The cost per month of ownership feels like a great metric that shifts consumer mindset - the longer you own something, the more you save. Seems obvious, but most people don't think that way.

With the ExitReview platform, we can fight planned obsolescence and help people find the most durable products in the world. In addition, this newly introduced metric could help save money. The cost of ownership is a huge concept (a well known metric for cars), explained well in this article:

"Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet."

A very simple first version of the calculation could look like this:

if warranty = lifetime, then price/expected lifetime
if warranty > average lifespan, then price/warranty
if warranty < average lifespan, then price/average years owned


Of course, estimating the expected lifespan of a product is very difficult and depends on many factors like frequency of usage, type of use, maintenance etc. As a start, we can do an estimation of the expected lifetime for each category. Once we collected enough data and reviews, we will be able to calculate a more accurate value for each type of product.

Cost of Ownership: Why Paying More Upfront Can Save You Money in the Long Run

With the advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, search engines are becoming more sophisticated and can provide more relevant and personalized results to users. Despite increasing criticism, Google still dominates the search market. However, it's worth taking a look at where we might be heading.

The useful information on the Web is now concentrated in a few places like Reddit, Stack Exchange, Wikipedia, etc. 

Most people still use Google as the starting point for their search. Part of the reason why is that other platforms have pretty bad proprietary searches. Surfacing relevant content that answers a search query is a complex task and not the main focus of most platforms. That's one of the reasons why many people add "Reddit" to their search queries, even if they could just search on Reddit itself.

What enthusiasts and authentic users say is far more valuable than an article that was made for views by some corporates.

Redditors and other forum members are more interested in boosting their ego by showing their depth of knowledge on the topic (and correcting others on the topic), whereas corporate websites are more interested in raking profit by displaying (potentially) dishonest information.

Google search used to have a "discussions" tab until they killed the feature a few years back. It surfaced forum content with real peoples' opinions.

There are opportunities for domain-specific search engines (e.g. software engineering, academic research, products). Search verticals that are hand-curated would be very interesting to see. 

One idea to avoid SEO spam is to let people vote on content they trust or flag spammy results. Some search engines are experimenting with customized filters for non-commercial sources or user-generated content like Reddit. One concern about this is that many customization options result in more friction for users in comparison to Google's simple input box.

DDG offers a great alternative to surveillance engines like Google, but being mostly based on Bing's search engine doesn't create a quantum leap in better search results.

Paid search engines could avoid the conflict of interest between providing the most relevant results and satisfying advertisers. Even Larry Page and Sergey Brin have admitted this challenge in a research paper [2]: "The goals of the advertising business model do not always correspond to providing quality search to users. ..... we expect that advertising funded search engines will be inherently biased towards the advertisers and away from the needs of the consumers"

There is a market for a paid search engine, but the paid search engine needs to be based on a self-owned and -operated index. Many Google alternatives like DDG use the Bing search API, which makes them dependent on a big search provider. 

Generated Results instead of Found Results

With the rise of very powerful generative language models like GPT-3 or PaLM, the way search engines work is changing. In the future, they will be more focused on generating results instead of finding results that are already out there. This shift will have a major impact on the way information is gathered and distributed.  

What will the future of search engines look like? 

There has been a lot of discussion lately about the declining quality of Google's search results [0]. However, we haven't seen any major market shifts or serious competitors arise. Why is that?

Google won because they started early and had the right algorithm. Back in 1998, Google's PageRank was an innovative algorithm that calculated relevance based on counting backlinks instead of parsing the word counts in embedded HTML text like other search engines. This made Google way better than any other available search engine back then (Lycos, Yahoo, AltaVista, etc.), and within weeks, everyone was switching to Google.

A successful Google competitor just needs to be way better than what’s currently available. Nobody seems to have The next big idea for a better search engine yet.

Google then had the scale to grow with the internet. The high cost of maintaining a fresh index, and the decision by many large webpages to block most crawlers make it hard to start a new general-purpose search engine today. Google and Bing are currently the only search engines that maintain their own comprehensive webpage index.

Google pays Apple around $10bn a year to be the default search engine on Apple devices. They pay Mozilla a significant percentage of Mozilla's revenue to be the default in Firefox. Obviously Google is the default in Chrome. On Android, Google is deeply integrated into the OS. You can't compete with that by building a better search engine, even if you had the infrastructure and the capital. DDG and other competitors wrote about the issue of choosing your default search engine. Without laws or regulations, not much will change in this aspect.

By making its products and services work together, Google has been able to keep its customers locked in. This has been a key driver of Google's growth, making it difficult for competitors to replicate.

Google no longer producing high quality search results in significant categories

Ask HN: Why isn't there a Google competitor emerging?

[1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/216573/worldwide-market-share-of-search-engines/

There has been a lot of discussion lately about the declining quality of Google's search results [0]. However,  we haven't seen any major market shifts or serious competitors arise. Why is that?

Why Google Search Still Dominates the Market

Most people write reviews after they have barely used the product. There are no long-term usage data, and consumers usually don't care or forget to write a review later in a product's life. Tracking the whole lifecycle of products can provide important data.

