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The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube
- opendais 12y agoI'm just amazed anyone is willing to pay that much for an ice cube.
- _broody 12y agoThey're not. They're actually paying for the del... illusion it brings. Just further proof that marketing doesn't actually need a product to succeed.
- opendais 12y agoMaybe I should start selling Läce Oxygen, the better breathing experience certified to be fresh as it was extracted directly from a sealed room filled with plants. Don't breathe secondhand air from the mouths of peasants! Get Läce Oxygen! :/ EDIT: I was kidding, folks. ^^;
- solarmist 12y agoHa! Bundle that with a fan that "mists" the pure air and you've got yourself a product! I know you were kidding, but that doesn't mean you couldn't make a lot of money with that idea. Ridiculous products can make tons of money.
- opendais 12y agoI think I'll try to stick with trying to come up with a SaaS product :P
- DanBC 12y agoYou know that Oxygen bars are a thing, right? http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_bar http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_bar
- opendais 12y agoA fact that continues to depress and disturb me. However, they don't use plants. They use machines. So I was trying not to directly reference something real.
- DanBC 12y agoYou could totally make high class oxygen by using plants. It's a business. You just need to be brave / shameless enough to charge a ridiculous amount for plant generated oxygen. I think this element of "I cannot bring myself to do this, even though some people are so rich they will not miss the money" stops some people from starting businesses.
- opendais 12y agoOh, you could. I'm sure you could. Could it be profitable and have me sell it with a straight face? No way in hell :P
- tjr 12y agoWhat kind of plants? I can see that idea working.
- pavel_lishin 12y agoHe'll use my line of high-end oxygen-producers. I can start him off with some Bambü, which produces a very nice texture, or we can skip directly to Alø, which has some very nice medicinal properties as well.
- DanBC 12y agoYou need to tweak the phrasing to avoid regulatory scrutiny by FDA but beneficial properties of oxygen of different plants would sell. I don't know how depressed I am by this.
- tjr 12y agoI have a bamboo floor in my home office, and generally like things made out of bamboo. Not even knowing the actual oxygen-producing properties of bamboo, I can imagine myself trying some bamboo oxygen. And I usually don't like seemingly overpriced stunts like this. I seriously think it could sell big. Oxygen made by your favorite plants! Amazing idea.
- opendais 12y agoWhy not buy a bamboo plant and put it in the corner? It is the same effect. :)
- DanBC 12y agoThere are articles online about the useful effect of certain plants on the atmosphere of offices. That's for regular punters. Now we need a bit of price discrimination to get the high value customers. No mere "place a bamboo plant in the corner". You need to specify the obscure region of China that the original plant comes from (leave out the fact that you took a million cutting from that plant in an industrial unit somewhere) and describe the quality of the oxygen and other harmonious gases produced by these plants. http://www.mnn.com/health/healthy-spaces/photos/15-houseplants-for-improving-indoor-air-quality/a-breath-of-fresh-air http://www.mnn.com/health/healthy-spaces/photos/15-houseplan...
- nsxwolf 12y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbDgpKaFbZY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbDgpKaFbZY Please breathe responsibly.
- flyrain 12y agoConsider the air pollution in some countries, such as China, your idea is brilliant.
- waps 12y agoWell [2] ... I don't think they're kidding. Please note that oxygen, even if mildly purified from what's in the athmosphere is one of the most destructive substances there is. If you're standing in 72% or more oxygen, a cough will burn you to a crisp. Much of the age related damage in human bodies is ultimately the effect of too much oxygen in one place at the same time. I know how it sounds, but please do keep in mind : oxygen is toxic, makes anything corrode, burn or explode (literally, you can coax half the noble gases into burning in sufficiently pure oxygen). Keep in mind the human body consists of water, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen. Everyone of those will react violently with oxygen, and while athmospheric concentrations are obviously safe, concentrated oxygen is NOT[1]. For the love of God, DO NOT aim a can of pure oxygen at a flame. And yes, concentrated oxygen can keep you alive with a damaged lung system (e.g. done to newborn infants, post-operational care, etc). Please do not confuse that with the idea that it's good for you. Please remember that 2-3% of people that that is done to end up with severe burns on their body (due to something unexpectedly catching fire with pure oxygen aimed at it). This is with professionals handling it. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_1#Pure_oxygen_atmosphere http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_1#Pure_oxygen_atmosphere [2] http://www.oxygenplus.com/ http://www.oxygenplus.com/
- throwaway5752 12y agoIf you put ice in Macallan 18, you suck. Sorry for the light epithet, but it deserves worse. and as I read more: "Gläce states that the cubes are ideal for high-end cocktails -- those that employ splashes of $38,000-per-bottle liquors, and must not be diluted or contaminated by mere tap ice." ... ICE NUMBS YOUR TASTE BUDS. Fancy water or not. edit: Downvoted to -1? I'll double down. If you are going to drink a nice scotch on the rocks, do yourself a favor and buy cheap scotch instead. Go enjoy a Johnnie Walker Red or Cutty Sark. There are aldehydes and esters from the peating of the grain and the oak cask aging that you are not appreciating when it's chilled. If it's cask strength (around 125 proof) then by all means dilute with spring water so you don't burn out your palate. But if you drink it on the rocks, try not doing that and see if you enjoy it differently.
