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I thought the author was suggesting that maybe flatware isn't worth that much. There being a bunch of expensive flatware in existence is just a straw man's rebu

I thought the author was suggesting that maybe flatware isn't worth that much. There being a bunch of expensive flatware in existence is just a straw man's rebuttal to the point that affordable flatware works just fine.

njr123 14y ago
I think cutlery is probably the worst possible example to illustrate the argument. The cheapest cutlery you can buy is still works 90% as well as the best, and they last approximately forever. I've never in my life been eating something and noticed the quality of the cutlery. I think a better example would be dress shoes. The cheap versions are uncomfortable and wear out all the time, where as a good pair of leather shoes should last so much longer they probably end up being cheaper in the long run.
- npsimons 14y ago
  Precisely. I know it's fiction, but Terry Pratchett sums it up nicely in "Men at Arms": But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
  - jonnycoder 14y ago
    That might not be too far off. I actually already posted a comment regarding boots, but I know people with $400 boots that last 6+ years under hardcore/milaage whereas the $100 cheap boots give out once a year...and I'm not talking about worn out soles.
- tptacek 14y ago
  Do you not eat a lot of soup, or have you just never used a truly excellent soup spoon? Has it not occurred to you to replace your butter knives with something that has an actual blade on it, or do you just take for granted that we set places with pointless little paddle tools next to the forks? I own $10 dinnerware (and very cheap shoes) but the notion that fine dinnerware is the reductio ad absurdum of materialism gets to me. But we cook a lot, and nerds tend to eat out, so maybe that's what's going on. To illustrate: I wore nothing but cheap combat boots from 10th grade until last year (now I wear cheap slip-on dress-like shoes) and never once noticed any downside to it. I'm at the same time well aware of people who spend many hundreds of dollars on a pair of shoes. This observation never really drove me crazy.
- stickfigure 14y ago
  I've never in my life been eating something and noticed the quality of the cutlery. I frequently notice the disappointing cutlery in restaurants and the apartments of friends-who-don't-cook. A bendy fork or spoon with sharp edges is a genuine annoyance - definitely a first world problem, but one that's absurdly easy to solve at home by spending $20 for a set rather than $10. I think flatware is a great example of something which makes sense to economize in the middle - "the best" is silly expensive, but since you eat every day and a set lasts decades, so you might as well avoid the low end of the quality curve. $20-$30 at Target will get you heavy, stiff, polished stainless steel. A good chef's knife, however, should be treated like a family heirloom.
arrrg 14y ago
Different people have different tastes. Disbelief that others are willing to spend a bit more money on stuff (seriously, $50 for that set isn’t very expensive in the grand scheme of things) is kind of stupid. Who cares, really? You shouldn’t be so judgmental, especially about things like that. (And this also goes in the opposite direction: If you are happy with cheap flatware, nobody should berate you for it.)
- lilsunnybee 14y ago
  What set? It was 50 dollars for 2 forks, 2 spoons, and 1 knife. To get an actual flatware set would cost something like 500 dollars at those rates, which is really an absurd amount to spend on such trivial bullshit.
  - arrrg 14y ago
    Around $500 is what you pay for some pretty normal 50 piece sets. That $50 set is by no means especially high priced. Why is it trivial bullshit to pay $500 on a set that might last a family decades? That’s $2.80 per month (assuming it lasts for fifteen years, which would be my ballpark estimate for a high-quality set that is nearly indestructible and will mainly need replacement because pieces are lost). Others buy a $800 TV every five years. That’s $13.33 per month. I buy a $1,200 TV every twelve years (and might soon give up on TVs altogether). That’s $8.33 per month. Can’t you see that both are valid approaches? I can totally understand why someone would pick the cheapest flatware he or she can get. There is less cognitive load. If you buy it and it turns out to be not so great it’s not a big deal. Why can’t you see my perspective?

njr123 14y ago

I think cutlery is probably the worst possible example to illustrate the argument. The cheapest cutlery you can buy is still works 90% as well as the best, and they last approximately forever. I've never in my life been eating something and noticed the quality of the cutlery. I think a better example would be dress shoes. The cheap versions are uncomfortable and wear out all the time, where as a good pair of leather shoes should last so much longer they probably end up being cheaper in the long run.

npsimons 14y ago
Precisely. I know it's fiction, but Terry Pratchett sums it up nicely in "Men at Arms": But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
- jonnycoder 14y ago
  That might not be too far off. I actually already posted a comment regarding boots, but I know people with $400 boots that last 6+ years under hardcore/milaage whereas the $100 cheap boots give out once a year...and I'm not talking about worn out soles.
tptacek 14y ago
Do you not eat a lot of soup, or have you just never used a truly excellent soup spoon? Has it not occurred to you to replace your butter knives with something that has an actual blade on it, or do you just take for granted that we set places with pointless little paddle tools next to the forks? I own $10 dinnerware (and very cheap shoes) but the notion that fine dinnerware is the reductio ad absurdum of materialism gets to me. But we cook a lot, and nerds tend to eat out, so maybe that's what's going on. To illustrate: I wore nothing but cheap combat boots from 10th grade until last year (now I wear cheap slip-on dress-like shoes) and never once noticed any downside to it. I'm at the same time well aware of people who spend many hundreds of dollars on a pair of shoes. This observation never really drove me crazy.
stickfigure 14y ago
I've never in my life been eating something and noticed the quality of the cutlery. I frequently notice the disappointing cutlery in restaurants and the apartments of friends-who-don't-cook. A bendy fork or spoon with sharp edges is a genuine annoyance - definitely a first world problem, but one that's absurdly easy to solve at home by spending $20 for a set rather than $10. I think flatware is a great example of something which makes sense to economize in the middle - "the best" is silly expensive, but since you eat every day and a set lasts decades, so you might as well avoid the low end of the quality curve. $20-$30 at Target will get you heavy, stiff, polished stainless steel. A good chef's knife, however, should be treated like a family heirloom.

arrrg 14y ago

Different people have different tastes. Disbelief that others are willing to spend a bit more money on stuff (seriously, $50 for that set isn’t very expensive in the grand scheme of things) is kind of stupid. Who cares, really? You shouldn’t be so judgmental, especially about things like that. (And this also goes in the opposite direction: If you are happy with cheap flatware, nobody should berate you for it.)

lilsunnybee 14y ago
What set? It was 50 dollars for 2 forks, 2 spoons, and 1 knife. To get an actual flatware set would cost something like 500 dollars at those rates, which is really an absurd amount to spend on such trivial bullshit.
- arrrg 14y ago
  Around $500 is what you pay for some pretty normal 50 piece sets. That $50 set is by no means especially high priced. Why is it trivial bullshit to pay $500 on a set that might last a family decades? That’s $2.80 per month (assuming it lasts for fifteen years, which would be my ballpark estimate for a high-quality set that is nearly indestructible and will mainly need replacement because pieces are lost). Others buy a $800 TV every five years. That’s $13.33 per month. I buy a $1,200 TV every twelve years (and might soon give up on TVs altogether). That’s $8.33 per month. Can’t you see that both are valid approaches? I can totally understand why someone would pick the cheapest flatware he or she can get. There is less cognitive load. If you buy it and it turns out to be not so great it’s not a big deal. Why can’t you see my perspective?