6 ms·
Permit me to disagree with about all of your conclusions here. First of all, the cassettes are returnable. This is also mentioned on their website. * https://d
by beirut_bootleg 3y ago
Permit me to disagree with about all of your conclusions here.
First of all, the cassettes are returnable. This is also mentioned on their website. * https://daan.tech/discover-bob-cassette/ https://daan.tech/discover-bob-cassette/
> Each Bob cassette is returnable and reusable. We refill them and put them back on the market. Close the loop, lower your carbon footprint.
You're also NOT required to use the cassettes. You can just throw standard dishwasher tablets in. This is mentioned in Bob's manual, and probably on the website as well. I've been doing this for years and had no issue. There is no DRM-like aspect to Bob.
And finally, it's not a worse washing machine as you say, it's just smaller and more flexible (wrt plumbing), and as Techmoan mentions in his intro, this is a very strong advantage of Bob for people living in small European apartments.
(source: owner of Bob)
- ShamelessC 3y agoPretty sure he addresses every one of your criticisms.
- puzzlingcaptcha 3y agoWhat's the carbon footprint of transporting the empty cassettes back for refilling? What percentage of Bob's customers bother to do that?
- pyrale 3y ago> What percentage of Bob's customers bother to do that? Would these people use a cleaner solution anyway? I mean, you can say that of any refilling system, if people don't use it.
- bzzzt 3y agoIt's more difficult if you have lots of special containers (in this case with integrated electronics) that can only be sent back to a specific shop. My dishwasher uses detergent powder which comes in simple plastic containers that can be dealt with via regular plastic waste collection.
- gjvc 3y ago[flagged]
- zachallaun 3y agoI read this as "owner of _a_ Bob", as opposed to the owner of the actual company.
- beirut_bootleg 3y agoI can see now how that line can give the wrong impression. My unit is very dear to me, to the point where I call it by name like any other housemate. It's always "honey, I'll give Bob a go at these dishes". I guess I was expecting constructive discourse on HN without having to dodge knee-jerk comments at every step.
- mellutussa 3y ago> cassettes are returnable Of the fraction that gets returned, how many are actually reused? It's black plastic with a shine to it and it'll show scratches easily. Does the factory even have the facilities to clean them out and refurbish them for next use?
- steezeburger 3y agoYes, tfa shows an excerpt from Bob saying they have the facilities to clean and reuse the cartridges.
- mellutussa 3y agotfa?
- chihuahua 3y agoIt's any acronym that's often used when someone wants to point out that a question could have been answered by reading the fine article that is being discussed. TFA = The F'ing Article.
- ahartmetz 3y agoThe f...ine article I think the abbreviation was (and probably still is) popular on Slashdot
- drewzero1 3y agoOr, more kindly, the featured article.
- callalex 3y agoOthers have explained, but here is the history: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTFM https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTFM
- ljm 3y agoI got one because it's the only mini dishwasher that can fit in my kitchen. The cassettes don't clean that thoroughly compared to normal dishwasher tabs, so I just use those instead.
- avery17 3y agoNj recently banned single use plastic bags. Now instead of people actually reusing the reusable bags forever they just throw them out almost every time. Everyone who buys this machine is not going to go out of their way to return the casettes. America is obsessed with convenience and will continute throwing out perfectly reusable things until we have a massive cultural shift.
- nextlevelwizard 3y agoWhole point of convenience stores is to be convenient. Carrying a big ass bag with me for the off chance I go to the store is just silly.
- _chu1 3y agoWe keep reusable bags in the car for every time we go to the grocery store. I think the entire country would only benefit from banning single-use plastic bags nationally, and I'm not sure how you could have an issue with that.
- wrigby 3y agoI mostly agree, but here in NYC I don’t have a car to keep the bags in. If I stop at the grocery store on my way home from work, I either have to have planned ahead and put a reusable bag in my work backpack, or I have to buy more reusable bags (which eventually get tossed because we have too many of them). It’s definitely better to have the bag with me, and just typing this out made me realize I can keep one or two in my backpack at all times.
- deinonychus 3y agoI personally keep in my daily backpack a reusable Baggu that packs down nicely and doesn’t take up much space. As long as you have a daily bag/purse/whatever and you’re not strapped for space, it’s pretty easily solved, yeah. I live in not-NYC so I also keep a bag in the car. I have some sympathy if you find yourself on a weekend out and about and needing to spontaneously buy some victuals and don’t have any bag on you - but that’s the cost of us having less litter.
- xg15 3y ago> Each Bob cassette is returnable and reusable. Yes, in theory, which requires from you the effort of packaging it up, paying postage, plan time to go to the post office, etc - or you could just throw it in the trash for exactly the same visible effect and be done with it. Even if people want to mail them back, this sounds like exactly the kind of task that will perpetually stay on the "I'll look into that when I have time" list, until they finally just want to get rid of it and throw it in the trash. But it's good for shifting the blame, because then the pollution is not DaanTech's fault but those of individual consumers. > You're also NOT required to use the cassettes. You can just throw standard dishwasher tablets in. Doesn't this contradict what the article was saying? At least there was a quote from DaanTech somewhere that you have to have a cassette inserted to start a wash.
- sparsely 3y agoYou need a cassette inserted, but it can be empty.
- willcipriano 3y agoEven if they ship it back, i'd really doubt the environmental impact of shipping something halfway across the country is less than a few gallons of water per dishwasher load.
- pests 3y agoEh, shipping is extremely cheap. Might want to double check those assumptions.
- bardan 3y agoIt would be nice if companies like this gave a significant benefit for returning cartridges, especially given the enormous markup on the detergent. 25 or even 50 percent off if you send your empty cartridges back. They would still extract the absurd full price from the lazy.
- sleepybrett 3y agoHow much fuel needs t be burned to ship these cassettes each way?
- fennecbutt 3y agoWhy do you think it's more ecologically sustainable to deliver these cartridges to consumers and then have them be sent back, meaning an extra trip? It is more eco friendly to have them be put out with the recycling and use a readily recycled plastic. Beyond that it is far more friendly to just let the consumer use regular detergent from a bulk bottle that can be bought anywhere.