- mef 12y agoHeaven forbid someone enjoy a product in the manner of their choosing.
- throwaway5752 12y agoTo each their own. I'll still call them a Philistine as if they'd ordered Kobe filet well-done. There's a perfectly serviceable Macallan 12 if someone wants to ice it. I can have a polite discussion about spring water for cask strength bottles, but the 12 & 18 are both diluted to just over 80 proof already. Look, you are just not going to fully appreciate a fine whisky that way. This is chemistry & biology, not only me being an ass. edit: and as an olive branch, I probably wouldn't have been as strident if we were talking standard (ie, free) ice instead of some $8 monstrosity.
- dlhavema 12y agoi went to a steak house a month or so ago, and they chilled their "high end" liquor by surrounding the base in a block of ice. it had a cool visual effect and also didn't dilute the drink.
- epochwolf 12y agoI'm pretty sure that was a joke. :)
- LeonM 12y agoI actually thought about this when a read an article a couple of years ago about a company that sells "designer" bottles of water for $80 EACH. There are many wealthy people on the planet who don't have a clue on how to spend their money. They are a brilliant target audience to sell overpriced everyday products to.
- xienze 12y agoIt's not just the ultra-wealthy that fall for this crap. Consider SF's $4 toast. Cheap enough that anyone can buy it but still way overpriced.
- mikeash 12y agoI believe it typically won't be the ultra-wealthy, but people who are just barely wealthy enough to afford it. (Which isn't all that high of a bar. An $80 bottle of water could be afforded as an occasional purchase by your average software engineer.) As Bill Gates fictionally said on The Simpsons, "I didn't get rich by writing a lot of checks!" Someone who has accumulated that much money probably has more sense about what they spend it on.
- CocaKoala 12y agoWell, yeah; obviously the dude getting rich on this isn't spending that much on ice. I'd guess he gets a pretty good employee discount on it.
- archagon 12y agoI dunno, those toasts look pretty big. Compare to something like ice cream or latte, which retails for about the same price. (Or maybe a little less.)
- callahad 12y agoGah, why doesn't Priceonomics have an RSS feed? :( Edit: Oh, they do! Thanks! I'll amend my comment to "why doesn't Priceonomics advertise their RSS feed in their site's header for easy discovery?" ;)
- bitJericho 12y agoThey do http://priceonomics.com/latest.rss http://priceonomics.com/latest.rss
- gtirloni 12y agoIs this a sarcastic comment on all Priceonomics posts being semi-automatically posted on HN? :-) In case this is not a joke: http://priceonomics.com/latest.rss http://priceonomics.com/latest.rss
- seventytwo 12y agoGreat example of creating a market for your product...
- danohuiginn 12y agoThis is, of course, ridiculous. Still, there's logic to it: find some mass-market component that is used in a luxury service, and provide a high-end alternative. The kind of idio^H^H^H^Hcustomers who want luxury certainly don't want it contaminiated by something from Walmart, regardless of the actual quality. It's the same reason as for those gold-plated cables for audiophiles.
- tmuir 12y agoGold plated cables actually serve a purpose, although the average consumer does not have a need for them. In a studio environment, where cables are frequently plugged and unplugged, the gold plating protects the contacting surfaces, extending their lives.
- Alupis 12y agoAre you sure? Gold is one of the most soft/malleable metals used to plate connectors? (I know it's one the best best conductors). And we all know, there's no difference between the $150 hdmi cable and the $5 hdmi cable except cosmetics and perhaps some better shielding. They're all digital connections, so the signal/bits are either there or are not.
- nathanm412 12y agoIt's also extremely stable and won't corrode, rust, or tarnish over time.
- DanBC 12y agoI really hope the $150 cable has much better manufacturing and inspection. Obviously that doesn't mean they're worth that much, but still.
