There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
As to your opinion about the purpose of this website, I only agree a little. Yes, sometimes we can find interesting shit to buy here, and sometimes the prices are good (and, as a side note my watchers will appreciate, I have always found the service here to be especially good). However, those are all self-serving ways to look at MD. I'm more interested in the place as a Science Project: a laboratory with interesting experiments and studies going on daily in Economics, Marketing, Sociology, Psychology, and of course the whole social networking thing.
Using the comb above as an example, isn't it interesting that one group can convince another group, to pay $10 for something the first group probably doesn't need (are there actually any adults who don't already own a comb or brush?), and if they did need one, they could certainly find one cheaper and faster locally. So what's really going on here? Take the whole folksy Made in the USA by struggling entrepreneurs with altruistic intents to do for Chicago and combs, what Detroit did for the automobile. It's total bull shit of course--of the two guys involved, one was a fat-cat lawyer and the other a product manager who'd already been making a very good living hocking who-knows-what on line, for many years. The purpose of the Chicago Comb company is to make them both a boat-load of money so they can buy big houses, drive around in expensive cars and send their kids to Ivy League schools . The purpose of this site is to make MD a boat-load of money, so they can do the same damn thing--nobody gives a damn about combs--they're just "product"--units to be moved--could be any damn thing (and around here, it usually is). The trick is to make you think it's something that it's not--it's not the comb you already have, or a comb you haven't been using since grade school, this comb is...(fill in the blank) and that blank is the the marketing hype that compels someone to buy something they don't really need.
The two upper-income types hocking these combs today, could just as easily form the "Toledo Toilet Seat Company" tomorrow, and pitch a compelling story about two guys who wanted to build an honest toilet seat, made the way they used to be made--by skilled, American toilet seat craftsman, one toilet seat at a time--and you'd buy one! Or at least as many dopes who buy combs they probably don't need, each year, would--and none of them would be buying one, because they didn't already have one, extant!
And of course MD would be only to happy to assist--with a new Bathroom Community where we could all vote our preferences for Artisan-made toilet paper, and Carbon Fiber toilet scrubbers. Meanwhile, there will sure as shit be six or seven-hundred comments in the discussion section extolling the virtues of these cool MD Txx Toilet Seats, and an equal number of folks asking dumb-ass questions about how they work, and how they feel ("will this seat fit my toilet"), etc.., etc.. Tell me that would not be the case! And oh, by the way, the Txx seats will cost about $11 to make and will sell on MD for $79.99, and the drop will be limmited to only 9,000 units, and I forgot to mention, that price is only for the base-modle (it's twenty-five bucks extra for the cool one with anodized titanium lug nuts), and you have to wait 120 days before they ship--and you'd still buy one! Or at all the dopes who voted on the Artisan toilet paper poll will.
You can't tell me there's anything half as interesting on TV these days ;- )
2. I can understand how that might have been misinterpreted as an insult and that was on me. It was very clear that you were having fun.
3. That was a very thoughtful response, and I thank you for that, even though you didn't need to go above and beyond for little old me. (I'll probably type something as a response to that directly, but that's only if you want me to ;p )
And, of course, you're always invited!
Your problem with MD is not the service, but some of the products featured on here, along with the advertising. I honestly just saw carbon fiber/comb, and I knew that I wanted a comb of my own and I'm on a spending binge right now, so it didn't matter that it was 10$ (not dating right now, so I have some spare cash to spend). Now re-reading the description, I do agree that it is a little over the top for what it is, and as someone working for a green conglomerate (let's call it shrekbucks for teh lulz,) I see that same thing. People coming in every day to buy an overpriced product.
Now onto the next point, people filling their pockets. If it's pity on us, you can probably let that go because unnecessary products like these have existed for far too long (looking at you cilantro, you taste like soap). I might be a pessimist because right now I honestly don't care if I or other people get scammed, but I guess I'm also optimistic because this (hopefully) honest company is able to provide for their families without sacrificing on quality as human beings. (Is that hypocritical? YES). I don't see what they're doing as something too devious, so getting money for an overhyped product is just fine if it means it feeds a family haha.
