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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.
God I hate razor blade ads. Why do Gilette et al always use an actor who's clearly been clean shaven before they do the shot where he pulls the blade from his ear to his chin in one fell swoop. It's hardly a ringing endorsement of their product if they won't show someone with a day or two's worth of stubble doing the same thing.
Here's my favourite parody of the gilette ads:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd6BjAj9Zag
If it's too difficult, I can't understand it !
640k blades
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
Sounds a bit like the "Holey Wars" I once heard of. A quick check of Wikipedia and Google didn't turn it up. The idea is that the first steam irons for homes had one hole in them. Some other manufacturer topped this with 2, then 3, etc. This continued until we ended up with irons with tons of holes like we have today.
And that was the Holey Wars.
Now at 5 the blade density is already getting up there so I'm not quite sure how much higher they can go (without pointless tricks like splitting the blades in half and calling it "10 bladed").
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
It's all well and good to go nuts over more blades in a razor, but nobody ever mentions the other side of the equation. I once bought a pack of shavers at the dollar store that somehow left me with the same amount of stubble, but a lot less face.
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
Forget the 14-blade razor in the year 2100. We have a 15 blade one now.
Respect the laws of physics, for the laws of physics have no respect for you.
I used to use multi-blade expensive razors, but I got tired of spending 15 bucks every time I needed new blades. Now I use cheap twin-blade disposables, and it's fine. Unless you have hair like a yeti, you don't need that many blades. And actually, it seemed to me that I actually got a WORSE shave using the Gillette Mach 3 than I did with a cheap disposable two-blade razor. I don't know if it's because the blades are closer together or what, but I found when I hadn't shaved for a while I had to actually go over some parts of my face multiple times with the Mach 3 that I only had to go over once with the cheap disposable.
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 remember reading this article back in MARCH. Seven months is a little long, even by Slashdot standards.
You're new around here aren't you?
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
I don't like those multi bladed razors. You're more likely to get Pseudofolliculitos barbae(razor bumps) from using them. Running 5 blades over every part of your beard causes it to be very cleanly shaven(duh) and more likely to be cut so low that razor bumps occur. This reminds of this comic strip: http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/1186.html
The only reason they need the silly sixth blade for those "tricky areas" is because with five blades, the head of the razor is so freaking big you can't use it the way you'd use a Mach 3, which works just fine for the same areas without needing the "special blade". Classic case of creating additional problems by "innovating" requiring an even more complex solution.
Oh, and don't shave unless you're wearing slippers. Drop your Fusion, and that sixth blade can do one heck of a number on one of your toes (ouch).
Never look down your nose at others. Someday, someone is bound to see your boogers.
The best thing I've found for shaving is to get a small bottle of olive oil, and mix in a some tea-tree oil. Probably best if you shave in, or during your shower. It's a close shave, it's natural, the tea-tree oil is good for your skin and you don't get foam up your nose.
I did need a new razor recently, so I went for the 5/6 bladed Gillette Fusion as it was on offer. That, with its odd vibrate feature, and my olive oil mix does make for a very pleasant shave in the morning.
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.
to get you to buy more blades than you really need.
Just like SUVs are a scam to get you to pay for the equivalent of two cars when you only need one.
I remember when people had one blade with two sides, and you could just replace the blade and not have to buy a whole new plastic razor. (before disposable razors) You realize that a pack of blades and a non-disposable razor fits in your luggage much better than a 5-pack of disposables. And when the razor gets dull you just flip it over and use the other side, then throw it away after that.
I prefer electrics, since I can shave but leave things stubbly. perpetually maintaining that "hasn't shaved in 2 days" look, plus you can get them with a beard trimmer which is nice. otherwise any old razor and some hot water does better than all the creams, gels, lubricated strips and polybladed devices.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
-Richard Stallman
I have a really thick beard growth and none of the multiple blade razors were doing it for me. I was having problems because the razors would blunt in the middle of shaving so I would have to use more than one and the results were bad. My flatmate told me what her dad used to use, a double edged safety razor. We picked up one from Boots and got some razors for it. I have never looked back since. Why have five, seven, twenty blades when they all suck and I can get a saftey razor for £5 and twenty blades for it for the same price? My shave is as good as you can get from a barber. There is the problem of storage if you have children but, otherwise, I do not look back.
