ wood
             | elements. That was what i saw during my last trip in ikea
             | in 2020, in NY. Their selection of office furniture is
             | similarly sad. Office chairs that might last 10 years with
             | gentle use MAX. A lot of the ikea stuff is what i'd
             | consider "buy it for life if you treat it gently and don't
             | have kids".
             | 
             | I think Ikea is wonderful on a budget. But i personally
             | wouldn't waste my time there, except for rarely used pieces
             | of furniture. im blessed to have more discretionary income
             | these days. The one product i really like from ikea is
             | their PAX closets. I think they are a very good value,
             | despite feeling a bit cheap. I like how customizable it is,
             | and it's very functional.
             | 
             | ---
             | 
             | For example the Amish make very high quality wood furniture
             | in the U.S., at a fair price. If that's not your thing,
             | there are companies that focus strictly on buy it for life
             | high quality wood furniture. My dining room table was made
             | by MS&Wood (based somewhere in bosnia i believe...they sell
             | direct and wholesale to furniture companies).
             | 
             | https://www.adakezic.com/images/Zastupstva/mswood/2018_MS&W
             | O...
        
       | reaperducer wrote:
       | I know it's trendy to hate Dyson machines on HN because everyone
       | here is absolutely smarter than every other person in the world
       | that actually makes things, but, I rather like my Dyson vacuum
       | cleaner.
       | 
       | People on HN are always saying they'd pay extra for a vacuum
       | cleaner that is repairable. Well, here it is. Put your money
       | where your mouth is.
       | 
       | I've had mine for at least ten years, and when something goes
       | wrong, I'm able to order parts, and fix it myself. The whole
       | thing is extensively designed to be repaired, complete with
       | little icons on most of the parts to guide to taking them apart
       | and putting them together.
       | 
       | I suspect that 90% of the people on HN who complain about Dyson
       | (and most other consumer products) have never owned one, and are
       | just aping things they've read online just to have something at
       | all to say.
        
         | ivell wrote:
         | I have found the parts to be very expensive though.
        
           | reaperducer wrote:
           | _I have found the parts to be very expensive though._
           | 
           | Seems OK to me. I have an articulated, motorized brush head
           | on the way. ~$51, including shipping. Pretty good considering
           | recent inflation, tariffs, etc...
        
         | mostly_harmless wrote:
         | I don't hate Dyson because it's trendy, I hate Dyson because my
         | $700 vacuum wont pick up cheerios; a common spill with
         | toddlers.
        
           | IncreasePosts wrote:
           | Buy a dog. The dog picks up the cheerios and the $700 Dyson
           | picks up the dog hair.
        
           | danpalmer wrote:
           | I don't have a Dyson, but my vacuum also struggles with items
           | so big they don't fit under the roller. I don't generally
           | find it to be a problem because at that size they're easy to
           | pick up.
           | 
           | Not defending Dyson, there's a lot of valid criticism here,
           | but at some size pieces are too big to vacuum, and if that
           | size is Cheerios, maybe that's not much of a problem?
           | 
           | I'd rather have a vacuum that does well at the small stuff I
           | can't reasonably pick up.
        
         | tristor wrote:
         | > I suspect that 90% of the people on HN who complain about
         | Dyson (and most other consumer products) have never owned one,
         | and are just aping things they've read online just to have
         | something at all to say.
         | 
         | Same suspicion for me. I've owned two Dyson vacuums, and the
         | only reason I had to buy the second was because someone stole
         | the first one when they broke into my apartment over a decade
         | ago. My current vacuum is more than 8 years old and has been
         | repaired a few times doing it myself, and is still fully
         | functional and comparable or better than most new vacuums.
         | 
         | Dyson makes very good products that are also beautiful. Yes,
         | they're plastic, yes they're expensive, no they're not
         | necessarily on paper the /best/ at their thing, but they're
         | good, they're repairable, and they pass the wife acceptance
         | factor.
        
         | jayd16 wrote:
         | I have a bunch of Dyson things because the wife loves the
         | design but I find them to be consistently disappointing.
         | Incredibly expensive for mediocre results and usually bad
         | battery life. It's a step above junk but you're really just
         | paying for style.
        
         | rancidcrab wrote:
         | Additionally the comparison of the hand dryers is pretty unfair
         | imo. Those V-shape Dyson dryers are so much better than any
         | others I've tried ever. All the other seem downright anemic (or
         | rather asthmatic in this case) and take much longer than those
         | advertised 20s.
        
           | antihero wrote:
           | Yeah the airblades are night and day better than anything
           | else, other than the noise which is painful if you're
           | hungover.
        
         | zeroxfe wrote:
         | Yeah, I was thinking the same. I have two Dyson vacuum
         | cleaners, one purchased about 9 years ago, and the other two
         | years ago. Both are excellent, and I still use the old one for
         | my basement.
        
         | calmbonsai wrote:
         | I _did_ pay more for a vacuum. I bought a Miehl 12 years ago
         | and it 's awesome.
        