Now to beat a dead horse to the ground, it's 10$. Nothing earthshaking. Why is that important? Because this is the first time I'm ordering from MD. Sure you might say the people here are great, but I want to experience that for myself. So before I dive into the more bougie products, I might as well take a risk with a small purchase. I did the same thing with the big A and an international food shipper, not because they are bad companies, but because I have a hard time trusting sellers until I make a transaction with them. So instead of putting money down on the FF/WE/MD Gent, I wanted to dip my toes in. But that is just me. Will I have bought this if I already made another purchase on another product? Probably not? Don't get me wrong, I want a comb that doesn't suck (too large for travel), but I've seen some pretty decent 'self-care' kits that include combs, so I might have paid for those instead (which they probably provide more utility than just a single comb for a similar price). I'm not upset at all about this product, but I am fully aware that I probably could've purchased something better, but the price doesn't make me mind it too much.
And lastly, I'm 22. There is plenty of time to make stupid mistakes and just enjoy life. I really haven't cared about hairstyles considering my parents pushed me towards buzz cuts for 17 years. So once I got to college, insert generic story here. Considering I always wanted to be considered a renaissance man, I want to explore every facet of humanity as possible. Also I think that I'm a little confused about your message, it seems a little oxymoronic (loving MD, but spending most of the message pointing out it's flaws?), but that's mostly because I have NO idea what you buy from here, or at least what your preferred products are. More of an explanation of what products to recommend, and not what products to avoid.
TLDR: 1. Marketing is always bloated compared to what it really is. 2. I don't mind that people are making a living off of chums I guess? This company isn't malicious towards anyone, so I don't mind it too much. But if I am proven wrong, then I'm proven wrong. 3. I'm using this purchase as a testbed for how MD works, but I personally go in knowing where I'm putting my money, even if it is unnecessary 4. I'm young, dumb, and just interested in what the world has to offer. What have you purchased from here? And how do you justify your purchases?
You seem like a bright guy, wise enough for your years, and not the gullible type. Testing the waters with a comb purchase isn't too daring, and probably won't break your student-level budget. When you say you don't know what to buy, you start making me a little more nervous though. If you don't know what to buy, you don't need to buy anything. That may sound obvious, but not where I've been!
My interests brought me here for the Audio equipment, and I can assure you: That way madness lies! I spent quite a bit of time reading through threads for those products and what I observed was nothing short of "mania"--young people hell-bent on buying stuff they had only the slimmest familiarity with, and all of them asking the same questions, getting the thinest of answers and then rushing to make purchase decisions based on what the kid above or below them had just said--and those were purchases in the hundreds of dollars range. It was also clear a lot of them were on pretty tight budgets. Some of these people were chasing sounds you can only read about, not actually hear. And mind you, lots of them were on their third or forth piece of the same type of equipment. I'm tell'n you the force was strong with that bunch. And that's kind of where I take some issue with MD, they are surely feeding pigeons/shooting fish in a barrel--drop after drop, day after day. There is a certain demographic that are like lambs to the slaughter when it come to this kind of stuff. and I believe there is a fine line between retailer and dealer, if you catch my drift.
So, buy your comb (good grooming is always a plus), make someone else only incrementally richer, finish school and stay away from the Audio Community and you'll be fine. Maybe you'll graduate and form the next hip, entrepreneurial web-based business and gobble up MD along with Google someday? And to think--it all will have started with a comb.
EDIT: If I will drop big bucks on headphones alone, I'll probably drop big bucks on a grade open back SR80e, and a sennheiser momentum for in the house, non-traveling-leisure-type listening (because that's such a common subgenera of headphones haha). But I'm pretty satisfied with my muddy bluetooth Sonys and my Jaybird X2's