... if you try too hard to use it in a complicated way, it just cuts your head off, and saves us from having to hear about it.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
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.)
I threw away my Gillette Mach 3 and bought a good old-fashioned safety razor which takes good old-fashioned double-edged razor blades. I pay less than 1/10th the prize for blades now, and they last just as long as the Mach 3 cartridges did. Reading the Shave My Face site helped me find the good stuff.
I have great respect for the late King Camp Gillette, who invented the cheap mass-produced double-edged razor blade, and no respect at all for the Gillette Company who seem to have turned into a marketing machine.
Ideally, I would shave with a straight razor, but I'm kinda scared...
Dumping cartridge razor was definitely one of the best decisions I ever took, though
Eat the rich.
Yea, but image a beowulf of those. You could shave your face, your ass, your balls, your back and your legs in half a second. Put a small motor and a AAA in the thing, make it look like a 1950s lawn mower. You can shave on the way to work, talk on your cell phone AND drink that mocha latte at the same time. Fuck, you could shave a rottweiler with that bad boy and he wouldn't know what hit him till he was balder than a baby's ass.
(Sorry, got caught up in the Onion article, and I *DO* work in marketing for a living...)
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
On triple M radio in Melbourne, Australia. The breakfast crew with their usual crap skits had one for the "NEW" 4 blade razor.
From the skit:
Announcer 1: The first blade cuts, The second blade trims, The third blade shaves...
Announcer 2: What does the fourth blade do?
Announcer 1: *thinks* It just sits there and rusts.
it is only after a long journey that you know the strength of the horse.
I'm 30 years old. I believe in taking care of myself, and a balanced diet and a rigorous exercise routine. In the morning, if my face is a little puffy, I'll put on an ice pack while doing my stomach crunches. I can do a thousand now. After I remove the ice pack, I use a deep pore cleanser lotion. In the shower, I use a water activated gel cleanser. Then a honey almond body scrub. And on the face, an ex foliating gel scrub. Then apply an herb mint facial mask, which I leave on for 10 minutes while I prepare the rest of my routine. I always use an aftershave lotion with little or no alcohol, because alcohol dries your face out and makes you look older. Then moisturizer, then an anti-aging eye balm followed by a final moisturizing protective lotion. There is an idea of a Rude Turnip, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me. Only an entity, something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our life styles are probably comparable, I simply am not there.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
to go to a fun party and pick you up some "intimiate shave lotion". places like pure romance or passion parties sell it, it's for women to shave their junk. i use it to shave my face and it's the best. it's sort of scented, so you end up smelling like shaved pussy, and there are worse things to smell like :-)
sarcasm:
-noun
1. harsh or bitter derision or irony.
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!"
Since the day I realized girls aren't all that into limp teenage stubble, I've used a certain 3-bladed razor whose name I won't mention because they're not paying me to do so and I don't give out freebies.
It's always seemed sufficient, but I've never been happy with the red irritation that seems to perpetually inhabit my neckal region.
I stumbled across this article a while back, which convinced me that razor technology has been pointlessly nursing a fatal blunder made 50 years ago rather than admitting defeat and going back to the way it used to be.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6886845/
On the other hand, you might just view disposables as a parallel market - one for people who value a few extra minutes of their time high above comfort, psychological satisfaction, and a smooth babyface.
I, for one, intend to invest in a nice quality old-school shaving kit very soon rather than pay the 3-blade racketeers their outrageous replacement fees any longer.
You can run but you can't hide, except, apparently, along the Afghan-Pakistani border.
It's getting so the only reason I shave anymore is to get the cuts, and then dash some lemon juice mixed with rubbing alcohol on there. That fucking burn will wake you up a lot faster than coffee. Plus, the endorphins released when you realize you haven't lopped off an entire lip, or that your head hasn't entirely been eaten half away are SOOOO GOOOOOOD.
Mach 20: Close To The Bone.
Ask the guy further up the thread, his face smells like pussy.
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
Skin care tips for tasteful men
I have made many many experiments with shaving over the years, and tried many many ways of removing the hair from my face. I have a very very heavy beard growth, almost up to my eye sockets, and right down into my chest hair. I had bad acne as a teenager, and adopted a foil electric shaver, a Braun thing which went fine for a few years.
