4 ms·

Up in flames

60 points by ableal 15y ago

gvb 15y ago
Cringely doesn't identify his friend from Purdue, but there is a professor at Purdue that has a long standing fascination with lighting charcoal grills. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._Goble http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._Goble "In 1996, Goble was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for preparing a barbecue for cooking in less than 5 seconds by the use of a smoldering cigarette, charcoal and LOX (liquid oxygen). This act attracted the attention of the West Lafayette, Indiana fire department, which warned him to never let them catch him in the possession of LOX near a barbecue fire ever again." Writeup: http://www.humournet.com/collage.archives/collage096.txt http://www.humournet.com/collage.archives/collage096.txt Watch it here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=sab2Ltm1WcM http://youtube.com/watch?v=sab2Ltm1WcM
- miahi 15y ago
  Better than thermite!
- bwarp 15y ago
  My god I remember that guy from the late 90's. There was an Internet fad around then. Now I feel old.
feralchimp 15y ago
In other dubious class action news: http://centerforclassactionfairness.blogspot.com/ http://centerforclassactionfairness.blogspot.com/
mcantelon 15y ago
tldr: companies that are legally held accountable for selling defective products might end up trying to evade taxes through holding companies to compensate for damages paid.
- DannoHung 15y ago
  Is this actually the case? Cringely implies that the crux of the suit is a false advertising claim.
  - mcantelon 15y ago
    He says "the system as it is running right now doesn’t seem to be working as well as it should at helping U.S. manufacturing employment" after talking about the class action suit which seems to imply that a class action suit is against the interests of the US manufacturing sector.
    - ars 15y ago
      You need to read it again. Or read it more carefully or something. Basically what he is saying is that the class action system is giving an incentive to move manufacturing out of the US since then there is nothing to sue.
      - deleted 15y ago
        [deleted]
JumpCrisscross 15y ago
I don't buy the argument that you're above the law if you're a manufacturer. A credible argument for tort or truth in advertising reform across the board? For tax reform across the board? Sure. But this whole they're so fluffy for building things in America so let's treat them specially, regardless of how superficial special might seem in this cases, is an insult to the rule of law.
- fabricode 15y ago
  It's not that they should be treated specially. The problem is that by being an American company and not hiding behind offshore resources they make themselves more vulnerable to the idiocies of our judicial system. The proper remedy lies in tort reform, but given how successful we've been with that, I don't hold out much hope.
huhtenberg 15y ago
I was really hoping the post will be about the opening photo - the industrial vacuum attached to the grill. Instead it was about something inherently boring.
- ars 15y ago
  Read the writeup linked here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3637392 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3637392 (Use this video instead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBLr_XrooLs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBLr_XrooLs (But I'll quote for you: "Then we figured out that it would light faster if we used a vacuum cleaner.")
  - ranit8 15y ago
    Youtube says your link is adult content and wants me to login. Believe it or not, I never logged in there, and was never asked to. Damn Youtube, it's How to light a grill in 2 seconds, not a girl.
shingen 15y ago
The solution is to take over as much of your manufacturing process as possible. That way Weber can avoid this type of convoluted scenario. US companies used to do a lot more of this a hundred years ago. When industry is hitting on all cylinders and there's a lot of diversity of suppliers, owning your whole manufacturing stack is usually not very efficient. However, when key ingredients / suppliers in your manufacturing system are eroding, it becomes a method for keeping your operations in the US and controlling quality. Web should manufacture their own valves.

60 points by ableal 15y ago

gvb 15y ago

Cringely doesn't identify his friend from Purdue, but there is a professor at Purdue that has a long standing fascination with lighting charcoal grills. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._Goble http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._Goble "In 1996, Goble was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for preparing a barbecue for cooking in less than 5 seconds by the use of a smoldering cigarette, charcoal and LOX (liquid oxygen). This act attracted the attention of the West Lafayette, Indiana fire department, which warned him to never let them catch him in the possession of LOX near a barbecue fire ever again." Writeup: http://www.humournet.com/collage.archives/collage096.txt http://www.humournet.com/collage.archives/collage096.txt Watch it here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=sab2Ltm1WcM http://youtube.com/watch?v=sab2Ltm1WcM

miahi 15y ago
Better than thermite!
bwarp 15y ago
My god I remember that guy from the late 90's. There was an Internet fad around then. Now I feel old.

feralchimp 15y ago

In other dubious class action news: http://centerforclassactionfairness.blogspot.com/ http://centerforclassactionfairness.blogspot.com/

mcantelon 15y ago

tldr: companies that are legally held accountable for selling defective products might end up trying to evade taxes through holding companies to compensate for damages paid.

DannoHung 15y ago
Is this actually the case? Cringely implies that the crux of the suit is a false advertising claim.
- mcantelon 15y ago
  He says "the system as it is running right now doesn’t seem to be working as well as it should at helping U.S. manufacturing employment" after talking about the class action suit which seems to imply that a class action suit is against the interests of the US manufacturing sector.
  - ars 15y ago
    You need to read it again. Or read it more carefully or something. Basically what he is saying is that the class action system is giving an incentive to move manufacturing out of the US since then there is nothing to sue.
    - deleted 15y ago
      [deleted]

JumpCrisscross 15y ago

I don't buy the argument that you're above the law if you're a manufacturer. A credible argument for tort or truth in advertising reform across the board? For tax reform across the board? Sure. But this whole they're so fluffy for building things in America so let's treat them specially, regardless of how superficial special might seem in this cases, is an insult to the rule of law.

fabricode 15y ago
It's not that they should be treated specially. The problem is that by being an American company and not hiding behind offshore resources they make themselves more vulnerable to the idiocies of our judicial system. The proper remedy lies in tort reform, but given how successful we've been with that, I don't hold out much hope.

huhtenberg 15y ago

I was really hoping the post will be about the opening photo - the industrial vacuum attached to the grill. Instead it was about something inherently boring.

ars 15y ago
Read the writeup linked here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3637392 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3637392 (Use this video instead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBLr_XrooLs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBLr_XrooLs (But I'll quote for you: "Then we figured out that it would light faster if we used a vacuum cleaner.")
- ranit8 15y ago
  Youtube says your link is adult content and wants me to login. Believe it or not, I never logged in there, and was never asked to. Damn Youtube, it's How to light a grill in 2 seconds, not a girl.

shingen 15y ago

The solution is to take over as much of your manufacturing process as possible. That way Weber can avoid this type of convoluted scenario. US companies used to do a lot more of this a hundred years ago. When industry is hitting on all cylinders and there's a lot of diversity of suppliers, owning your whole manufacturing stack is usually not very efficient. However, when key ingredients / suppliers in your manufacturing system are eroding, it becomes a method for keeping your operations in the US and controlling quality. Web should manufacture their own valves.