Spotted this the other day and got a pair for the kids - at the time they were literally £30.
What an amazing pretty loud fair quality Bluetooth speaker for £30, it’s a bottle of wine or two that’s all.
Rechargeable, easy to connect to and great as a portable speaker, I’m frankly gobsmacked at what £30 can buy.
Sometimes it’s nice to get a bit of perspective.
Have just enjoyed playing several albums including artists such as London Grammar, Kacey Musgraves, Thomas Dolby and a Bernstrein Mahler 2 to this whilst cooking on the BBQ - sounded just fine and actually superb for the cost.
Maybe it’s a bargain or maybe it just shows what mass production and slave labour wages can deliver in our modern world. You can get a microwave for £40 that’s larger and heavier, so it’s probably not surprising. You can pay 20p for a mass produced fork, or £20 for something made in Sheffield by people paid properly and working in safe conditions.
A very good point HH, at £30 these are disposable goods which isn’t good but I’d expect them to last for a few years at least.
Suspect I’m just trying to point out on a forum that is aimed at items 99%+ of the UK public would not aspire to that we might occasionally look in the opposite direction where bang for buck is a very good proposition.
I’m sure as hell not going to pay £20 for a fork made in Sheffield.
I have no problem at all with mass production, the cheaper the better, if the quality is decent ofcourse.
As long as we can move away from manual labour to automated production and tax those robots properly to provide everyone with a universal basic income.
It’s win-win really.
And those who still want to buy boutique forks, well they can ofcourse.
The result of that is that we want more. And it not only the labour what counts, there are also materials needed. Now, a fork is not such a problem since iron can be found almost everywhere. These IoT devices are a bigger problem since rare materials are needed and still children need to go into cobalt mines etc. it jot out problem anymore, we only have to finger-point to Asia.
Oh, try Mauviel pans. It has made my life much more convenient and sustainable since energy is spread better across the surface.
I would certainly buy Wilson Benesch Audio (made in Sheffield) but would I spend £20 ,000 for HiFi made in Salisbury - over the years I am pretty sure I have.
Are you sure that said fork is actually manufactured in Sheffield? My ex MiL used to work as PA to the boss at Viners, this was back in the very late 70’s. My recollections may be a bit hazy now but cutlery was being manufactured elsewhere in the world and simply ‘boxed’ in the UK.
I can see the appeal of some bargains but do wonder if some people often buy things just because they are a bargain rather than needing or wanting the item. How many people have unused or nearly unused items in cupboards, attics etc? I know in the past I have.
I like to think these days, I am more considered and the bargains I go for are things I have wanted a while or need. A couple of years ago I got my washing machine when the other died a noisy death at a big discount because it was last year’s model.
No doubt it is but the battery will be dead in 2 years, what are you gonna do with it?
I also have one (it was a present) but i would never buy one knowing that. Manufactures should be forced to take these things back when their life is over and recycle them properly.
Compared to that a UK made Minirig with replaceable battery is a bargain.
I’m not sure it works that way; i only need 4 forks after all, if they become cheaper i’m not going to buy 8 just because they’re more affordable.
Yes but this is similar for an electronic device made in China or in the UK, they both need the same materials. Rare earth materials are mostly excavated in China, so they would need to be transported to the UK first to be used in production.
