5 ms·
Not at all! The positive sum game here goes * Company creates thing people like you want to buy. * Company knows if you know about the thing, you will want to
by Noumenon72 7y ago
Not at all! The positive sum game here goes
* Company creates thing people like you want to buy.
* Company knows if you know about the thing, you will want to buy it.
* Company knows you don't know whether a thing like their thing even exists, so you have no reason to search hard for it.
* Company upfronts the money to defray your search costs, knowing it will be paid back when you buy the thing. This is called advertising.
I am constantly learning about things I would have enjoyed if I had known about them. It is damn hard to make people aware even that you are giving away free lunch. Advertising breaks down that needless ignorance.
- listenallyall 7y agoI used to buy hand tools at Lowe's, Home Depot, or occasionally Autozone if it was car-related. One day I saw a search result ad for Harbor Freight. Had heard the name, never knew they were a tools shop. I've joked to friends that discovery was life-changing. (for reasons, compare prices on just about anything, a good example would be a 1.5 ton floor jack)
- harambae 7y agoMostly tangential to the original point on this thread, but Harbor Freight tends to sell the cheapest, and far from the best, tools. Might be fine for your use case, I donno.
- listenallyall 7y agoI'm not a contractor beating up on these things every day. I need an impact wrench a couple times a year, my HF stuff is fine for my use case. I love the Bosch impact driver I got at Lowe's 10 years ago, but they've changed the battery pack so I can't take advantage of compatibility with other Bosch tools. HF also has random stuff for close to free... packs of zip ties for $2, decent work gloves for $4, actually free LED light perfect for under a car, etc.
- kerkeslager 7y agoAdvertising creates needless ignorance, by giving the impression that well-advertised products are quality products. GoDaddy and NordVPN, for examples, are garbage products with highly effective advertising. Seeing ads for these products actively harms people, because it prevents them from finding better products like Gandi or PIA.