6 ms·

That website already exists: https://www.consumerreports.org/ https://www.consumerreports.org/ https://www.choice.com.au/ https://www.choice.com.au/ There mig

That website already exists: https://www.consumerreports.org/ https://www.consumerreports.org/ https://www.choice.com.au/ https://www.choice.com.au/ There might be another organization / name for your country, but this is not a new idea. It seems that only a tiny minority of consumers value this, and the designs you see from mass-market manufactures reflect what consumers actually want when making their purchasing decisions.

war1025 7y ago
Maybe I'm just doing it wrong, but I've never really found Consumer Reports to be that informative when I'm looking to buy something. Often they rate things based on features I don't even care about.
- bt848 7y ago
  For decades the most prominent CR criterion for car reviews was whether a folded wheelchair would fit in the trunk.
  - justin66 7y ago
    The trunk space measure for Car and Driver and other assorted car magazines, at least when it came to sports cars and compacts, was always golf clubs. I've never played and, as a reader, I always wondered what the hell the significance of golf clubs was. The wheelchair metric seems a little more practical. My mother will soon have bought three cars using that as a filter. Or perhaps there's a built in assumption that any car capable of carrying a wheelchair can also carry golf clubs, I don't know.
  - Paperweight 7y ago
    CR and the BBB are cancer. They're worse than irrelevant - they are products of the bygone age of post-war high-trust production. The field is very very ripe for disruption, but bias and conflicting interests are a tough nut to crack.
    - dehrmann 7y ago
      Look at The Wirecutter as an example of some amount of disruption in that space. And they're almost up-front about how they keep the gray lady happy.
      - Paperweight 7y ago
        Interesting. I had assumed they were one of the 1000s of other fake review websites. Another good one I found is carsurvey.org, but I'm not sure how it'll hold up when (if not already) the marketing departments of car manufacturers swarm it.
  - dahinds 7y ago
    which decades were those, specifically?
- justin66 7y ago
  They will typically offer a numeric overall rating but also breakdown a review with a number of sub-ratings. For example, if you look at the list of tires in any given category, you'll get a numeric list sorted by number, but each tire is rated poor/fair/good/very good/excellent across categories like dry braking, wet braking, handling, hydroplaning, snow traction, ice braking, ride comfort, noise, rolling resistance, and tread life. They break things down similarly with other products. You can even sort the list they provide on any of the various categories to get a feel for how the products perform in the areas you care about. (yes, you're doing it wrong)
  - war1025 7y ago
    Maybe it's just that I don't trust them, then. I was already aware of all of those factors, they just don't ever seem like in-depth enough info to actually influence my decision.
CamperBob2 7y ago
They don't take the item apart and subject it to an engineering review.
erichocean 7y ago
> the designs you see from mass-market manufactures reflect what consumers actually want when making their purchasing decisions Well, no. The actual problem is consumers come from a high-trust society, but producers do not. When producers ALSO came from a high-trust society, consumers were right to not worry about what "hidden cuts" were being made in the name of almighty profit, because it simply wasn't done, and in fact, couldn't be done because there were too many honest people involved that a bad apple here or there couldn't get any traction. That's no longer the case, but culture changes slowly, and in this case, it's a change for the worst: not being able to trust your fellow man.
- BurningFrog 7y ago
  Are you... blaming the Chinese? I'm honestly not sure.
- dehrmann 7y ago
  That's an interesting way of looking at it, but I see it more like air travel. Consumers say they want a better product, but when they actually see the cost, they pick basic economy. And no one who's flown before in the US is trusting that the airline will give them good service or legroom; the only trust is that the airline will get them to their destination alive sorta but not really on-time.
mceachen 7y ago
Consumer Reports was amazing in the late 70s through the 80s. I don't think my parents bought anything > $100 without consulting the thick CR annual report guide, which tested pretty close to everything: cars, TVs, appliances, tools, bikes, checking accounts, telephones, computers... you name it. And the reviews were amazing: they'd build testing rigs to simulate years of usage. They'd tear down appliances and show you where a fridge would probably fail first. They'd list what was important and what was marketing BS for everything. Today, though, it's but a shadow. When I've checked on their recommendations, and then checked crowdsourced reviews, the crowd frequently bests CR's opinion. Wirecutter and it's ilk should hire a mechanical or electrical engineer to do teardowns into every review.
drewg123 7y ago
Consumer reports doesn't tear anything down or really analyze the quality of anything, they just "test" stuff, and collect failure data from their subscribers. Whenever I would try to buy something they rated highly in their reviews, I would find that it was no longer for sale. What annoys me is that they are constantly harping on safety above all else, and are on what seems to be a personal crusade against self driving cars in general, and Tesla in particular. I recently cancelled my subscription.

