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Check out AvE’s tear down of a $500 Dyson hair dryer.[1] He was expecting to ridicule it but was instead blown away by the engineering - tiny high torque zinc c
by crmd 6y ago
Check out AvE’s tear down of a $500 Dyson hair dryer.[1] He was expecting to ridicule it but was instead blown away by the engineering - tiny high torque zinc cast brushless DC motor, CNC-milled impeller, etc.
It’s a good watch, including FLIR performance analysis, Fourier analysis of bearing noise, and more.
In summary it’s definitely more engineering porn / extreme overkill than marketing bs.
[1] https://youtu.be/j-vJxez9UF8 https://youtu.be/j-vJxez9UF8
- postalrat 6y agoIt seems like dyson focuses on over optimizing for problems that they themselves create.
- jandrese 6y agoI think they see themselves as reinventing solutions to problems that had solutions created 50-100 years ago but that the manufacturers are still using basically the same 100 year old solution today. So you have products that are marginally better (because those people 100 years ago were smart too and they have not been completely sitting on their laurels) because it uses modern technology and design informed by modern aerodynamics and the like, but is expensive because it doesn't have 100 years of cost optimization behind it. Worse, you have products that have 6 months of heavy cost optimization resulting in high precision high power motors mounted in flimsy plastic cases that break the first time you drop them.
- mywittyname 6y agoDyson products are like the Juiceros. They are masturbatory exercises for engineers. They get to design a product with an almost limitless budget, functionality be damned. We're all guilty of that too. I bet most of us would love a job where you get to play with cool tech all day and not really worry about how efficient the program is.
- mminer237 6y agoIt reminds me of a less-extreme version of Juicero. They made a $700 WiFi-connected "juicer" that squeezed bags of juice using QR codes to scan the bags and then a custom power supply, custom machined gears, and a custom 15A 330V DC motor to actuate a press to squeeze the bags between two metal plates. Of course, a roller could have done it for a fraction of the price, or you could have just let gravity pour the juice and not even need a $700 machine. https://blog.bolt.io/juicero/ https://blog.bolt.io/juicero/ Dyson's very into moving air in creative ways and blowing through holes. They definitely seem to be the best at it and are very good at it, but they're just playing with an artificial constraint. No one says you have to be able to see through your hair dryer or air purifier. You could make much more effective or cheaper products without those constraints. Just people think they look cool, so they're willing to pay a premium for the weird, "futuristic" Dyson product over the boring normal product. That does make it seem like largely marketing though.
- xyzzy_plugh 6y agoIn the case of the hair dryer, it really is much more efficient than any competitor. My wife saves 5+ minutes a day over other hair dryers.
- evancordell 6y agoAvE has a good teardown of juicero[0] as well, of course. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cp-BGQfpHQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cp-BGQfpHQ
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- edumucelli 6y agoTalking about Juicero I remember its pressing strength was "enough to lift two Teslas" as per its founder. Really difficult to find something as over engineered as this now-defunct product.
- Twirrim 6y ago> Of course, a roller could have done it for a fraction of the price, or you could have just let gravity pour the juice and not even need a $700 machine. Or, as some journalists found, just squeeze the bag in your hands and get more juice out of it than the Juicero did. You know you've over-engineered your product when it's that hard to get something that simple right.
- cortesoft 6y agoSure, but a fan is going to be visible in the room that it is in... caring about the aesthetics of it doesn’t seem necessarily foolish. People spend way more money for decorative things that have no functional purpose at all.
- sjwalter 6y agoThat video you linked is absolutely solid. Learned a tonne watching it. Never woulda thought 45 minutes about hair dryers would be so great. That dude is awesome.
- crmd 6y agoI’m glad you enjoyed it! When you have time, check out one of his BOLTR (bored of lame tool reviews) videos for more of the same. He’s a piece of work.
- roelschroeven 6y agoAnd in case there's something you don't understand, refer to https://avedictionary.com/browse/ https://avedictionary.com/browse/ for enlightenment.
- sjwalter 6y agoLoved it a lot and I'll check out BOLTR too. I'm an emigrant of Canada and this guy's mannerisms and verbal style make me miss home so much. There's something really endearing about rough-around-the-edges Canadians. They make vulgarity downright homey. Thanks, homie.
- kixiQu 6y agoYeah, I'm pretty sure the people saying "they have no good products" or "their only good product was a bagless vacuum" do not have adequate hair dryer experience to be making that judgment. It's interesting how quickly commenters are assuming that the target audience is incapable of evaluating performance when it doesn't take an air particulate sensor to do so.
- qwertay 6y agoHe also did tests and found that for drying hair it was no better than a regular one for a fraction of the price.
- kristopolous 6y agoThat's kind of like saying an expensive designer shirt has the same insulation utility value as a cheaper generic one without the high class logo. Yes, this is obviously true. In the actual consumer marketplace, luxury is more about exclusive high priced varieties that look different than it is about superior functionality. People seem to be eternally shocked by this like we're living in some real life version of groundhog day. Almost as if believing consumers actually aren't infinitely rational utility maximizing automatons is some kind of impossible leap of faith. Sorry, everything is absurd and there's nothing you can do about it.
- qwertay 6y agoThats fine but the parent comment is saying that the video has high praise of the product when the closing quote of the video says something to the effect of "You would be a complete moron to buy this". He has some interesting discoveries like how they make plastic feel like metal but overall the vibe I got from it is the product does not match the price.
- airhead969 6y agoOh yeah, it's a classique. $500 for a hair dryer. Let me say that again: $500 for a freak'n hair dryer. Does it run Android and give your hair 8K video? I think I paid $29.99 for one for the guest bathroom that winds-up the cord in the handle. I can buy 16 and 2/3 of those for one over-engineered, over-marketed, unrepairable cash grab.