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Comment by pbhjpbhj | Hacker News Reader

>Got the same amount we paid for them. I don't understand this world sometimes.

Someone wants ear buds, they want to signal wealth so choose expensive brand, but they want knockoffs because they're actually poor[er].

The main risk with knock-offs is they arrive broken, or just don't arrive, or... basically it's a scam of some sort.

So, you took on the risk of buying, assessed the earphones as working, the earphones are now probably worth more as they've been QC-ed (by you), moreover the buyer can actually see them working and refuse them if they wish.

Within the context the buyer seems relatively rational.

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>signal wealth

>$100 product

It really boggles my mind that this works on anyone. We all see the commercials for financing. We all see teenagers with no jobs having them.

I'm a bit mind boggled that Apple was able to turn <$1000 tech products into 'luxury' products. Maybe it makes more sense if you didn't get screwed by iTunes DRM and were more open minded during iphone Era.

When I lived in Vietnam, getting the latest iPhone (or really any product), as soon as someone smuggled it into the country (usually from Australia or Singapore), was a national pastime for people there. That logo is everywhere.

I concur. My mom sometimes talked about how her friends / coworkers just got the latest iPhone and that made her want to get one herself. I guess part of it is just FOMO but there's also something about the brand that drove people to do "unusual" things (like you said, smuggling phones from other countries just to be the first)

Where I grew up, $100 sneakers were a signal of wealth. Nothing new under the sun.

> It really boggles my mind that this works on anyone.

I’m wondering whether you have to live through in world of plenty during formative years before you have that realization.

The main risk is fire with the batteries.

The energy of such fire is directly correlated to the battery capacity - airpods would probably just get hot and smoke a bit. The case could do more, but still limited in comparison to, say, a phone.

So I'd say the main risk of putting those things in your ears is suffering the horrible audio quality.

Anything that has the potential to release hot gas and flames under pressure into your ears is a safety risk.

Sure, then don't use any earbuds that contain batteries.

We're dealing with tiny batteries in the 100mWh range here, which is less than 1/100th of phones famous for their... combustibility. Ejection of hot gas requires there to be quite a bit of energy present during the failure so that a certain extreme temperature can be reached. Below that, you'll just get a warm earbud.

> hot gas and flames

flames are hot gas

That's where the brand comes in: they're supposed to have something to lose.

And yes, flames are hot gas, but not all hot gas is flames.

> That's where the brand comes in: they're supposed to have something to lose.

Samsung is a huge brand, and had significant issues with battery fires. The bigger the brand, the less they lose because they swim in money and have specialists dedicated to PR damage control.

In fact, brands seem more likely to be the ones that manage to stuff more battery capacity in there, increasing risk and scope of damage.

Yes, huge brands have problems, but they are at least incentivized to solve them, whereas some no-name company has no such incentive because they have absolutely nothing to lose. And suing Samsung for damages means you are at least sure there is something worth suing.

This is honestly so incredibly backwards:

The big companies cannot lose anything that matters to them, as they're too big and powerful, brushing off even the worst publicity. A small company collapses under pressure, and can be killed by even a viral meme going against them, with the owners suffering personal financial losses as a result.

Suing a big company like Samsung is an almost guaranteed loss with you thoroughly crushed and case precedent set so others have no reason to try. Suing a small company is a much more likely win, with reasonable damages.

I was referring to the charging case with the missing heat sink and cut rate or missing charge regulation circuits.

The main risk is damage to your ears.

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