I am somewhere between pro and amateur in a lot of things, semi-pro at a couple, pro in a few, but I am definitely an amateur crastinator. (I’ve never gotten around to taking the tests to get certified as a pro there.)
Bah! Why settle for Pro? I must have pens and office chairs that are “executive” level, because who wants mere “supervisory” level office supplies? And they must be Corinthian leather, made from certified Corinthians, not cows. My sheets must be Luxury. My salt must be sea salt because land salt is bad for you. And I want saltwater taffy because only the peasants eat freshwater taffy. All of my flashlights and outdoor items must be “military grade” stuff, even though there is no such thing as “military grade” anything. And it must be covered in a camo pattern because that’s how people will know it’s the Real Thing. All of my fruit must be a superfruit. I refuse to buy anything unless it is both New! and Improved! because who wants old and tired stuff? I have standards, I tell you. Standards!
@Kidsandliz My “standards” vary depending on the price. (And all of the “premium” stuff I listed above is gaslighting.)
Added: And how could I forget the woman who tried to sell me $6 bottles of “organic minerals” for my health? They were “special” because they were harvested from organic plants. Sigh.
@rockblossom MIL-SPEC is a real specification, and there aren’t a lot of ISO or NIST standards for things in the firearms industry, so finding things certified to MIL-SPEC, MIL-PRF, MIL-STD isn’t uncommon when you’re shopping for say, ballistic eyewear.
But yes being told something is ‘military-grade’ doesn’t mean much.
For power tools, there’s the “prosumer” class, targeting folks who could use or just want more power but at a friendlier price point than the major “professional” brands.
@djslack My main tools are from the other red team – Skil.
That said, I do have some cordless tools from both team red (impact driver, compact hammer drill, and PEX expander tool) and from team yellow (of the older NiCad variety). But brand loyalty? Nah.
@djslack@narfcake
Brand loyalty for me started with the lime green Ryobi back when they were still yellow and dark blue. After years of frustration with other lines changing their battery design routinely I found that Ryobi have stuck with the same design for well over the last 20 years - simply changing the battery chemistry from nicad to lithium when technology improved. I can still run tools that are 20 years old with the current batteries because they have exactly the same footprint. I essentially built a house with those tools over the years.
Just yesterday I had the 1/2 inch drill out with a 4-inch auger punching holes in the yard to plant monkey grass in an area we were trying to blanket. Punched about 50 holes in 15 minutes. Had to be careful that I didn’t break a wrist trying to drill a hole when I hit a root though.
@chienfou I am mostly in the same platform. I guess it is brand loyalty in that I do prefer them because a) I’m significantly invested in their battery platform and b) they’ve demonstrated commitment to continue to be compatible with that battery platform. But I also have other tools from Milli-wau-keh and more consumer levels like Worx, Craftsman, and Husky too. If I’m seeking a tool I usually check what Ryobi has to offer alongside whatever else I’m looking at to consider if it’s worth getting into Yet Another Battery Standard. So maybe there is something like brand loyalty although it stops short of fanboy level.
I think I would consider Ryobi to be a mix of home and prosumer tools (roughly following the brushless/HP line), but those who root for team yellow or red would consider them all homeowner grade at best, or a joke at worst. And many the tools I regularly use I’ve either opted for or upgraded to the brushless version. So maybe I am sort of a pro user here.
@djslack
I have got a few tools that use other batteries but they were acquired as bare tool (no battery) and I simply bought a converter to fit my Ryobi One+ batteries. ( of course most of those are things like fans, scrubbers and lights that I got free from Vine so there is always that…)
I know my 40V Ryobi chainsaw is FANTASTIC. I recently cut down a 16"+ diameter Leyland cypress with it and it was great.
This topic reminds me of some early Steve Martin stand-up comedy (which was great). One of his lines in a segment about dating women was about “That’s right, I only use the Pro-phylactics! Don’t want to use those Amateur-phylactics”
It really depends on the value proposition. I do favor buying something that’s gonna last in most cases. But I don’t automatically go for the highest end version of the item.
On the other hand, I also shop here. Sometimes I buy stuff just because it’s cheap, interesting, or both.
It’s great marketing to be able to sell the standard item as “pro” and at an inflated cost and the stripped down version as the regular item at the regular cost.
I am a pro at saving money by not buying unnecessary stuff/stuff I do not need and won’t use.
@Kidsandliz I must be a pro too, then.
I can’t count all the stuff I didn’t buy from meh.
Aren’t “pros” usually paid? So I guess I’m just an amateur.
@macromeh Professionals can afford the Pro upgrade because they’re paid.
I am somewhere between pro and amateur in a lot of things, semi-pro at a couple, pro in a few, but I am definitely an amateur crastinator. (I’ve never gotten around to taking the tests to get certified as a pro there.)
