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Moore's Law For Razor Blades?
BartlebyScrivener writes "An article in The Economist examines Moore's Law as applied to razor blade technology: 'For the most cynical shavers, this evolution is mere marketing. Twin blades seemed plausible. Three were a bit unlikely. Four, ridiculous. And five seems beyond the pale. Few people, though, seem willing to bet that Gillette's five-bladed Fusion is the end of the road for razor-blade escalation. More blades may seem impossible for the moment — though strictly speaking the Fusion has six, because it has a single blade on its flip-side for tricky areas — but anyone of a gambling persuasion might want to examine the relationship between how many blades a razor has, and the date each new design was introduced'" I'm legally obligated to mention the Onion article that predicted this.
There was a Saturday Night Live "commercial" back in the seventies - "Track 3 - bacause you'll beleive anything".
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
Ok, first they made the vibrating razor. Apparently everything that vibrates is better (and I have to say, my toothbrush actually is), so I thought ... I'll try that.
... I see the extra blade thing, and think, "Now there's somthing that actually makes sense", so I get one (you can't use the old handles with the new blades, which is actually a new trick from them - usually you can just buy the new cartiridges).
It didn't make a noticable difference.
SO
Well, it sucks. Completely useless.
I can only imagine that the were afraid to sell an actual sharp blade that you might be capable of cutting yourself with given today's litigeous environment. It doesn't protrude far enough out of the cartirdge to be usefull.
- Roach
I'm pretty sure they use an actor who's clean shaven, probably with a straight razor, and holding a razor without any blades in it. With the number of takes they would do on a regular commercial shoot, the actor's face would get pretty raw if he was using real blades. I'd also like to point out that I don't have much trouble going from my ear to my chin in one fell swoop when I shave every day, and I have a pretty thick beard. With 2 or 3 days between shaves, it gets a little harder, but it's not that unbelievable.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
By best, I mean closest. And it's only a single blade! Plus, with a leather strop, it stays sharp for several months before being put on Japanese wet stone (or Arkansas oil stone) for sharpening. It also doesn't clog up. But the cons are initial expense (no recurring expenses, a blade can stay with you for life), it takes more time, and you can cut yourself bad (if you pay no attention), and just learning it. The other pros are less trash, it's gets really close, less razorburns (at least for me).
I mostly straight shave these days, have a disposable on hand when I need to it quick.
I have a course beard and a I found the twin bladed razors the best, the single bladed disposable usually are too stiff, and anything above >= 3 blades just clog up too easily as it is a tradeoff between blades and distance. I pretty much tried every disposable on the market before becoming a straight razor shaver. The old style (1900's) single blade gillettes (early metal with disposable blades) do a pretty good too, or something like the roll's razor.
A single/double blade can do the job properly just as easily. It depends more on the sharpness, hardness and the quality (edge retention) of the blade, the angle it attacks your beard than then the number of blades. All that is is marketing.
Shaving though is always going to be a pain. It's good for you because it exfoliates your face daily, reducing aging speed, though sometimes I wish I could afford lasering my beard off.
Let me add here my great contribution to science and simple living:
You don't need shaving cream to shave.
I once read an interview in the Wall Street Journal with a scientist from Gillette. He said that a razor blade can cut a wet beard much more easily than a dry beard. It takes a minute or two for your beard to be soaked through. The only purpose of shaving cream is to hold the water to wet your beard for a minute or two while the hairs gets saturated.
I thought, "When I step out of the shower in the morning, my beard is soaked. I should be able to shave without any shaving cream."
I tried it next morning, and I got the smoothest, cleanest shave I ever got in my life.
I haven't used shaving cream for 30 years.
(Conversely, if you just spread shaving cream on your face and don't give it a minute or two to wet your beard, you'll get a rough shave.)
http://www.classicshaving.com/Home.html
I've instructed the frau to get me a kit for the holidays.
It's in keeping with my bowties, manual transmission, KJV, and gentoo: gotta stay in character.
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
I couldn't agree more, although I find that shaving at the end of a shower (when the hair is softer) works best. Takes a bit of getting used to since you don't see yourself in the mirror (although you can use a shower mirror), but it's definitely worth it.
The biggest improvement I got in shaving was when I stopped using shaving cream (while using Mach 3), rather than getting a razor with more blades. I didn't think it would work, but it did.
I stopped using shaving cream when I was in the Army. I found the big thing was just to get hot water, maybe a hot washcloth, and use Ivory soap. Back when I started I used some shaving cream, but it was all a big waste of time. Saves a lot of money, too.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
I'm posting anonymously because I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to talk about this, but when I interned at a razor company, much of the research was for new materials, and none of the ones that I tried while I was there lasted through the equivalent of even 1 shave. The technology is nearing the physical limits of the materials. My take on the situation would be that since there are 2 big razor manufacturers in the US, they'll take any advantage they can get to gain a larger market share, no matter how small.
A lot of the 'shaving comfort' is anecdotal, too. I remember one test that I ran while I was there and I found that a certain coating significantly reduced the force required to cut a hair, so we produced a bunch of razors with that coating for a test. The testers are just people off the street, and in the double-blind trial of the new coating vs the traditional one, the testers overwhelmingly preferred the old coating. My point is basically that the best technical ideas don't necessarily produce the most consumer satisfaction, and maybe 6 or 10 blades will draw a larger market share.
- "Nobody came out that night, not one was ever seen. But Old Man Stauf is waiting there, crazy sick and mean!"
sounds like a fast trip to bad rashes to me.
seriously though, shaving cream is bloody awful, shaving oils (like somersets, or the king of shaves stuff) are absolutely fantastic, I'm still fond of the mach3 though, anything more just seems excessive, excessively overpriced too.
Or just maybe... some people would rather not have to floss hair out of their teeth day in and day out.
Seriously. I know this is Slashdot, but I know I'm not alone here on that.
... still waiting for this free-as-in-beer free beer I keep hearing about.
I find Gillette Blue II to be the cheapest "non-cut-your-face-off" razors. They do the job, and if you really want to, you can re-use them. I don't care so much about the price these days as when a broke student, so meh.
Sometimes the supermarket is badly stocked and I end up with the same thign but with tilting heads, or with a "balm strip". I don't like the latter as it makes a gooey mess over ones face when shaving and doesn't help avoiding slips.
Here in Ireland though, it is something like €6 for 10 Gillette Blue II razors.
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