Mark Holtom (aka Kingbeard)Apr 23

In 1959, Volvo invented the three point seat belt and released the patent to it for free, realising it would save millions of lives.

In 2020 (Covid), James Dyson asked for a tax cut before he would even try to build a ventilator to save a life, then moved his business abroad to avoid tax. He didn't deliver a single ventilator.

Don’t buy a Dyson.

Show threadC++ Wage SlaveApr 23

@MarkHoltom

It's only one couple's experience, but we had a Dyson vacuum cleaner and the thing kept breaking down every three months. Fortunately, we'd bought an extended warranty and we got free parts. When the parts were no longer available, the insurer gave us a replacement machine, also made by #Dyson, which was much worse and couldn't actually clean our carpets.

We gave up on it and bought a #Henry. We couldn't be happier with it.

Show threadwoe2youApr 23

@CppGuy @MarkHoltom Good call. I bought a Henry because it's what I always see contract cleaners using. Apparently they're fairly repairable too, not that I've needed to.

Oh, and Dyson supported Brexit too. So he can get in the bin with Tim Martin.

Show threadStuartBApr 23
@woe2you @CppGuy @MarkHoltom My understanding is that Henry's are really low-tech as far as vacuum cleaners go - they may not have all the bells and whistles of more modern machines, but they take all the abuse you can throw at them, and are easily replaceable with readily accessible spare parts, which is why they are do beloved by contract cleaners
It is apparently possible to build one from off the shelf parts, but why would you do that when it's cheaper to buy a new one?
Show threadwoe2youApr 23
@stuartb @CppGuy @MarkHoltom I don't think anyone would literally build one from parts, it's just a way of illustrating that something has 100% spares availability.
Show threadStuartBApr 23
@woe2you @CppGuy @MarkHoltom The only example of something similar i can think of is when Charles Church bought the RAF's stockpile of spare parts for Spifires in the 1980, and managed to build a plane from them that was registered as a genuine, authentic, very late production aircraft rather than a replica, which tend yo use non-authentic parts.
But then, the Dpitfire had been out of production for 40 years, and even examples in really poor shape cost more than the parts.
Show threadNoodlemazApr 23

@stuartb @woe2you @CppGuy @MarkHoltom we tried to repair a Dyson ball vacuum in the US because it was at a flea market for like ten dollars. Fun project, thought I.

NOPE
after watching some YouTube repair guys the problems piled up - they make deliberately proprietary bits that are very hard to take apart without damaging, you need special tools (had to buy a set of weird screwdrivers specially) and it's not intuitively designed in any way.

Would never ever get one new. Mainly because the guy sucks but so does a lot of the tech.

Ended up giving it away for someone else to get parts from.
#rightToRepair

Show threadAndreas KApr 23
@noodlemaz
The guy is a bit an early British Musk. Managed to get himself tagged as a genius with clever marketing.
@stuartb @woe2you @CppGuy @MarkHoltom
Show threadwoe2you
@yacc143 @noodlemaz @stuartb @CppGuy @MarkHoltom ...but really it was a load of balls.
Apr 23 at 7:35pmWeb
Show threadAndreas KApr 23

@woe2you
Well, I don't consider Musk a genius either, perhaps a genius conman.

Getting away for years with promising vaporware and not delivering it.
@noodlemaz @stuartb @CppGuy @MarkHoltom