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Like a router with a backdoor in it? Vitamins contaminated with carcinogenic material because testing and purity cost a lot but are invisible. Sadly I think mos

Like a router with a backdoor in it? Vitamins contaminated with carcinogenic material because testing and purity cost a lot but are invisible. Sadly I think most consumers have your mind set, they’ll never learn what caused their cancer or why they’re part of a giant botnet. American zen masters.

cr0sh 7y ago
> Like a router with a backdoor in it? Vitamins contaminated with carcinogenic material because testing and purity cost a lot but are invisible. Both of these things can and do happen with items at B&M stores and other vendors. Think about the whole cable modem backdoor that was recently discovered... Or the various cases of food poisoning that happen seemingly regularly... You aren't safe just because you purchase items thru a different "trusted" source. This is the outsourced world we live in today. When everything is outsourced, the possibility for counterfeiting, tampering, and maliciousness rises - because nobody can be held accountable (diffusion of responsibility). At one time, it was possible to trace things back far enough to find the original culprit and prosecute them. Today, if you're lucky, you might find a reasonable suspicion of a company - who will instantly (sometimes with a literal click of a button) close up shop, move everything, and re-open the next day under a new name. Furthermore, even if you ask around about them, nobody knows nuthin'.
- jschwartzi 7y ago
  The purpose of a "brand name" is to provide insulation against this. If you have a brand that you trust, and you buy from that brand regularly, and the brand is based in your country, then they're more trustworthy because you know you can sue them or drag them into the mud in the court of public opinion. Whereas buying "the same" stuff from some random company in China gives you no such protection as they can just fold or trade under a different name. Food poisoning is an interesting case to bring up. If you know that a neighborhood restaurant has food poisoned you or someone you know, then you stop buying food there. And if you buy something from a physical store like Best Buy or Safeway, you also know there's someone you can sue and somewhere you can go if the product is recalled by the manufacturer. Those companies have a brand to protect and will take steps to do so. So no, the brand isn't dead and it is still a good proxy for quality of service or quality of merchandise. I forgot that for about 8 years until Amazon reminded me.

cr0sh 7y ago

> Like a router with a backdoor in it? Vitamins contaminated with carcinogenic material because testing and purity cost a lot but are invisible. Both of these things can and do happen with items at B&M stores and other vendors. Think about the whole cable modem backdoor that was recently discovered... Or the various cases of food poisoning that happen seemingly regularly... You aren't safe just because you purchase items thru a different "trusted" source. This is the outsourced world we live in today. When everything is outsourced, the possibility for counterfeiting, tampering, and maliciousness rises - because nobody can be held accountable (diffusion of responsibility). At one time, it was possible to trace things back far enough to find the original culprit and prosecute them. Today, if you're lucky, you might find a reasonable suspicion of a company - who will instantly (sometimes with a literal click of a button) close up shop, move everything, and re-open the next day under a new name. Furthermore, even if you ask around about them, nobody knows nuthin'.

jschwartzi 7y ago
The purpose of a "brand name" is to provide insulation against this. If you have a brand that you trust, and you buy from that brand regularly, and the brand is based in your country, then they're more trustworthy because you know you can sue them or drag them into the mud in the court of public opinion. Whereas buying "the same" stuff from some random company in China gives you no such protection as they can just fold or trade under a different name. Food poisoning is an interesting case to bring up. If you know that a neighborhood restaurant has food poisoned you or someone you know, then you stop buying food there. And if you buy something from a physical store like Best Buy or Safeway, you also know there's someone you can sue and somewhere you can go if the product is recalled by the manufacturer. Those companies have a brand to protect and will take steps to do so. So no, the brand isn't dead and it is still a good proxy for quality of service or quality of merchandise. I forgot that for about 8 years until Amazon reminded me.