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As a consumer I would prefer it. If all they did was narrow selection it would be a win. An online search for 3080 RTX yields more brand flavors than a toothpas

As a consumer I would prefer it. If all they did was narrow selection it would be a win. An online search for 3080 RTX yields more brand flavors than a toothpaste aisle. Except consumers can understand toothpaste flavors. No idea why we need dozens of otherwise indistinguishable video card variations.

addaon 4y ago
> Except consumers can understand toothpaste flavors. Can we? Here's the currently available US flavors / varieties of ONE brand, Colgate: Advanced White Charcoal Toothpaste Advanced White Toothpaste Anti-Tartar + Whitening Toothpaste Cavity Protection Toothpaste Charcoal Natural Extracts Charcoal Toothpaste Colgate Baby Toothpaste 0-2 years Colgate Kids Magic Toothpaste 6-9 years Colgate Kids Toothpaste 3-5 years Cool Stripe Toothpaste Deep Clean With Baking Soda Toothpaste Elixir Cool Detox Toothpaste Elixir Gum Booster Toothpaste Elixir White Restore Toothpaste Gum Invigorate Detox Toothpaste Gum Invigorate Toothpaste Max Fresh Cooling Crystals Toothpaste Max White & Protect Whitening Toothpaste Max White Charcoal Whitening Toothpaste Max White Crystals Whitening Toothpaste Max White Expert Anti-Stain Whitening Toothpaste Max White Expert Complete Whitening Toothpaste Max White Expert Original Whitening Toothpaste Max White Expert Shine Glossy Mint Whitening Toothpaste Max White Extra Care Enamel Protect Whitening Toothpaste Max White Extra Care Sensitive Protect Whitening Toothpaste Max White Luminous Whitening Toothpaste Max White One Whitening Toothpaste Max White Optic Whitening Toothpaste Max White Sparkle Diamonds Whitening Toothpaste Max White Ultimate Catalyst Whitening Toothpaste Max White Ultimate Renewal Whitening Toothpaste Max White Ultra Active Foam Toothpaste Max White Ultra Freshness Pearls Toothpaste Maximum Cavity Protection 3+ Kids' Toothpaste Maximum Cavity Protection Fresh Mint Toothpaste Maximum Cavity Protection Toothpaste Nature IQ Enamel Repair Toothpaste PerioGard Gum Protection + Sensitive Toothpaste PerioGard Gum Protection Toothpaste Sensitive Instant Relief Enamel Repair Sensitive Instant Relief Enamel Repair Toothpaste Sensitive Instant Relief Multiprotection Sensitive Instant Relief Repair & Prevent Sensitive Instant Relief Whitening Sensitive Sensifoam Multi Protection Toothpaste Sensitive With Sensifoam Toothpaste Total Active Fresh Toothpaste Total Advanced Clean Gel Toothpaste Total Advanced Deep Clean Toothpaste Total Advanced Enamel Health Toothpaste Total Advanced Gum Care Total Advanced Pure Breath Toothpaste Total Advanced Sensitive Care Total Original Toothpaste Total Plaque Protection Toothpaste Total Visible Proof Toothpaste Total Whitening Toothpaste Triple Action Original Mint Toothpaste I'm an adult male. My dentist has not informed me of any particular concerns. I wouldn't mind my teeth being a bit whiter. Which of these am I supposed to buy? Or am I supposed to buy a product from one of the other brands of the same manufacturer... Elmex, Meridol, several others, each of which has their own outrageously long lineups. Or look at a different manufacturer?
- antisthenes 4y ago
  You're obviously supposed to conduct a double-blind longitudinal study over the course of many years, with at least 30 participants in each group, for every single sub-brand you listed. Also, make sure there's no conflict of interest at any point in the studies.
- roughly 4y ago
  One of my professors described Toothbrush buying as the absolute most pathological case for the Paradox of Choice: dozens of ostensibly differentiated products, all in basically the same price range, all basically affordable, with no real way as a consumer to discern their efficacy or quality. You'll use the product for the next 6 months to a year, and if you pick the wrong one, your breath will stink, your teeth will fall out, and you'll need expensive surgery.
  - sph 4y ago
    If your teeth fall out after 6 months of bad toothpaste, perhaps you should stop eating sugar and drinking battery acid :)
    - raisin_churn 4y ago
      On the other hand, if you've been eating sugar and drinking battery acid all along and your teeth haven't fallen out yet, please let me know what kind of toothpaste you've been using.
