4 ms·

> Currently shopping by catalog and spec and datasheet is for the cognitive elite like engineers, but soon enough its going to be a required new higher minimum

> Currently shopping by catalog and spec and datasheet is for the cognitive elite like engineers, but soon enough its going to be a required new higher minimum of economic participation. Sounds like you you're mistaking "wealthy people" for "the cognitive elite"! The shopping behaviors you're describing are just those of people who have either the time or capital to spend trying to get marginally better stuff. > [...] soon enough its going to be a required new higher minimum of economic participation. You'll pick out your next bicycle by reading technical manuals and holding a ruler up to your leg, or you'll fail miserably at buying a bicycle. I don't know what kind of bicycle shopping you're envisioning, but it sounds pretty damn weird to me. It's kind of hard to buy a bike that just doesn't work at all for most people. Even if your bike is several sizes off, it's just going to be more obnoxious to pedal. I'm in Boston, and I see tons of people commute around on bikes which really don't fit them at all and they do just fine. Even the crappiest bike is leagues better than walking Also, I don't know how many people currently buy their bikes online who aren't already really into cycling vs people who buy them used or at a brick and mortar store, but I doubt it's high compared to, say, clothes. [Edit] > Just like its sad that illiterate or innumerate people get screwed in todays economy, people who can't shop like an engineer are going to get screwed in coming decades. The type of shopping behavior you're describing is a luxury of the rich, not a necessity for most people. If you were to say, "not-wealthy people will be screwed over in the decades to come" I'd agree and point out that that's already the case.

rimunroe 9y ago
Also, I didn't comment on it but the idea that engineers are smarter than other people in the first place sounds like a wildly unfounded assumption
- VLM 9y ago
  I think we're crossing signals WRT I'm talking about engineers shopping like the guy using a parametric search and examining some data sheets to find the correct resistor for a circuit, vs you're thinking I'm talking about engineer as a proxy name for well paid individual, which is admittedly usually true. There is a moderately high minimum required cognitive level to successfully use search interfaces and study what the component data sheets say, and do not say, about a device, vs the requirements of the design, combined with a bit of buyer beware ("hey, it says right here on page 7 of the engineering data sheet that this little surface mount resistors maximum voltage rating is 200 volts so using it as a bleeder resistor in a switching power supply is kinda all your fault...")
  - rimunroe 9y ago
    I think you’re assuming that the cognitive requirements for being an engineer are somehow higher than what most people can meet. I don’t think that’s true, and it seems like an extraordinary claim to make.
wutbrodo 9y ago
> Sounds like you you're mistaking "wealthy people" for "the cognitive elite"! The shopping behaviors you're describing are just those of people who have either the time or capital to spend trying to get marginally better stuff. This is a pretty odd assumption. Why do you assume that doing your research means valuing money _less_? If anything, I would assume the opposite. I grew up lower middle class with a scholarship to a school full of upper class kids, and doing my research usually meant getting the best value for my money : when you have lots of money, it's often easier to just throw a bunch of money at the most commonly purchased product perceived as luxury instead of spending your time doing research on which provides the best value.
- rimunroe 9y ago
  There’s a big difference between comparison shopping for prices and the type of shopping you described with your bike example. The former is something that everyone who’s remotely frugal does, and the latter is something that people who want to get The Best Thing (ie not out of necessity) do. That research to find The Best Thing takes a whole lot of time and energy, and lots of people just don’t have that. Your bike example doesn’t really make much sense, because for the vast majority of people, the cheapest bike will do. Most people don’t bother measuring themselves first, and there’s basically no need to do so at all. [edit] To clarify: I don’t think that doing the type of research you described on a thing you’re buying means you value money less, but that it means you probably aren’t shopping for that thing out of necessity.

rimunroe 9y ago

Also, I didn't comment on it but the idea that engineers are smarter than other people in the first place sounds like a wildly unfounded assumption

VLM 9y ago
I think we're crossing signals WRT I'm talking about engineers shopping like the guy using a parametric search and examining some data sheets to find the correct resistor for a circuit, vs you're thinking I'm talking about engineer as a proxy name for well paid individual, which is admittedly usually true. There is a moderately high minimum required cognitive level to successfully use search interfaces and study what the component data sheets say, and do not say, about a device, vs the requirements of the design, combined with a bit of buyer beware ("hey, it says right here on page 7 of the engineering data sheet that this little surface mount resistors maximum voltage rating is 200 volts so using it as a bleeder resistor in a switching power supply is kinda all your fault...")
- rimunroe 9y ago
  I think you’re assuming that the cognitive requirements for being an engineer are somehow higher than what most people can meet. I don’t think that’s true, and it seems like an extraordinary claim to make.

wutbrodo 9y ago

> Sounds like you you're mistaking "wealthy people" for "the cognitive elite"! The shopping behaviors you're describing are just those of people who have either the time or capital to spend trying to get marginally better stuff. This is a pretty odd assumption. Why do you assume that doing your research means valuing money _less_? If anything, I would assume the opposite. I grew up lower middle class with a scholarship to a school full of upper class kids, and doing my research usually meant getting the best value for my money : when you have lots of money, it's often easier to just throw a bunch of money at the most commonly purchased product perceived as luxury instead of spending your time doing research on which provides the best value.

rimunroe 9y ago
There’s a big difference between comparison shopping for prices and the type of shopping you described with your bike example. The former is something that everyone who’s remotely frugal does, and the latter is something that people who want to get The Best Thing (ie not out of necessity) do. That research to find The Best Thing takes a whole lot of time and energy, and lots of people just don’t have that. Your bike example doesn’t really make much sense, because for the vast majority of people, the cheapest bike will do. Most people don’t bother measuring themselves first, and there’s basically no need to do so at all. [edit] To clarify: I don’t think that doing the type of research you described on a thing you’re buying means you value money less, but that it means you probably aren’t shopping for that thing out of necessity.