Why my Dad went through 24 TVs in 2 years | Hacker News Reader

Why my Dad went through 24 TVs in 2 years

krmmalik.posterous.com

56 pointskrmmalik28 comments

I wonder if this might be a paradox of choice phenomenon as much as it is a feeling-at-home phenomenon. In the store, people are confronted with 20 choices, with a variety of technical numbers that sound important and little obvious visual difference among the sets. They might feel compelled to do more research to make the right choice, or not want to choose at all. In the home, they only have to choose between "This is an experience I would pay for" and "I'd prefer to keep my money."

I think it's exactly that. I just bought a TV, and being a technical guy it was an incredibly difficult decision.

120hz or 240? LED or standard back-light? Is a name-brand REALLY better than a vizio?

The thing is, the difference between the low-end and the high-end isn't nearly as pronounced as it used to be. When it came down to it I was only sure that I didn't want a 60hz TV.

I literally waffled between three different sets before I sort of blindly chose one. I love my choice (a lower-end Sony Bravia that was deeply discounted), but it was still way more difficult than it should have been.

There is something about staring at 50 TV's on a wall and trying to choose the 'best' one for you that is almost paralyzing.

I effectively solved this (and many similar problems) by moving in with my girlfriend, who is an architect. I made a list of all the TVs that had the specs I wanted, she made a list of all the TVs that lived up to her aesthetic standards. We then bought the only TV that appeared on both of our lists.

edit: Or to put slightly more seriously. I've found that it is much easier to narrow down my choices in cases like this if I make an effort to look beyond the spec sheets and focus on more fluffy aspects like, aesthetic appeal, design and how it will look together with the rest of my furniture

Yes, that is it. That is exactly what was going on. You hit the nail on the head.

So to sell more TVs have less choice?

Pretty much!

Yet all the major retailers have a store with dozens of different sets to choose from?!

My parents went through 2 televisions in 24 years.

Their first television purchase as a couple was debated so long that they ended up getting one from a rent-to-own place to 'tide them over' -- which became their first television when they realized there were no more payments left! 15 years later they managed to only take a few months to decide since they wanted to be able to fully use the Cable they had just bought.

The debate over a potential third television a few years ago led to their divorce. Really.

I have a member of an extended family that is like that. So sad. I feel for you.

If I were to setup a tv/boutique best buy type shop I would set it up with at on of couches, free food, and HTPCs. People could come in whenever they liked and enjoy themselves. Sort of like that friend whose door is always open. If they wanted to buy something, they would know where the sales reps were.

I work for Best Buy and I believe some of that's been tried probably not to the degree to make it comfortable enough...

My thought after reading this was how do we enable his Dad to sell a new one out store stock (maybe via mobile device) and get some sort of affiliate pay thus decentralizing the whole concept... seems very possible by APIs Best Buy can create only a need to make it easier to use in any living room by anyone.

I'm going to jump to a conclusion here. Something that krmmalik's dad could do, that most of us couldn't, would be say "Why don't you take it home with you" since he sells TVs for income. Passively making everyone a salesperson is an interesting concept, but it doesn't satisfy the "here and now" of buying and taking something home.

Actually, he started doing that recently. He let people trial the TV before they decided whether they want to commit to a purchase or not.

The only downside (since he has only 2 staff) is alot of backwards and forwards in terms of delivering the TVs and keeping tabs on who owes what. But it DOES work

Hey, thats a very smart idea. I might just get my dad to think about this! Thanks!!

A bit like Branson did with this first record store? Great concept then, and great concept now i guess ;-)

Pasting just the good part:

* Samsung, by far has the greatest variation in terms of quality between its range of models.

* Sony TVs are artificially expensive

* Plasma TVs are ridiculously high on power consumption

* Panasonic (for me) still has the best Auto Setup and Menu Interface

* Panasonics, on the whole have the better sound quality

* Backlit LED is better than EdgeLit LED

* Samsung is most generous with its feature set

* Your choice in Manufacturer brand of TV has a real effect on what people think of you

* Manufacturers tend to (generally) optimise one type of external interface more than the other. Eg. HDMI better tuned than Component output. This is down to the way they manufacturer the circuitry, and not necessarily due to the type of technology itself

I found the first part to be the `good part'. I like observations about psychology and selling, but I do not care too much about TV.

I did have more observations, but i didnt want to bore people.

Thanks Eru. I had in fact written it for the purpose you mention. That was my interest in all of this, but then people took from the tech side too, so thats great as well ;-)

Yes, one article can serve two purposes.

This reminds me of the good ol' tupper party in several ways:

- all aspects of the product are explained in detail by a competent person,

- product recommendation comes from someone you trust personally,

- explanation and recommendation are based on demonstrable personal experience using the product.

While this seems to be an excellent approach to uncertainty reduction in the sales process, I'm not sure how that scales as a business. You can't make a living selling one TV set a month (or a week, for that matter).

I agree, but perhaps there is a way of extracting the influential triggers and replicating them in a scalable way? I dno.

>Plasma TVs are ridiculously high on power consumption

This seems to be an urban myth. Cnet's test (link below) show that for a 42" TV, the yearly cost is roughly:

  LCD $25 - $40
  Plasma $40 - $50

Fractionally more power consumption, not ridiculous.

Assumes $0.11/kWh, on for 5hrs/day. Ranges eyeballed by me. See full data here: http://reviews.cnet.com/green-tech/tv-consumption-chart/

Maybe his results are skewed because they spent more time watching the Plasma TV.

Good point ;-) I'll keep this in mind for my own future purchases. Thanks!

If you're really into something, going into business selling that thing seems like a good deal. I know a reputable used car dealer in my hometown--he and his family go through cars at a pretty fast rate, too. They just keep the dealer plates on them and use them until they can get another one wholesale and sell the old one. I don't know if he's made any sales that way, though.

I think the real reason it was easier to sell these TVs from his home is that the HDTV market is so confusing right now to the average end-user that they just want an informed person to give them an honest "this is what you should buy". Who is more qualified than a TV salesman to make this recommendation and when is he more honest than when he's selling to himself?

Right. Absolutely. Thats essentially what i was observing.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com