On Sunday 19 Jul 2009, Philip Stubbs wrote:
<snip>
>
> An example. Vacuum cleaners used to be rated only in watts. If you
> wanted a vacuum cleaner with lots of suck, you bought one that
> consumed the most watts. However, the way the watts are calculated
> were standardized. Run the vacuum in free air for one minute. Run the
> vacuum with its inlet blocked for one minute. Average watts consumed
> is then the rating. Marketing then say to the engineers, we need more
> watts. Well the vacuum consumes less power when the inlet is blocked,
> so the engineers introduce leaks into the design, so that when the
> inlet is blocked, the pump is still shifting air and doing work,
> keeping the power consumption up. Never mind that the vacuum
> performance is compromised.
>
> The end result is I no longer have much faith in the numbers on the
> box. The more colours, pictures and words on the box means more input
> from marketing, and the greater the pinch of salt needed. :-)
Having worked in marketing for a year once upon a time, I'd say that you are
actually being generous...
That's not to say that you can cleverly market something that is well built
but all too often clever marketing is used as a substitute for a well designed
and built product...
--
Adam Trickett
Overton, HANTS, UK
Yes, I'm bitter and cynical. That does not make me wrong.
-- anon