           | AlotOfReading wrote:
           | Not quite as long ago, but yeah I've taken my miele down to
           | parts for cleaning and back. The motors, molding, and reels
           | are available as spare parts if I ever need to replace them,
           | which I haven't yet. The only downside has been the premium.
        
         | nancyminusone wrote:
         | The only Dyson that we have is an old vacuum I pulled out of
         | the trash, which they haven't sold in years. Was clogged with
         | hair; we removed the hair. Works well enough. It's a vacuum. It
         | vacuums stuff pretty ok.
         | 
         | 9/10 would trash pick again. I don't think I would ever buy one
         | new though.
        
         | _dain_ wrote:
         | i have never even seen dyson come up as a topic on HN before
        
       | bredren wrote:
       | This piece doesn't mention the fluffy cones next gen replacement
       | to the dyson stick vac:
       | https://youtu.be/ve6JuJV17FQ?si=aCq_qwtpAhRyS0by&t=159
       | 
       | It was announced a month ago and seems to handle the design
       | criticism in this blog entry. If it works as well as demonstrated
       | will put it in a new class of vac.
        
         | Ambroisie wrote:
         | I have to say, I don't see what makes it handle the criticism
         | from the OP. It looks exactly the same as every other Dyson
         | product I've ever seen.
        
       | phoronixrly wrote:
       | I find it perplexing that the new Dyson urinals are not present
       | as an example of what good design is...
        
       | ubercow13 wrote:
       | >Dyson hand dryers are very fast, but as a result, they fling
       | water everywhere
       | 
       | Isn't that the whole point of them? Instead of imparting enough
       | heat energy to evaporate all of the water on your hands, they
       | just push it off which is much faster and more energy efficient.
       | How would they work better than regular dryers without doing
       | that?
        
         | wpm wrote:
         | If the goal is to optimize the singular task of "get water off
         | hands ASAP", sure it probably solves that fairly well.
         | 
         | There might be more to the task though. What affect does it
         | have on the user? Getting splashed with water, usually at
         | crotch height, is a nuisance and is somewhat embarassing. The
         | loudness of these dryers is also a nuisance, and can be
         | downright painful depending on how many are going at the same
         | time in a large public bathroom. Long enough for permanent
         | damage? Probably not for the average hand-washer, but for the
         | people who have to clean those restrooms all day, perhaps an
         | occupational hazard.
         | 
         | Also, the trough shaped ones are disgusting.
        
           | justinrubek wrote:
           | The trough ones are such a poor design. Carefully try to
           | wiggle your fingers in there, and then they blow with force
           | such that you touch the wet dirty surface that everyone else
           | has touched. I don't understand why these things exist, let
           | alone why people choose to put them in a bathroom.
        
         | MangoToupe wrote:
         | Perhaps evaporation?
        
         | aag wrote:
         | I have never found a hand dryer that works better than the
         | Dyson ones. They actually dry my hands quickly, and they don't
         | deafen me in the process unlike some of their competitors.
        
           | danpalmer wrote:
           | Agreed, but most people don't use them correctly, they treat
           | them like an awkwardly shaped transitional hand dryer.
           | 
           | When used correctly I find they don't spray too much water
           | around and dry my hands almost immediately.
        
       | IshKebab wrote:
       | I used to work for Dyson and I think this is quite off in many
       | ways.
       | 
       | * The industrial design of Dyson products is generally great. I
       | don't think they poke you or anything like that. They even have
       | nice affordances like all the things you can use being red.
       | Contrast that with my terrible Shark where everything is black.
       | Took me a good few seconds to find the bin release button. It
       | also has an atrocious UX - a slow on/off button instead of a
       | trigger, and an amazingly useless "smart power" feature that just
       | varies the power almost completely randomly as you vacuum.
       | 
       | When I worked there all the vacuum guys were worried about Shark
       | because their pickup is apparently better. They needn't have
       | worried because their UX is so abysmal. Although I guess in
       | fairness _Which_ doesn 't know UX exists.
       | 
       | * Some of the criticisms of the tech are valid, e.g. the hand
       | dryers spraying water everywhere (they easily erode painted walls
       | and now they generally install them only on tiles). But those are
       | just flaws of the tech, they don't negate the fact that the hand
       | dryers _are_ much better than the standard cheap ones. He quotes
       | the claimed hand drying time for a cheapo dryer as being close to
       | an air blade but anyone that has ever used one knows how much of
       | a lie that is. The washing machines did damage clothes but
       | apparently the main reason they stopped making them was a
       | manufacturing issue with the drum.
       | 
       | * I don't think anyone really believes that James Dyson is
       | personally inventing all Dyson products now. That doesn't mean he
       | has no influence. When I worked there (about 10 years ago tbf) he
       | still had huge influence over the designs, especially the ones he
       | cared about.
       | 
       | The one thing that is true is that Dyson won't make anything that
       | isn't patentable because James Dyson dislikes his products being
       | cloned so much. So even though though could make really good
       | versions of normal products, they don't.
       | 
       | Also they are way too expensive. Though in fairness my shitty
       | Shark was expensive too.
       | 
       | Don't buy a Shark.
        