- Alupis 12y agoYou'd be surprised. The $150 hdmi cable is likely manufactured alongside the $5 cables in the same factory, then just sold to different brands (Monster vs. Store-brand). It's fairly common... Samsung makes almost all the parts of the Best Buy store-brand TV's... they're essentially a slightly lower-grade samsung tv with the store-brand slapped on and sold cheaper.
- habosa 12y agoThe joke is that for very nice liquor (whiskey especially) you should definitely not be adding ice, no matter how "deserving" the ice is. If you want the drink cold, chill the liquor itself or even the glass. In hindsight, fuck it. There is no point in dissecting this, it is what it is. It's ice for people who want to spend money just to spend it.
- dbrian 12y agoAdding a bit of water brings out flavors you don't experience neat. It's a personal preference. http://youtu.be/ajqd62fE73E?t=6m23s http://youtu.be/ajqd62fE73E?t=6m23s
- alexmayyasi 12y agoSeconded! Always fire back at people who try to look down at having a drink on the rocks!
- jrockway 12y agoI've heard this, but I don't really buy it. The whisky is already diluted at bottling time, unless it's "cask strength".
- taternuts 12y agoTry it! The first whiskey I've tried it with was Glenfiddich 12, and I was amazed at how it sweetened/changed the flavor profile with just a tiny splash.
- arnarbi 12y agoI suggest doing a blind test. I did several times, and definitely noticed a difference from adding a few drops of water in most high-end whiskys.
- rm445 12y agoIndeed, it's quite likely that rather than bringing out flavour through some sort of chemical or physical change, the dilution just reduces the alcoholic bite, allowing you to enjoy the other flavours more. But still, you can certainly taste the difference and decide which you like best.
- coldcode 12y agoSo now we have aisles full of water in bottles, you can buy air in cans in China, and gourmet ice. I'm waiting for bottles of vacuum, but I am sure they will suck.
- batmansbelt 12y agohiyo!
- smoyer 12y agoOnly when they're opened!
- AVTizzle 12y agoAs a resident of Saigon, and having visited China, I can actually attest to the idea that having air cans in some of these smoggy cities is become less of a luxury and more of a necessity every day.
- waps 12y agoSo the answer to pollution is to put clean air in disposable containers ? I think I see where the problem is here.
- Groxx 12y agoHere ya go: http://www.thermos.com/products/vacuum-insulated-14-oz-stainless-travel-mug.aspx http://www.thermos.com/products/vacuum-insulated-14-oz-stain... The price per ounce of vacuum makes cocaine look like water.
- qwerta 12y agoKind of funny. It is impossible to make perfect vacuum (a few particles per cubic inch) down on earth. One has to lunch stuff into space.
- sharkweek 12y agoWhile perhaps there is some form of utility here for those more familiar with high end cocktails (I'm more of a dollar beer kind of guy, sometimes I'll splurge on a 22oz), this reminds me a lot of that "wealth badge [1]" or whatever it was - "Yeah, I've got money, I spend $8 on ice cubes" [1]http://www.vocativ.com/money/business/size-quarter-made-metal-costs-5000/ http://www.vocativ.com/money/business/size-quarter-made-meta...
- hershel 12y agoTrue ,it could be a wealth badge. But how many such badges does a person needs ? is there any additional value to the new ones?
- rwallace 12y agoThere is value to society in providing additional noncoercive ways to transfer money from rich people who don't need it to non-rich people who do, which is what this company is doing.
- lilsunnybee 12y agoExcept the owners and/or shareholders are likely already wealthy (or will be from the obscene profit margin on this).
- rwallace 12y agoThe employees probably aren't, though.
- imkevinxu 12y agoReminded me of the Priceonomics article on diamonds, some business guy literally created a market for something found in nature
- erbo 12y ago"Okay, okay, you figured us out. I'll give you a free bag of diamonds if you'll go away and keep quiet." "Great...now I'm a party to this ugly little secret." http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1992-07-12/ http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1992-07-12/
- chrismcb 12y agoThe pretty much describes everything... See that wooden chair, something found in nature... see that car made out of metal ores... found in nature! Diamonds found in nature are ugly. Diamonds found in jewelry are very pretty.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- jxm262 12y agoJust Wow. So I once had an idea that I could sell mineral water by selling packets of trace minerals. Just add water and voila... mineral water Thanks for the article, maybe I will pursue this idea after all
- paulannesley 12y agoThis brand is ridiculous, but… Crystal clear ice cubes look great in a drink, and are far more difficult to make than “filling a 50-cent plastic tray with tap water and throwing it in the freezer”. The author of the article seems to avoid pointing this out. See https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/danprovost/neat-ice-kit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/danprovost/neat-ice-kit and https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wintersmiths/the-ice-baller-makes-clear-slow-melting-ice-sphere https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wintersmiths/the-ice-ba...