Ecommerce platforms often send a reminder email to write a product review only a few days or weeks after receiving the product, which results in reviews like this: "Items arrived perfectly! I received very quickly. I would not hesitate to hesitate to purchase from this seller again.".

Filtering for 1-star reviews on Amazon doesn't help in most cases because most people immediately write a 1 -star review complaining about how their product didn't work as expected.

But what does the product look like after multiple months or years of usage? Knowing more about the lifecycle of a product is helpful for new purchases as well as for learning more about maintaining or repairing a used product.

Even if things don’t break - waiting for a minimum of 6+ months or a certain amount of minimum uses really makes a review relevant.

That's why we're working on a product lifecycle tracker at exitreviews.com (posted here before). After submitting your products, you'll receive a yearly reminder to update the condition ("hey there, did anything break or deteriorate? Click here if the condition is unchanged")

Calculate the average longevity of products

See if a product's quality has changed or gone down at some point

Open-source the data so other sites and manufacturers an leverage it

The Importance of Long-Term Product Reviews

The most durable socks in the world are made of high-quality materials and are able to withstand years of use. They are designed to be comfortable, breathable, and long-lasting. According to our Reviews, the most durable socks in the world are:

So which one should you buy? I'll compare the two most popular brands: Darn Tough vs Smartwool. My journey to find the best socks in the world started two years ago. I bought the following pairs of socks around the same time and both have been worn and washed approximately the same amount of times:

Darn Tough Standard Light Cushion Crew Socks

Although these two models are not exactly one-to-one comparable, it gives a good impression about the overall quality of both brands since both models belong to the most sold socks of each brand.

Darn Tough Vermont Socks are purpose-built premium merino wool socks made in Vermont, USA. The great thing is their lifetime warranty so you never need to buy socks again.

It feels like the Darn Tough socks are made out of slightly rougher and thicker wool fabric. This results in better cushioning in comparison to the pair of Smartwool. Even though I was air drying them, I noticed a small shrinkage over the years so they don't fit as well as they used to.

Here is our AI-generated summary for them:

It's a blend of merino wool and nylon that will keep your feet dry and comfortable on any outdoor adventure.

Darn Tough offers a lifetime guarantee on all their socks. If you wear them out, they'll replace them for free.

The best sock for hiking, backpacking, trail running, or any other activity where you want to keep your feet comfortable and protected.

The socks are very breathable, so they will never make your feet hot.

The socks provide excellent arch support and cushioning.

This sock is more expensive than your average athletic sock.

I'm wearing my Smartwool socks almost every day for work, they are a great fit for my business-casual work outfit. I can see signs of wear and tear after two years of weekly use. The fabric at the heel became very thin. It won't take long until the weak spot will develop into a hole.

The socks are lightly cushioned, so they can be worn during any season.

It is a versatile activity sock that manages moisture, maintains warmth, and keeps its shape under rigorous conditions.

When backpacking with it, you’re going to want to designate a different, perhaps thicker sock for camp activities and bedtime.

Quality is not what it used to be. They started piling after a few washes.

The quality of Smartwool has gone down since it was bought by a larger company.

Darn Tough socks are very durable, but in my opinion not as comfortable and stylish as the Smartwool's. That's why I'm wearing Darn Tough mainly for hiking or other sports activities, while I prefer Smartwool for workdays. However, Darn Tough is definitely more Buy For Life, because they offer a lifetime warranty and their company is still independently producing their socks in Vermont/USA. Besides the durability issue at the heel, the pair of Smartwool feels very comfortable because of their thin and responsive fabric.

In this article, we will tell you about the most durable socks in the world. These are socks that have proven their durability over time and are still going strong. 

This page was originally developed based on the content of the Subreddit r/BuyItForLife where people are searching for practical, durable and quality made products. 

I was always looking for a place to overcome cheap products and share product recommendations. The subreddit served me well, but most posted products weren't available anymore. One user explained the problem with the BIFL subreddit very well in his post:

"I joined this sub for the purpose of buying stuff like lifetime warranty backpacks (osprey), great tools, camp gear, kitchen wear ect. Yet this sub has basically became an Instagram for the old shit people find in they're grandparents house which offers no benefit to me now. I'm not going to buy, nor could I even find a kitchen aid mixer you grandma still uses from the 70s. Most stuff back then was made to last, we know that. I want stuff thats still made today with quality."

Wouldn't it be great to have an independent place to find information about a product and its manufacturer? And that's why we started this project.

It should become the Rotten Tomatoes for products, almost like you check the trustworthy rating of a movie before you watch it, people could check a product and its manufacturer before they purchase it.

We want to change the way people review products. We should review broken and almost worn-out products to teach how to identify cheap products (where are the stress points, what manufacturing techniques exist to alleviate those). Then compare those with used products well past their warranty period that hasn't broken, and look at why they haven't.

Shifting the consumer mindset towards a more sustainable lifestyle

The most important deciding factor when shopping is still the price. We want to change that. Some things that were are working on to:

We are collecting data for every step in the life cycle of a product. How long does it last?

We aggregate reviews from the most trusted sources like Reddit to see if a product's quality has changed or gone down at some point.

We identify the common failure modes of products and how to fix them

We should spend our money on selected high-quality products instead of short-living garbage.

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