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One of the comments says that he did not expect Carmack would fall for that: I had that same feeling. This does, in fact, sound too good to be true which would

One of the comments says that he did not expect Carmack would fall for that: I had that same feeling. This does, in fact, sound too good to be true which would be the reason I would not buy it. If it were true, as it is around 1/10th of the real price, this would be on every tech frontpage and everyone would be buying them, boxes at a time. If one of the smartest minds in tech falls for something that does not even require tech to research for the 'too good to be true' factor, how are total noobs protected? There really needs to be far better protection for this; sending it back is still work and annoyance. Outside letting everything go via Amazon's warehouses and having items randomly inspected by qualified staff, I cannot really see a solution though. Apparently reviews do not work either; I bought crap as well that had top reviews and was just crap. I find Aliexpress more reliable, it least it was last time I ordered from it which is over a year ago; it is pretty clear what is crap and what is not. I have gotten very crappy products there but I paid 0.50$-few $ for them, so you know that it will be bad (and actually sometimes it is not! Like some tester phones I had for development; they were very cheap but they work reliable for years). On Amazon sometimes you pay a lot more and it has good reviews; turns out to be a $3 Aliexpress item with a fake brand. Sure I will send it back and get my money back, but still, seems a lot of sellers stay in existence even though that happens. Are other people (Carmack?) not sending this back and leaving a 1* review? What is a good site to order storage in the EU? I now just go to shops and by them there; sure it costs more but I know what I get.

RobLach 7y ago
The solution is that it is already illegal to defraud customers by explicitly and knowingly claiming what you're selling is not what it is in most (if not all) states and the proprietor should just be appropriately punished. What's bizarre is that people are OK with this and believe it is the buyer's responsibility to somehow investigate the provenance of an item they're trying to purchase.
- TheCoelacanth 7y ago
  The problem is that Amazon claims not to be the seller of things that they are selling. The "real" seller is some rando in China who is untouchable by US law.
  - RobLach 7y ago
    I suppose it's ok to empower criminal enterprise as long as you call myself a "platform".
mantap 7y ago
Probably when you get to Carmack's wealth, you stop filling your brain with the expected prices of random items and you become more susceptible to things like this. In the UK politicians sometimes get asked what a pint of milk costs or a loaf of bread, to prove they are in touch with the common man. Because many aren't.
- mikestew 7y ago
  I’m on a tech salary with the savings to match, and I couldn’t tell you what a load of bread costs +\-$1, nor a pint of milk. I don’t think you have to go very far to the wealth ladder to no longer be price-concious about stuff like bread. You need it, you buy it. And I drive a fifteen year old Toyota, not a McLaren. Speaking of which, couldn’t tell you what a gallon of gas costs WA state, either. Point is, I always found such questions silly. When’s the last time you think a president or prime minister bought a gallon of milk? And would you fault them for having staff do that? Would this really be news to the public?
  - solarkraft 7y ago
    In very high offices it's fine I guess, since you want to absolutely maximize the time and energy they can spend on the work. For more less ultra important offices it'a absolutely a problem, because they're not aware of common problems. You see this a lot in US governance pretty well, along the lines of "huh? I can afford health care just fine, so why are people complaining?", while it's a gigantic issue for many.
- tluyben2 7y ago
  Well, I looked it up (and ofcourse I get local results) which give me a range from 150-300 euro for a 1TB stick from companies I trust.
BubRoss 7y ago
Right now it's actually only about a third of the normal price. It looks like John Carmack knew it was a gamble and wanted to write software to find out what the trick actually was.

RobLach 7y ago

The solution is that it is already illegal to defraud customers by explicitly and knowingly claiming what you're selling is not what it is in most (if not all) states and the proprietor should just be appropriately punished. What's bizarre is that people are OK with this and believe it is the buyer's responsibility to somehow investigate the provenance of an item they're trying to purchase.

TheCoelacanth 7y ago
The problem is that Amazon claims not to be the seller of things that they are selling. The "real" seller is some rando in China who is untouchable by US law.
- RobLach 7y ago
  I suppose it's ok to empower criminal enterprise as long as you call myself a "platform".

mantap 7y ago

Probably when you get to Carmack's wealth, you stop filling your brain with the expected prices of random items and you become more susceptible to things like this. In the UK politicians sometimes get asked what a pint of milk costs or a loaf of bread, to prove they are in touch with the common man. Because many aren't.

mikestew 7y ago
I’m on a tech salary with the savings to match, and I couldn’t tell you what a load of bread costs +\-$1, nor a pint of milk. I don’t think you have to go very far to the wealth ladder to no longer be price-concious about stuff like bread. You need it, you buy it. And I drive a fifteen year old Toyota, not a McLaren. Speaking of which, couldn’t tell you what a gallon of gas costs WA state, either. Point is, I always found such questions silly. When’s the last time you think a president or prime minister bought a gallon of milk? And would you fault them for having staff do that? Would this really be news to the public?
- solarkraft 7y ago
  In very high offices it's fine I guess, since you want to absolutely maximize the time and energy they can spend on the work. For more less ultra important offices it'a absolutely a problem, because they're not aware of common problems. You see this a lot in US governance pretty well, along the lines of "huh? I can afford health care just fine, so why are people complaining?", while it's a gigantic issue for many.
tluyben2 7y ago
Well, I looked it up (and ofcourse I get local results) which give me a range from 150-300 euro for a 1TB stick from companies I trust.

BubRoss 7y ago

Right now it's actually only about a third of the normal price. It looks like John Carmack knew it was a gamble and wanted to write software to find out what the trick actually was.