- SDGT 12y agoI make clear ice cubes two ways. 1. Boil water twice beforehand 2. Strap a vibrating "toy" to the tray and put it on a solid flat surface in the freezer. Neither of these solutions ended up costing me more than $20 to make as many ice cubes as I can fit. The hardest part is finding ice cube trays that don't suck.
- logfromblammo 12y agoYou can even use a silicone molded ice tray to make crystal clear ice in interesting shapes. I recall seeing Death Star shaped ice somewhere out there on the Internet.
- ceejayoz 12y agoDid you read? The author of the article details the process involved, the cost for crystal-clear ice blocks, etc.
- api 12y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilded_age https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilded_age
- adamio 12y agoI can't wait to buy premium hydrogen when fuel cell cars become more popular
- rayiner 12y agoMy wife's cousin is a chef and knows his guy: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2013/02/20/the-ice-is-right-is-artisan-ice-the-final-frontier-for-craft-cocktails http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2013.... He bartends by day, and sells artisan ice to restaurants by night. It looks pretty and melts slower than regular ice cubes. BTW: If you're in D.C., check out Range (mentioned in the above article; serves artisan ice in drinks).
- trhway 12y agoafter day of hard public service our public servants need their artisan ice. $400 space toilet seat starts to look like a bargain.
- josefresco 12y agoRelated: http://thesweethome.com/reviews/the-best-ice-cube-tray/ http://thesweethome.com/reviews/the-best-ice-cube-tray/ *I am not the author and am no way affiliated ... just read it a while back and found it relevant/interesting.
- _Adam 12y agoAs stupid as this sounds, there is actually a difference between these ice cubes and the standard variety. And that's the appearance. Just look: http://www.glaceice.net/uploads/3/9/6/9/3969825/3969289_orig.jpg http://www.glaceice.net/uploads/3/9/6/9/3969825/3969289_orig... Because there's no air bubbles, the ice is perfectly clear. That's not a trivial fact. Humans innately like clear stuff! Just think how unappealing cloudy water is in comparison to clear water. The only exceptions arise from cases where we've learnt from experience that cloudiness is good (e.g. cloudy looking cider has more flavour) What this means, is that without considering price, almost any person would rather use one of these ice cubes over a normal ice cube. So the potential market is measured in billions of people. Even if (for example) only 0.01% of the population would ever consider spending $325 for 50 ice cubes, that 0.01% is guaranteed to want these ice cubes. It seems stupid, but it's actually brilliant. The weakness with this sort of model is that it's very easy for competitors to dominate the market. Gläce has established the demand and made ice sexy, but they have no hold on their customers. Someone could come in and sell a perfect ice maker for $200 and crush the pre-made high end ice market completely.
- soperj 12y agoI'm pretty sure you can get clear ice cubes by just freezing hot water. Bonus: they actually freeze faster than cold water.
- jmduke 12y agoThis doesn't detract from your point, but it's worth noting that that's probably not an ice cube in the photograph -- more likely, its plastic (in the same vein that photographers use glue instead of milk for cereal). One of my favorite blogs, Alcademics, has a great set of experiments on how to capture the glory of clear ice at home: http://www.alcademics.com/2010/08/a-homemade-giant-crystal-clear-ice-cube-tray.html http://www.alcademics.com/2010/08/a-homemade-giant-crystal-c...
- ctdonath 12y agoSometimes dilution & cooling liquor is appropriate. For those learning to refine their taste buds, a shot approaching 100 proof is too concentrated to appreciate - but adding a little water and chilling make it much easier to savor. I have to pipe up about this because a few months back I had the delightful experience of savoring 1911 apple vodka poured over rare fresh Georgia snow (something a tap water ice cube just doesn't replicate properly). Yeah, an $8 ice cube is rather nuts, but if you are going to chill & thin an otherwise fine expensive liquor, taking effort to use good water and careful freezing (avoiding "freezer burn") is worthwhile. Or wait for a good snowfall.
- lightblade 12y agoI don't think this is ridiculous. I remember watching this one scene in Star Trek Into Darkness where Kirk was sitting in a bar enjoying a drink. The drink that he was enjoying had this perfect spherical ice in it. I remember talking to myself at that moment that this is a very nice business idea. Retail price aside, I do believe premium ice is a viable business.