It wasn't until I discovered that blade shaving was actually better for my acne than an electric shaver that I began experimenting. I will describe my shaving process, because I believe it is superior to all other methods.
Firstly, I shave in the shower, and this saves having to clean up any mess. If you have a female partner, then it;s likely she insists you spend more time cleaning up after yourself than the time you spend actually shaving.
The process is this:
1) In shower, first thing, wash face with soap and water. A face cloth helps to generate enough friction to properly clean behind ears (big place for blackheads) and alongside the nose (another blackhead area) and to ensure that eye sockets and forehead and properly cleaned.
2) Wash rest of body.
3) Wash hair.
4) Rub soap directly on face and then lather some in my hands. Rub soap into a thin lather across the face, neck and cheeks.
5) Using Gilette M3 Power, shave with AND against the grain of the hair. Clean up any remaining bristles so none can be felt with the hands against the skin. (I mean NONE!)
6) Rinse WELL. Rinse hair again.
7) Exit shower. Dry face, body and hair.
8) Dispense pure cold tap water into clean basin. Splash pure cold water on face. This closes the pores.
9) Put on Nivea face firming moisturizer, liberally, all over face, including areas not shaven.
10) Place a little aftershave in the nape of the neck - NEVER on the shaved skin.
There you go - you now have a perfect shave, and you're skin is smooth, moisturised and you feel and look great.
I have evaluated different razors very methodically, and can confidently assert the following:
Gilette M3 Power with the Green Blade is the finest razor and blade combination in the world today, bar none. However it is NOT a razor for beginners, and neither is it a razor for those with acne, or other facial blemishes, dips, or risers. The M3 Power requires quite some skill to use correctly, particularly for the first shave when the blade is brand new. (On my heavy growth, I take 10 days of shaving before I replace the blade).
For those people who are less proficient (or simply can't be bothered concentrating that hard) or those who do no thave very smooth faces, I recommend the quadruple bladed Schick Quattro, with the hair-like wires over the blade. Even when brand new, they are extremely unlikely to cut you, even with ham-fisted use on a nobbly face.
HOWEVER, the Quattro requires more strokes to remove the same amount of hair as the M3, and the cutting angles are more critical than the M3.
After 30 years of blade shaving, I can tell you that my system is perfect for ME - but it may not be perfect for YOU. What I can say is that there are several things which absolutely must be true in order to have a goo dshave, and to avoid rashes, pain, blood etc.
1) ALWAYS shave after a shower.
2) ALWAYS wash your face thoroughly BEFORE preparing to shave.
3) When the blade fills, make sure it is COMPLETELY clean and empty before starting more strokes. Wash blade in fast running water, not a basin.
4) ALWAYS rinse well after shaving.
5) ALWAYS use a moisturiser after shaving. Non fragranced is best.
6) NEVER apply aftershave or eau de toilette to shaved areas.
7) Battery operated vabrating razors are a MUST HAVE.
In summation, yep - I agree, razors are going to continue to develop, and the best razors genuinely ARE a quantuum leap ahead of el cheapo rubbish. The TCO of owning the latest and greatest razors is only marginally higher than cheap razors: you use less strokes, so the blades last longer.
I dispute that
How many escape pods are there? "NONE,SIR!" You counted them? "TWICE, SIR!"
I've been shaving with a 1930's Gillette safety razor for the last 5 years now. I have spent 10 dollars on blades during this time, and have used about 40% of them. They stay sharp a very long time. I've recently in the past month, switched to a straight razor, and find it wonderful. Oddly enough, when you leave the bathroom after your morning shave, you have a feeling of adrenaline and satisfaction, of which I can only imagine comes from the realization that you haven't just taken your head clean off.
Does this mean that men with bald heads are appealing to women who want to have sex with babies?
Does this same argument apply to a woman shaving her legs? Women don't get fuzzy legs until a certain age.
Should I stop shaving my face so that I don't attract these sicko women who want someone who looks like a more like a child?
Where does this argument stop? Why does it fucking matter?
I think they are over complicating things. Instead of applying Moore's Law, why not Occam's Razor?