I was eating some chocolate when I imagined a world where Hershey’s was widely accepted, even by elitists, as the best chocolate.
Is consumer elitism just a facade for pretentious contrarians? Or are there things where even most snobs agree with the masses?
Also, I mean that the product is intrinsically considered to be the best option. I’m not considering social products where the user network makes the experience.
Edit: I was not eating Hershey’s. Hershey’s being the best chocolate is a bizarro universe in this hypothetical.
Xerox.
Velcro.
And up until a few years ago, Google.
Case and Point: We call the non-brand versions of the products by the mainstream product name and not the object’s name. We ended up calling all copies “Xeroxes,” all hook & loops “Velcro,” and when we tell someone to search for it on the internet, we say “Google it.” Becsuse, for a time, these were the best versions of their class.
Cars.
The more boring, mass produced, commonly available, mass-purchased, bare bones bitch of a second-hand car will probably last the longest because of more spare parts available, cheaper labor and more reliable maintenance due to very common repair processes, and a crazy amount of information available online.
imagined a world where Hershey’s…as the best chocolate
Damn, that would be a sad world, I guess 75% of the chocolate companies must have got destroyed or something, cause Hershey’s taste like corn and it’s disgusting
Hershey’s chocolate has a vomit aftertaste. Lindt chocolate is so much better.
Leatherman plier-based multitools. They invented the category and they continue to be the top choice. You can get cheaper tools that are adequate, but Leatherman always has some of the best designs, reliably high quality, and outstanding support. I’m constantly trying new tools from all over, but I always end up carrying one Leatherman or another.
I’ve found Gerber to be a very close second. Depending on what you’re looking for in a multitool, I think some of their stuff is better.
Gerber has made some very good multitools. They have also introduced some significant design improvements over the years. Among other things, they were the first to build one (Legend) where the tools opened outward instead of inward, which seemed like an obvious improvement to me.
My only complaint is that Gerber’s quality has been inconsistent. During some periods they’ve put out cheaply made tools. During others they’ve produced tools that were the equal of anything else on the market.
That’s totally fair. I’m not super familiar with them myself, but some of my colleagues used to ravea about the brand. I also haven’t really carried a multitool for the better part of the last five years, since I changed careers and work in an office now lol.
I like their offset driver design and wish leatherman would come up with something similar- it sucks balls to drive a little screw with any of the leathermen I’ve owned.
Have you tried the multitool made by Victorinox?
Yes, I have both a SwissTool and a Spirit. They are excellent tools. I’ve carried them both at, at one time or another, but I keep going back to Leatherman after a while. I don’t think they are better or worse, it’s just a matter of what particular uses you have.
Food staples. I know cans are old technology, but they fucking work. They’ll last at least as long as they’ve been around, and depending on the item come surprisingly close in quality to the fresh or homemade item. Dried beans and pasta are also a great deal.
Camping supplies, especially backpacking gear (and especially ultralite gear).
But most of the top equipment brands have legitimate, no questions asked, lifetime warranties.
Also, camping stores. I’ll pay a bit extra to get my gear from REI because the employees will spend hours making sure you get a backpack or boots that fit you perfectly.
You can get similar stuff from no-name brands on Amazon, but it’s not going to be the same quality.
I’d say musical instruments.
Even an entry-level Fender Squier guitar is going to be more solid, easier to set up and keep in tune, and have better tone than an off brand instrument. Yamaha also makes beginner/student models for a large variety of instruments, all of which are designed to last for years.
I’m hard-pressed to think of any small brand that makes anything widely preferred over the recognizable ones.
Yamaha is amazing. I recently got into playing recorders and their base-level $8 plastic recorder is honestly a great instrument.
Lol recorders are the bane of parents with children in grade school across the US
(This is not a dig at you, I just think it’s funny bc I’ve never seen one outside the context of an elementary school music class)
No offense taken. They are an odd instrument that no one would know about if they weren’t forced on every elementary school music student. I seem to have missed that somehow, probably by changing schools at just the right point.
I like the sound, but I particularly like the sound of the lower-voiced recorders. I am mostly playing tenor and bass, which have lovely rich tones. My wife and a friend are both humoring me, so they’re playing soprano and alto with me. I’m not any good at it yet, but I am having a good time learning.
