Caltrops - Tansin A. Darcos's Alter Ego

Forum Overview :: Tansin A. Darcos's Alter Ego

by Tansin A. Darcos 08/16/2022, 12:03am PDT

Do better, Commander wrote:

Specifically, the focus on United States-dollar pricing at IKEA both implies a US-centric focus, and explicitly excludes the rest of the clock-buying and clock-using world.

This is why I post comments, to encourage discussion and perhaps find where other people, who might have vastly different experience and environment, either concur or disagree. The whole point in posting an opinion is to expose my point of view and allow others to point out good (and bad) points.

Do better, Commander wrote:

As an obvious example, we see on the site for IKEA's Wembley, UK location, several analog clock options ranging (for wall clocks, as a starting point) from £2.50 through £15-22 (the weighted average) up to a staggering £55 for a clock that, not surprisingly, is noted as being "last chance to buy," i.e. obviously not a seller.

There is a sliding scale on pricing of anything, and price is in part an estimate on demand. A clock might cost more than £2.50 but be sold for that price as it is a "loss leader" used to drive traffic to the store. Or it might be that certain products are priced more because they are more expensive, and some because the expected demand curve says that is a reasonable price + profit, while another is priced with a smaller markup because it will sell a lot more. It can also be a "snobbishness" factor, someone might tell people how they bought an expensive clock because they always wanted one like that. Or they believe it is (or is perceived to be) higher quality.

I mean, before cell phones (and pagers), people bought wristwatches as a means to tell time, and sometimes as a status symbol. The quintessential "well-dressed man" is wearing a good quality, blue three-piece suit, tie with Windsor knot, and a railroad watch hooked on them and carried in the watch pocket. Or a wristwatch that costs as much as a used car. (Of course, some people buy >$1,000 watches as investment items.)

Do better, Commander wrote:

The British have a long and storied history with their clocks, almost a love affair, and you should have taken this into account in your discussion, and not diverged so rapidly into a segue on slide rules. (Which IKEA does not, I might add, sell.)

Well, as I pointed out, nobody sells slide rules any more. If you need one, you probably end up buying one for $900 that 25 years ago cost less than $10. I suspect the ones I see for sale on eBay are probably used ones made over 20 years ago.

The comment on slide rules was for comparison and contrast. There are a lot of things we have discarded because the new thing was better and cheaper than the old. Rotary-dial telephones vs. touch-tone. Fountain pens vs. ball point. The ability to read slide rules was an extremely common skill for any well-trained engineering or professional involved in calculating numbers. Today, virtually no one learns how to use them.

Do better, Commander wrote:

Would the British ever agree to a digital clock on Big Ben? Would that beloved landmark still bong out the hours?

Big Ben is both a landmark and a timepiece, it serves as a symbol of Britain and a callback to a simpler time.

Do better, Commander wrote:

I would appreciate a discussion on these points, perhaps backed up by interviews with actual British people, and even going further afield to the clock-related activities of the unwashed French. Thanks in advance.

That's a huge increase in scope for a small statement of opinion. After all, I'm not trying to write articles to sell to magazines, just a comment about something as I see it.