3 ms·

I get it, I want to agree, I really do like the “this is a new tool in the toolkit of the professional software craftsperson” argument… …but consider: the Q-ti

by fwlr 3mo ago

I get it, I want to agree, I really do like the “this is a new tool in the toolkit of the professional software craftsperson” argument… …but consider: the Q-tip. “Don’t use it to clean your ears”, but for most people that’s all they want to do with it, and empirical observation indicates that this dynamic results in either “using Q-tips irresponsibly” or “not using Q-tips”, with “uses Q-tips properly” being a small-to-vanishing proportion of the whole.

ghthor 3mo ago
Qtips are made for cleaning your ears. It says not to do that so they are NOT sued every time some idiot fucks up their ear with one.
- wizzwizz4 3mo ago
  But the part of the ear that needs cleaning can be reached without a cotton bud. This is like shoving a sponge down your windpipe to remove mucus.
  - simoncion 3mo ago
    > This is like shoving a sponge down your windpipe to remove mucus. In my personal experience, not using a cotton-tipped swab for the task is like cleaning a plate loaded with gunk and burned-on patches with one's bare hands rather than choosing to use a sponge and/or brush. You can do it, [0] but it's much more work, much more time consuming, or you get an inferior result. [0] In my case, I'd need to make one set of passes with paper wrapped around my smallest finger, and then another set with paper shaped into a tool that can lever the excess wax out from outer orifice of my ear canal.
    - fragmede 3mo ago
      We live in the future. You can get an ear cleaning camera endoscope device for $40 next day Amazon delivery anywhere they reach.
      - wizzwizz4 3mo ago
        Or you could just take a shower, which makes it easy to wipe the excess earwax from your ear.
        fragmede 3mo ago
        Having heard of this shower thing before, it doesn't do the trick if your earwax is dry and waxy.
        simoncion 3mo ago
        For me, a shower is a precondition for earwax removal with a cotton swab. Without one, I'd need to break out hard scraping tools... which strikes me as far more hazardous than running a swab around the outer orifice of my ear canal and surrounding exterior areas. It'd be lovely if I had the sort of ears that produce wax that would just drain after five minutes' exposure to warm water vapor, but I do not. Given the popularity of cotton swabs, as well as the fairly-widespread commentary about how fantastic it feels to goop out earwax with them, I expect that most folks do not have ears like that. Perhaps OP does have the sort of ears that produce very fluid wax. Lucky them.
      - simoncion 3mo ago
        Unless you have a regular problem with impacted earwax that flushing with earwax-softening solutions doesn't solve, I don't see what actual problem an endoscope solves. We do live in the future, but there are a bunch of gizmos that the future provides that generally aren't worth the hassle.

by fwlr 3mo ago

ghthor 3mo ago

Qtips are made for cleaning your ears. It says not to do that so they are NOT sued every time some idiot fucks up their ear with one.

wizzwizz4 3mo ago
But the part of the ear that needs cleaning can be reached without a cotton bud. This is like shoving a sponge down your windpipe to remove mucus.
- simoncion 3mo ago
  > This is like shoving a sponge down your windpipe to remove mucus. In my personal experience, not using a cotton-tipped swab for the task is like cleaning a plate loaded with gunk and burned-on patches with one's bare hands rather than choosing to use a sponge and/or brush. You can do it, [0] but it's much more work, much more time consuming, or you get an inferior result. [0] In my case, I'd need to make one set of passes with paper wrapped around my smallest finger, and then another set with paper shaped into a tool that can lever the excess wax out from outer orifice of my ear canal.
  - fragmede 3mo ago
    We live in the future. You can get an ear cleaning camera endoscope device for $40 next day Amazon delivery anywhere they reach.
    - wizzwizz4 3mo ago
      Or you could just take a shower, which makes it easy to wipe the excess earwax from your ear.
      - fragmede 3mo ago
        Having heard of this shower thing before, it doesn't do the trick if your earwax is dry and waxy.
        simoncion 3mo ago
        For me, a shower is a precondition for earwax removal with a cotton swab. Without one, I'd need to break out hard scraping tools... which strikes me as far more hazardous than running a swab around the outer orifice of my ear canal and surrounding exterior areas. It'd be lovely if I had the sort of ears that produce wax that would just drain after five minutes' exposure to warm water vapor, but I do not. Given the popularity of cotton swabs, as well as the fairly-widespread commentary about how fantastic it feels to goop out earwax with them, I expect that most folks do not have ears like that. Perhaps OP does have the sort of ears that produce very fluid wax. Lucky them.
    - simoncion 3mo ago
      Unless you have a regular problem with impacted earwax that flushing with earwax-softening solutions doesn't solve, I don't see what actual problem an endoscope solves. We do live in the future, but there are a bunch of gizmos that the future provides that generally aren't worth the hassle.