  - spr93 4y ago
    What were they a professor of? I don't see a paradox of choice here; none of those Colgate products, or anything else sitting on the shelf that's ADA accepted, is going to rot your teeth. It is, however, a classic result of oligopoly. Oligopolists compete among themselves--and, more importantly, prevent entry from newcomers--by hyper differentiating their products. The "artificial" product differentiation also makes comparison-shopping harder and softens price competition between the oligopolists. It's a really fascinating, kind of counter-intuitive, but well known dynamic. E.g., Crest offers a slightly differentiated product--"gleaming white plus plus" or whatever--and Colgate responds with "extra pearly white super plus." Or a newcomer tries to sell "natural something," so the oligopolists introduce "natural stuff" and "pure friendly paste" to prevent customers that like the sound of "natural" from defecting to the newcomer. Hotels are the classic case. Hilton and Marriott have tons of brands. Take extended stays for example. Marriott has three extended-stay hotel brands. No one thinks extended-stay hotel customers started a letter-writing campaign to Marriot saying, "I really want an extended-stay hotel that's just like Residence Inn, but with a different color combination. That's where you should invest your money. I don't need nicer furniture or lower prices, thank you. Just give me the new color scheme, thanks." The dynamic is a counterintuitive feature of oligopolies, but it's very well known. But academia is hyper-specialized, so, yeah, everyone sees their own pet theory in everything.
sebazzz 4y ago
Customers also understand fan speed and cooling, which cards can compete on. Less noise, or more overclocking ability. Different additional software which may or may not have any value for you.
- unicornmama 4y ago
  Here's the top three search results from the most popular online store in my country: - MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Ti VENTUS 3X 12G OC - Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 GAMING OC 10G LHR - ASUS GeForce TUF RTX 3080 GAMING I know TI means beatter - not sure how much better. What the hell is a Ventus? Is it Ventus 3x or just 3x? Also what is being 3x-ed here? I assume OC means overclocked - which only raises more eyebrows. Presumably 12G is better than 10G - I haven't seen any games with graphics memory requirements since games came in box sets and we counted things in megabytes not gigabytes. The ASUS card I guess is memoryless [I kidd], but comes with something called a TUF - I guess that's better than a mere OC? LHR means London Heathrow - I hope the Gigabyte card provides a more enjoyable experience than a trip to LHR. Good to know that the last two cards for gaming, I was afraid I'd buy a $1000+ graphics card that I cannot use for games. Imagine if Apple + friends would market phones as "ASUS IPHONE 13 Vroom 2x 8GB NRT". TL;DR I want to buy a card to play Elden Ring at 4k that won't make my computer sound like a 747 about to take-off. I don't want to spend my weekend on Reddit dissertations to decypher some marketers idea of high-tech hieroglyphics just so I can understand what I'm buying.
  - raisin_churn 4y ago
    Like all other parts for custom PC building, you can either arbitrarily pick a pricepoint and a cool-sounding name and slap it together, or you can read benchmark comparisons and have a rough idea what works best for you. Should I buy an Intel CPU or AMD? Which of the dozen models from each brand? Motherboards, power supplies, cases, coolers, this staggering array of choice is everywhere throughout the custom PC space. You also have the option to not deal with it and buy a full PC from an OEM or system integrator, even Dell if you hate both yourself and your money. PS the 3080 and the 3080 Ti are different GPUs, so that is nothing to do with the AIB manufacturers, that's Nvidia directly. Like an Apple M1 vs M1 Ultrapromax.
UberFly 4y ago
ONE source for all Nvidia GPUs is preferable? No thanks.
- hellotomyrars 4y ago
  Hell, if only because the reference cards use those shitty tiny loud blower fans, at least the ones in my price range. I DGAF about the leds and bullshit but I want quiet fans.