- DanBC 12y agoYou can buy presses to turn ice into a sphere. Is this an affiliate link? How do I turn it back into a regular link? http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00A1TMFSU?pc_redir=1401253883&robot_redir=1 http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00A1TMFSU?pc_redir=1401253883...
- lightblade 12y agoThanks for the link! Now I know I can DIY these.
- jra101 12y agoOr just buy a $9 mold: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007ACTN54 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007ACTN54
- thornofmight 12y agoThat's funny because reading this article I thought of that exact same scene. The way that sphere of ice falls into the glass is so satisfying.
- ph0rque 12y agoI have an even better idea... I'll sell luxury air for $995 a bottle. I'll call it æïr!
- bambax 12y agoThis is the über demonstråtion that marketing is everything and product is... maybe not nothing, but in any case vastly overrated. Marketing rules because the only thing that matters is perception. While we mere mortals find this story ridiculous, if we had all the money in the world and some guy convinced us that he had made the perfect ice cube, why would we settle for less? It's arguably irrationnal to buy an inferior product if you can afford a better one. That said, Tovolo trays are great :-)
- tomkinstinch 12y agoMy guess before reading the article was that the ice cubes were made with heavy water. I'd pay $8 an ice cube that sinks[1]. 1. http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2006-07/ice-capades http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2006-07/ice-capades
- billmalarky 12y agowho knew "heavy water" was a thing? Unfortunately it looks like consumption is not recommended.
- qq66 12y agoI'd hesitate to drink heavy water. Probably won't do much to you, but why find out.
- waps 12y agoThere's 2 (stable) kinds of heavy water : deuterium and tritium. Deuterium is perfectly safe, and it's heavier. Nobody's ever drunk it in even tiny quantities though, so there could be surprises. Tritium is only arguably stable though, and you definitely should not drink it. It's perfectly safe to swim in it though, just keep it outside your skin. Drinking deuterium is going to be very expensive though, given the effort necessary to separate it. Poisoning someone with tritium is going to be more expensive than pouring molten platina over them though. Any preference for the oxygen in the cubes ? O16, O17, or O18 ? O16 would be the "common man" oxygen. All three are safe. None of the other isotopes are stable enough to be produced in significant quantities. Making heavy ice cubes out of H2O with the O17 is probably the cheapest "nuclear" way to produce heavy ice. Order here: http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/aldrich/151882 http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/aldrich/151882 Cheaper than I would have thought.
- throwaway7548 12y agoUnknown Internet Source: "Despite the fact the light water and heavy water are chemically identical, heavy water is mildly toxic. How can this be? Since heavy water is heavier than normal water, the speed of chemical reactions involving it is altered somewhat, as is the strength of some types of bonds it forms. This affects certain cellular processes, notably mitosis, or cell division, due to the difference in binding energy in the hydrogen bonds needed to make certain proteins. Mouse studies have shown that drinking only heavy water along with normal feed eventually causes degeneration of tissues that need to replenish themselves frequently, and leads to cumulative damage from injuries that don't heal as quickly. One study likens the effects to those suffered by chemotherapy patients. Heavy water toxicity manifests itself when about 50% of the water in the body has been replaced by D2O. Prolonged heavy water consumption can cause death."
- nathan_long 12y agoLooks like I'm branding and pricing my services wrong. "For just $50k per hour, you get painstakingly crafted, premium server code. Every character is hand-typed on a perfectly resonant keyboard, entering the world with a pleasing 'plink'..."
- akurilin 12y agoNeed a technical co-founder?
- lavamantis 12y agoSounds like he needs an MBA-type.
- vijayr 12y agoThis is one blog that always comes up with a variety of stories on different topics, and makes them interesting. Some are serious, some are ridiculous (like this article), but all of them always interesting.
- thedrbrian 12y agoI should start a company selling $9 ice spheres.
- 9999 12y agoOne supposed virtue of this ice is that it's clear, if you want to make perfectly clear ice yourself, this instructable has instructions on how you can build an insulated ice maker that will do that for a few bucks (in addition to the instructions on making a good iceball maker): http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-an-ice-ball-maker/ http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-an-ice-ball-make...
- ianstallings 12y agoAt what point do we reach maximum decadence? How far can we go I wonder? But you won't ever see me complaining about this. It's not my place to question other's choices that don't hurt me. But it sure is funny to sit back and watch sometimes.