         | detourdog wrote:
         | My only complaint about the Dyson products is that they
         | compromise on battery tech to help margins. I would expect such
         | a design focused company to use the best batteries despite the
         | effect on margins.
         | 
         | No sense charging top dollar and using less than state of the
         | art batteries.
        
           | IshKebab wrote:
           | Tbh I don't remember that being mentioned at all. Even if
           | true a huge bonus of buying Dyson is you can get cheap third
           | party batteries easily.
        
             | detourdog wrote:
             | I would say that the battery tech could be about 10 years
             | old which would line up with your tenure.
        
         | accrual wrote:
         | > Although I guess in fairness _Which_ doesn 't know UX exists.
         | 
         | What is "Which" in this context? As used here it appears like a
         | proper noun.
        
           | rjsw wrote:
           | It is a proper noun [1].
           | 
           | [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Which%3F
        
             | accrual wrote:
             | Thank you!
        
         | buran77 wrote:
         | > has an atrocious UX - a slow on/off button instead of a
         | trigger, and an amazingly useless "smart power" feature that
         | just varies the power almost completely randomly as you vacuum.
         | 
         | Contrast that with the Dyson v15 which has a trigger I have to
         | hold continuously while I twist and turn the vacuum so I can't
         | change the grip without it turning on and off as my finger
         | slips off the trigger or inevitably gets tired. Or the
         | amazingly useless "smart power" feature that just varies the
         | power almost completely randomly as I vacuum an otherwise
         | perfectly smooth hard floor.
         | 
         | Or the peak of uselessness, a display to tell me how many
         | particles of dust it thinks it vacuumed, and their estimated
         | sizes. Because I needed to be told I vacuumed 20 million dust
         | particles of one size but only 1 million of another size.
         | Counted twice just to make sure.
        
         | m463 wrote:
         | > has an atrocious UX - a slow on/off button instead of a
         | trigger
         | 
         | sort of like the humdinger, which I think I wasted my money on
         | trying to replace a dc34
        
         | lucideng wrote:
         | As an owner of a Shark, I don't agree. The ergonomics are
         | great, controls/buttons are grey, everything else is red or
         | black, sounds like you just made a poor choice in model and/or
         | colors. Mine is a corded vac and just works. Replaceable,
         | washable filters, switched power, handles egregious amounts of
         | pet hair (Husky) and a lift-away tank. We replaced a cheap
         | Bissel vacuum with the Shark, and the Bissel was great, it was
         | just really hard to clean stairs with it.
         | 
         | I think of a Dyson as more of a status symbol, like the latest
         | Mac Book, a watch collection, or a Porsche. Dyson owners like
         | telling people they have a Dyson. Most people just need things
         | to work well for their use case, be reliable and affordable.
         | 
         | The saying goes... "Fast, reliable or cheap. Pick two."
        
       | colesantiago wrote:
       | Would it be best to make an open source company to challenge
       | Dyson?
       | 
       | Everything will be worker and independently owned (bootstrapped
       | and no VCs), no patents (we don't care about clones)
       | 
       | Just make great product that is open has free software.
       | 
       | If there would be significant interest Dyson could have a direct
       | competitor just like many other open source companies like
       | System72 and Red Hat
        
       | svelle wrote:
       | I have a v12 and I couldn't be happier. Best cordless vacuum I've
       | owned. Had an aeg before that was about half the price. But it
       | sucked.
       | 
       | Still some of the criticism holds, such as the terrible wall
       | charger.
        
       | spandrew wrote:
       | I dunno about this; that greenlight vacuum they brought to market
       | a few years back is dope af. My first little orb Dyson is still
       | kicking almost 15 years after I bought it.
       | 
       | I think their brand isn't just about tech itself, but the utility
       | exploring novel tech can drive.
        
       | hermitcrab wrote:
       | Dyson has not made himself very popular in the UK by advocating
       | loudly for Brexit, then moving the HQ to Singapore, then firing
       | almost his entire UK R&D department. Someone I know was fired by
       | email while on holiday. Bastard.
        
       | m463 wrote:
       | I had a dc34 and loved it. cost about $190? Point and shoot
       | cleanups with the edger attachment.
       | 
       | The humdinger should be a more modern replacement, but it sucks.
       | No trigger, no fun.
        
       | pedalpete wrote:
       | I feel this completely ignores the role of brand in the equation.
       | 
       | Dyson's brand is to be technologically forward. It is supposed to
       | look like the future, which is why the angular mix of colors
       | works for the brand.
       | 
       | Bosch, I have no idea what their brand aesthetic is, or what they
       | are trying to say.
       | 
       | This doesn't mean that the Dyson is better than Bosch, or any
       | other competitors, just that brand does come into the equation as
       | well.
        
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