addaon 4y ago

> Except consumers can understand toothpaste flavors. Can we? Here's the currently available US flavors / varieties of ONE brand, Colgate: Advanced White Charcoal Toothpaste Advanced White Toothpaste Anti-Tartar + Whitening Toothpaste Cavity Protection Toothpaste Charcoal Natural Extracts Charcoal Toothpaste Colgate Baby Toothpaste 0-2 years Colgate Kids Magic Toothpaste 6-9 years Colgate Kids Toothpaste 3-5 years Cool Stripe Toothpaste Deep Clean With Baking Soda Toothpaste Elixir Cool Detox Toothpaste Elixir Gum Booster Toothpaste Elixir White Restore Toothpaste Gum Invigorate Detox Toothpaste Gum Invigorate Toothpaste Max Fresh Cooling Crystals Toothpaste Max White & Protect Whitening Toothpaste Max White Charcoal Whitening Toothpaste Max White Crystals Whitening Toothpaste Max White Expert Anti-Stain Whitening Toothpaste Max White Expert Complete Whitening Toothpaste Max White Expert Original Whitening Toothpaste Max White Expert Shine Glossy Mint Whitening Toothpaste Max White Extra Care Enamel Protect Whitening Toothpaste Max White Extra Care Sensitive Protect Whitening Toothpaste Max White Luminous Whitening Toothpaste Max White One Whitening Toothpaste Max White Optic Whitening Toothpaste Max White Sparkle Diamonds Whitening Toothpaste Max White Ultimate Catalyst Whitening Toothpaste Max White Ultimate Renewal Whitening Toothpaste Max White Ultra Active Foam Toothpaste Max White Ultra Freshness Pearls Toothpaste Maximum Cavity Protection 3+ Kids' Toothpaste Maximum Cavity Protection Fresh Mint Toothpaste Maximum Cavity Protection Toothpaste Nature IQ Enamel Repair Toothpaste PerioGard Gum Protection + Sensitive Toothpaste PerioGard Gum Protection Toothpaste Sensitive Instant Relief Enamel Repair Sensitive Instant Relief Enamel Repair Toothpaste Sensitive Instant Relief Multiprotection Sensitive Instant Relief Repair & Prevent Sensitive Instant Relief Whitening Sensitive Sensifoam Multi Protection Toothpaste Sensitive With Sensifoam Toothpaste Total Active Fresh Toothpaste Total Advanced Clean Gel Toothpaste Total Advanced Deep Clean Toothpaste Total Advanced Enamel Health Toothpaste Total Advanced Gum Care Total Advanced Pure Breath Toothpaste Total Advanced Sensitive Care Total Original Toothpaste Total Plaque Protection Toothpaste Total Visible Proof Toothpaste Total Whitening Toothpaste Triple Action Original Mint Toothpaste I'm an adult male. My dentist has not informed me of any particular concerns. I wouldn't mind my teeth being a bit whiter. Which of these am I supposed to buy? Or am I supposed to buy a product from one of the other brands of the same manufacturer... Elmex, Meridol, several others, each of which has their own outrageously long lineups. Or look at a different manufacturer?

