
It has blades: Dyson’s little white lie - fogus
http://hackaday.com/2009/10/14/it-has-blades-dysons-little-white-lie/
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pkulak
The author makes a point at the end alluding to a violation of the
conservation of energy, By, to be fair, Dyson only says that this fan
multiplies to amount of air, not the amount of energy. All fans multiply the
air moved (simply by dragging adjacent air along for the ride), so I'm not
sure why this claim should be a concern.

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GavinB
Fan death is a widely believed superstition in Korea. The idea is that"an
electric fan, if left running overnight in a closed room, can cause the death
of those inside (by suffocation, poisoning, or hypothermia)."
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death>

Something like this could be very successful there, even if there are actually
fans in it. Superstition is about appearance and intuition, not reality.

~~~
buugs
It is not the fans that cause such a supperstition it is
suffocation/hypothermia caused by continuous air flow that the superstitious
think is the problem.

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GavinB
There are a lot of different reasons for this, including the fan blades
chopping the oxygen molecules in half.

My cousin had a roommate in South Korea who believed that the fan would create
a vortex that sucked the air from the room, creating a fatal vacuum.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death#Beliefs>

~~~
ajju
"chopping the oxygen molecules in half"

The fans in Korea must have _really_ fine blades.

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favouriteduck
or really big oxygen molecules o_O

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axod
This is a bit harsh. Anyone who has a Dyson Vacuum cleaner understands the
amazing attention to detail and build quality, efficiency, etc. Even if it's
not a miracle fan (who said it was going to be), having a 'dyson' designed fan
will be enough to make it a success. They consistently make fantastic
products.

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timdorr
Quality engineering doesn't cover up the fact that it's a dumb idea. The fan
didn't need to be reinvented.

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bsaunder
Nor do we need blankets with sleeves, that doesn't mean it's not a good
business idea.

Technically dumb is not necessarily economically dumb. I also don't agree with
your assertion that it's technically dumb.

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ax0n
I don't see how it's really hack-a-day material. It's more of a rant, and
someone using the wrong site for which to air one's grievances... but it's
their site, not mine. And I'm known to rant off-topic a bit in my own little
corners of the web, as puny and insignificant as they are.

Still, Dyson is a bit of a snake-oil salesman. He makes sleek, designer
houseware and peddles it via the outlets frequented by those with disposable
income whom are always looking out for sleek, designer houseware.

An impeller that leverages the venturi effect does not a visionary make. It
just means the new, inefficiently-placed blades are going to be almost
impossible to clean off once they become gunked up with allergens.

Dyson didn't pioneer vortex separation technology, either. That shit's been
around for many decades, and is likely older than I am.

~~~
axod
>> "Still, Dyson is a bit of a snake-oil salesman. He makes sleek, designer
houseware and peddles it via the outlets frequented by those with disposable
income whom are always looking out for sleek, designer houseware."

That's BS. Having recently bought a new Dyson Vacuum cleaner, I'm still
surprised just how well thought out, well put together it is. The attachment
that uses the suction to spin round a brush for cleaning stairs/cars is
impressive enough - the roller brush _spins_ fast, but it still sucks up
everything. Let alone all the other unique features. There simply isn't
another manufacturer close (Even though they try to copy every feature).

Just because something also looks beautiful, don't assume that's the only
reason it's successful. (Also see Apple).

~~~
assemble
My Hoover (
[http://www.hoover.com/product.aspx?model=U5780900&ds=fal...](http://www.hoover.com/product.aspx?model=U5780900&ds=false#)
) does all that stuff too. It even has the roller brush for stairs, couches,
etc. Even better -- it works!

I'm consistently not impressed with Dyson's BS.

~~~
by
Hoover were found guilty of deliberately copying patented Dyson technology

[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1368860/Dyson-
cleans-...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1368860/Dyson-cleans-up-in-
patent-battle-with-rival-Hoover.html)

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favouriteduck
Well that was a let-down. I didn't know about this gimmicky fan. I thought
someone had put fins on a Dyson sphere. That would be way cool.

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dlsspy
So wait, if I stick my hand in there, it _will_ hurt it?

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_ck_
It's news that marketeers exagerate to the point of lying in commercials?

All they had to do was say it doesn't have CONVENTIONAL blades. But then 90%
of the low IQ market this is aimed at wouldn't know what they mean, so they
just left out "conventional".

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bsaunder
The OP comes across being at the 91 percentile and saying... "hey, wait a
minute, there must be blades!" He would have benefited by the addition of
CONVENTIONAL.