war1025 7y ago

Maybe I'm just doing it wrong, but I've never really found Consumer Reports to be that informative when I'm looking to buy something. Often they rate things based on features I don't even care about.

bt848 7y ago
For decades the most prominent CR criterion for car reviews was whether a folded wheelchair would fit in the trunk.
- justin66 7y ago
  The trunk space measure for Car and Driver and other assorted car magazines, at least when it came to sports cars and compacts, was always golf clubs. I've never played and, as a reader, I always wondered what the hell the significance of golf clubs was. The wheelchair metric seems a little more practical. My mother will soon have bought three cars using that as a filter. Or perhaps there's a built in assumption that any car capable of carrying a wheelchair can also carry golf clubs, I don't know.
- Paperweight 7y ago
  CR and the BBB are cancer. They're worse than irrelevant - they are products of the bygone age of post-war high-trust production. The field is very very ripe for disruption, but bias and conflicting interests are a tough nut to crack.
  - dehrmann 7y ago
    Look at The Wirecutter as an example of some amount of disruption in that space. And they're almost up-front about how they keep the gray lady happy.
    - Paperweight 7y ago
      Interesting. I had assumed they were one of the 1000s of other fake review websites. Another good one I found is carsurvey.org, but I'm not sure how it'll hold up when (if not already) the marketing departments of car manufacturers swarm it.
- dahinds 7y ago
  which decades were those, specifically?
justin66 7y ago
They will typically offer a numeric overall rating but also breakdown a review with a number of sub-ratings. For example, if you look at the list of tires in any given category, you'll get a numeric list sorted by number, but each tire is rated poor/fair/good/very good/excellent across categories like dry braking, wet braking, handling, hydroplaning, snow traction, ice braking, ride comfort, noise, rolling resistance, and tread life. They break things down similarly with other products. You can even sort the list they provide on any of the various categories to get a feel for how the products perform in the areas you care about. (yes, you're doing it wrong)
- war1025 7y ago
  Maybe it's just that I don't trust them, then. I was already aware of all of those factors, they just don't ever seem like in-depth enough info to actually influence my decision.

CamperBob2 7y ago

They don't take the item apart and subject it to an engineering review.

erichocean 7y ago

> the designs you see from mass-market manufactures reflect what consumers actually want when making their purchasing decisions Well, no. The actual problem is consumers come from a high-trust society, but producers do not. When producers ALSO came from a high-trust society, consumers were right to not worry about what "hidden cuts" were being made in the name of almighty profit, because it simply wasn't done, and in fact, couldn't be done because there were too many honest people involved that a bad apple here or there couldn't get any traction. That's no longer the case, but culture changes slowly, and in this case, it's a change for the worst: not being able to trust your fellow man.

BurningFrog 7y ago
Are you... blaming the Chinese? I'm honestly not sure.
dehrmann 7y ago
That's an interesting way of looking at it, but I see it more like air travel. Consumers say they want a better product, but when they actually see the cost, they pick basic economy. And no one who's flown before in the US is trusting that the airline will give them good service or legroom; the only trust is that the airline will get them to their destination alive sorta but not really on-time.

mceachen 7y ago

Consumer Reports was amazing in the late 70s through the 80s. I don't think my parents bought anything > $100 without consulting the thick CR annual report guide, which tested pretty close to everything: cars, TVs, appliances, tools, bikes, checking accounts, telephones, computers... you name it. And the reviews were amazing: they'd build testing rigs to simulate years of usage. They'd tear down appliances and show you where a fridge would probably fail first. They'd list what was important and what was marketing BS for everything. Today, though, it's but a shadow. When I've checked on their recommendations, and then checked crowdsourced reviews, the crowd frequently bests CR's opinion. Wirecutter and it's ilk should hire a mechanical or electrical engineer to do teardowns into every review.

drewg123 7y ago

Consumer reports doesn't tear anything down or really analyze the quality of anything, they just "test" stuff, and collect failure data from their subscribers. Whenever I would try to buy something they rated highly in their reviews, I would find that it was no longer for sale. What annoys me is that they are constantly harping on safety above all else, and are on what seems to be a personal crusade against self driving cars in general, and Tesla in particular. I recently cancelled my subscription.