antisthenes 4y ago
You're obviously supposed to conduct a double-blind longitudinal study over the course of many years, with at least 30 participants in each group, for every single sub-brand you listed. Also, make sure there's no conflict of interest at any point in the studies.
roughly 4y ago
One of my professors described Toothbrush buying as the absolute most pathological case for the Paradox of Choice: dozens of ostensibly differentiated products, all in basically the same price range, all basically affordable, with no real way as a consumer to discern their efficacy or quality. You'll use the product for the next 6 months to a year, and if you pick the wrong one, your breath will stink, your teeth will fall out, and you'll need expensive surgery.
- sph 4y ago
  If your teeth fall out after 6 months of bad toothpaste, perhaps you should stop eating sugar and drinking battery acid :)
  - raisin_churn 4y ago
    On the other hand, if you've been eating sugar and drinking battery acid all along and your teeth haven't fallen out yet, please let me know what kind of toothpaste you've been using.
- spr93 4y ago
  What were they a professor of? I don't see a paradox of choice here; none of those Colgate products, or anything else sitting on the shelf that's ADA accepted, is going to rot your teeth. It is, however, a classic result of oligopoly. Oligopolists compete among themselves--and, more importantly, prevent entry from newcomers--by hyper differentiating their products. The "artificial" product differentiation also makes comparison-shopping harder and softens price competition between the oligopolists. It's a really fascinating, kind of counter-intuitive, but well known dynamic. E.g., Crest offers a slightly differentiated product--"gleaming white plus plus" or whatever--and Colgate responds with "extra pearly white super plus." Or a newcomer tries to sell "natural something," so the oligopolists introduce "natural stuff" and "pure friendly paste" to prevent customers that like the sound of "natural" from defecting to the newcomer. Hotels are the classic case. Hilton and Marriott have tons of brands. Take extended stays for example. Marriott has three extended-stay hotel brands. No one thinks extended-stay hotel customers started a letter-writing campaign to Marriot saying, "I really want an extended-stay hotel that's just like Residence Inn, but with a different color combination. That's where you should invest your money. I don't need nicer furniture or lower prices, thank you. Just give me the new color scheme, thanks." The dynamic is a counterintuitive feature of oligopolies, but it's very well known. But academia is hyper-specialized, so, yeah, everyone sees their own pet theory in everything.

sebazzz 4y ago

Customers also understand fan speed and cooling, which cards can compete on. Less noise, or more overclocking ability. Different additional software which may or may not have any value for you.

unicornmama 4y ago
Here's the top three search results from the most popular online store in my country: - MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Ti VENTUS 3X 12G OC - Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 GAMING OC 10G LHR - ASUS GeForce TUF RTX 3080 GAMING I know TI means beatter - not sure how much better. What the hell is a Ventus? Is it Ventus 3x or just 3x? Also what is being 3x-ed here? I assume OC means overclocked - which only raises more eyebrows. Presumably 12G is better than 10G - I haven't seen any games with graphics memory requirements since games came in box sets and we counted things in megabytes not gigabytes. The ASUS card I guess is memoryless [I kidd], but comes with something called a TUF - I guess that's better than a mere OC? LHR means London Heathrow - I hope the Gigabyte card provides a more enjoyable experience than a trip to LHR. Good to know that the last two cards for gaming, I was afraid I'd buy a $1000+ graphics card that I cannot use for games. Imagine if Apple + friends would market phones as "ASUS IPHONE 13 Vroom 2x 8GB NRT". TL;DR I want to buy a card to play Elden Ring at 4k that won't make my computer sound like a 747 about to take-off. I don't want to spend my weekend on Reddit dissertations to decypher some marketers idea of high-tech hieroglyphics just so I can understand what I'm buying.
- raisin_churn 4y ago
  Like all other parts for custom PC building, you can either arbitrarily pick a pricepoint and a cool-sounding name and slap it together, or you can read benchmark comparisons and have a rough idea what works best for you. Should I buy an Intel CPU or AMD? Which of the dozen models from each brand? Motherboards, power supplies, cases, coolers, this staggering array of choice is everywhere throughout the custom PC space. You also have the option to not deal with it and buy a full PC from an OEM or system integrator, even Dell if you hate both yourself and your money. PS the 3080 and the 3080 Ti are different GPUs, so that is nothing to do with the AIB manufacturers, that's Nvidia directly. Like an Apple M1 vs M1 Ultrapromax.

UberFly 4y ago

ONE source for all Nvidia GPUs is preferable? No thanks.

hellotomyrars 4y ago
Hell, if only because the reference cards use those shitty tiny loud blower fans, at least the ones in my price range. I DGAF about the leds and bullshit but I want quiet fans.