Definitely.
Cpu architecture. X86 is just a lot easier to deal with compared to risc-v arm, or Apple.
I’m hopeful it will change though, and I’m rooting for risc-v.
Really? I would have thought that by the easy-to-deal-with metric, anything RISC would win.
From a users perspective everything runs on x86.
Oh, I see.
If we’re referring to battery life x86 doesn’t win very often sadly. There’s a reason most handheld devices on earth use ARM.
It’s of course a bit fuzzy what The Best really means, but I’d say that toothpaste would be an excellent example, for I’ve never encountered anyone, be they laymen, dentists or health nuts, arguing that there is some other toothpaste that’s really better in any meaningful way than the offerings from the big best-selling mainstream brands.
Fun fact, aside from the fluoride, you actually don’t need a paste at all. Just the friction does the important part.
Just avoid the charcoal toothpastes and brushes. That’s a stupid trend of its own and you’ll do more damage to your teeth that way.
On the other hand, it doesn’t really matter. As long as it contains flourite, all toothpastes are fine.
Friendly correction for someone who frequently messes it up, it’s fluoride.
Also charcoal toothpaste should be avoided.
Out of curiosity, why?
I’ve always assumed it was some fad, but I never assumed it was harmful (maybe I’m just naive).
It’s harder than tooth enamel and can cause erosion.
Wait, what? They’re not putting diamonds in there. Charcoal is softer than graphite, which is a soft mineral to start with.
Probably soda. I think most people enjoy Coke/Pepsi and the other mainstream choices are usually considered superior to the small batch artisan stuff
I’ll allow that with a big asterisk, if you consider Mexican Coke as coke then yes, its one of the best sodas. If not, there are way better options.
Do they make chinotto? I have converted and can’t go back lmao
Yeah, that’s a good one. The alternative stuff that does get popular is usually intended to hit an entirely different market, rather than a higher-end market. Is it Ollie that’s the new hot thing? It’s being marketed as the “healthy option,” and not high-end soda.
I was thinking that the answers here are generally gonna be products that are cheap/synthetic by nature. High quality chocolate has to be high-quality-sourced. High quality soda with the particular flavor that people like exists to the extent that bubbly sugar water can be high-quality.
Good answer.
Bourbon - The little indy distillers just don’t have the ability to wait the 4 to 10 years for the bourbon to age.
Cling wrap, the store brand is absolute garbage. The cutting edge sucks and the wrap just tangles up in itself so easily.
Cling wrap, the store brand is absolute garbage
…unless that store is Costco.
Kirkland Signature cling wrap is the best. And the “Easy Cutter” is the best thing to ever happen to cling wrap.
Kirkland isn’t a typical store brand though, most offerings are just a repackaged name brand from what I understand
They actually do co-branding with some of their KS products. I had to go check and see if the cling wrap was co-branded with Reynolds but it wasn’t; I see in their app the aluminum foil is.
I’ve never seen their sliding “easy cutter” on any brand’s cling wrap before. It really is a game changer.
You got a point there. No Costco here, yet at least
Ugh, cling wrap makes me feel like I’m completely fucking up the planet. I hate using it.
Put a little water on the surface you want it to cling to.
Cadburys was before the it was bought out. Now its Lindt, for me.
Other than fizzy pop i wouldnt consider anything else to have a brand with superiority.
Old Cadbury’s was hands down the best.
If you can ever lay your hands on Aussie Cadburys, get some. B&M in the UK stocks it, and it’s lovely.
Seconding Lindt. It’s fantastic chocolate, hands down. Love those Lindt balls (sounds wrong, but I can’t think of the right term right now).
Lindor. Those things are top tier.
I’m genuinely having trouble thinking of a consumer product where the most widely sold brand or version is the “best” (highest quality, most durable, most features, best flavor, or whatever meteoric would be used).
I can think of a number of products where getting the “best” is a case of steep diminishing returns compared to the increasing price, and for the purposes of the “average” person the “best” product isn’t any better for them than the mainstream one. The “best” versions of some products are only better for those with the skills to make use of them or the need for the “best” quality or features.
