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I have learned cynicism and skepticism about a lot of media, but Consumer Reports remains one of the few sources -- the only one I can think of offhand -- that
by spodek 13y ago
I have learned cynicism and skepticism about a lot of media, but Consumer Reports remains one of the few sources -- the only one I can think of offhand -- that I trust without a second thought.
I like their business plan and focus on doing what they do well.
Their reviews mean something (even to someone like me who lives in Manhattan and doesn't drive).
- bifftannen 13y agoYou really shouldn't trust them, especially on cars. They gave different reliability ratings to brand engineered cars built in the same plant with the same parts.
- nfriedly 13y agoCan you give any details here?
- mhb 13y agoYes, they do reviews well. But a lot of their consumer advocacy would profit from better (or any?) cost/benefit analysis.
- slantyyz 13y agoI generally agree, as there is a difference between a great car to drive at any price vs. a great car for the normal person. Seems like a great car though - I'm sure it complicates things for its competitors in the same price class.
- mhb 13y agoMy intention was to distinguish between their product reviews, which are very useful, and their consumer protection initiatives. Many of these will cost a lot and may not justify the benefits. I don't think I've ever seen them make an argument which includes the cost of a government mandate that they favor.
- Retric 13y agoYou can't do cost/benefit on subjective things which is not rally an issue for computers but how do you compare a 50$ toaster vs a 200$ toaster.
- narrator 13y agoBecause too much money makes a company stupid. Look at Paul Graham's essay about what went wrong at Yahoo ( http://www.paulgraham.com/yahoo.html http://www.paulgraham.com/yahoo.html). Same thing happened at GM, too much money for too long turned the culture from creating the future to protecting sacred cows. What's worse is these big stagnant companies often have access to very large pools of money from the public markets to buy up scrappy competitors and sap their innovativeness.
- brianpan 13y agoEven their reviews of Apple products? http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/01/11/consumer-reports-ranks-iphone-5-worst-top-smartphone http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/01/11/consumer-repo...