Bah! Why settle for Pro? I must have pens and office chairs that are “executive” level, because who wants mere “supervisory” level office supplies? And they must be Corinthian leather, made from certified Corinthians, not cows. My sheets must be Luxury. My salt must be sea salt because land salt is bad for you. And I want saltwater taffy because only the peasants eat freshwater taffy. All of my flashlights and outdoor items must be “military grade” stuff, even though there is no such thing as “military grade” anything. And it must be covered in a camo pattern because that’s how people will know it’s the Real Thing. All of my fruit must be a superfruit. I refuse to buy anything unless it is both New! and Improved! because who wants old and tired stuff? I have standards, I tell you. Standards!
@rockblossom But wait… your standards must be exceedingly low being due to buying from meh and all…
@Kidsandliz My “standards” vary depending on the price.
(And all of the “premium” stuff I listed above is gaslighting.)
Added: And how could I forget the woman who tried to sell me $6 bottles of “organic minerals” for my health? They were “special” because they were harvested from organic plants. Sigh.
@Kidsandliz @rockblossom
Fuck all that
I’m a Super Premiun Platinum Level Certified Quality Grade 10Star Hobo.
@rockblossom MIL-SPEC is a real specification, and there aren’t a lot of ISO or NIST standards for things in the firearms industry, so finding things certified to MIL-SPEC, MIL-PRF, MIL-STD isn’t uncommon when you’re shopping for say, ballistic eyewear.
But yes being told something is ‘military-grade’ doesn’t mean much.
For power tools, there’s the “prosumer” class, targeting folks who could use or just want more power but at a friendlier price point than the major “professional” brands.
@narfcake a lot of power tool guys are especially judgy too… Must have their color and laugh at everyone else.
This is an area I think good enough is good enough, I’ll keep my money and let 'em laugh.
@djslack My main tools are from the other red team – Skil.
That said, I do have some cordless tools from both team red (impact driver, compact hammer drill, and PEX expander tool) and from team yellow (of the older NiCad variety). But brand loyalty? Nah.
@djslack @narfcake
Brand loyalty for me started with the lime green Ryobi back when they were still yellow and dark blue. After years of frustration with other lines changing their battery design routinely I found that Ryobi have stuck with the same design for well over the last 20 years - simply changing the battery chemistry from nicad to lithium when technology improved. I can still run tools that are 20 years old with the current batteries because they have exactly the same footprint. I essentially built a house with those tools over the years.
Just yesterday I had the 1/2 inch drill out with a 4-inch auger punching holes in the yard to plant monkey grass in an area we were trying to blanket. Punched about 50 holes in 15 minutes. Had to be careful that I didn’t break a wrist trying to drill a hole when I hit a root though.
@chienfou I am mostly in the same platform. I guess it is brand loyalty in that I do prefer them because a) I’m significantly invested in their battery platform and b) they’ve demonstrated commitment to continue to be compatible with that battery platform. But I also have other tools from Milli-wau-keh and more consumer levels like Worx, Craftsman, and Husky too. If I’m seeking a tool I usually check what Ryobi has to offer alongside whatever else I’m looking at to consider if it’s worth getting into Yet Another Battery Standard. So maybe there is something like brand loyalty although it stops short of fanboy level.
I think I would consider Ryobi to be a mix of home and prosumer tools (roughly following the brushless/HP line), but those who root for team yellow or red would consider them all homeowner grade at best, or a joke at worst. And many the tools I regularly use I’ve either opted for or upgraded to the brushless version. So maybe I am sort of a pro user here.
@djslack
I have got a few tools that use other batteries but they were acquired as bare tool (no battery) and I simply bought a converter to fit my Ryobi One+ batteries. ( of course most of those are things like fans, scrubbers and lights that I got free from Vine so there is always that…)
I know my 40V Ryobi chainsaw is FANTASTIC. I recently cut down a 16"+ diameter Leyland cypress with it and it was great.
This topic reminds me of some early Steve Martin stand-up comedy (which was great). One of his lines in a segment about dating women was about “That’s right, I only use the Pro-phylactics! Don’t want to use those Amateur-phylactics”
I’m a Pro-crastinator
@heartny you should run for congress
@heartny @pakopako That would be a procrapinator.
@heartny that’s what’s up
It really depends on the value proposition. I do favor buying something that’s gonna last in most cases. But I don’t automatically go for the highest end version of the item.
On the other hand, I also shop here. Sometimes I buy stuff just because it’s cheap, interesting, or both.
I’m sometimes a Pro-Vocateur.
I definitely use Pro-fanity.
“Shucks,” “gee whiz,” “golly” and other examples of Amateur Fanity just don’t have the power I need.
@EwingKlipspring goodness!
In many cases, if you wait a while the pro version will become the run of the mill version eventually.
@chienfou
Either that … or all versions will enshittify.
Altho good qual tools don’t seem to enshittify so quickly because the power users would notice.
It’s great marketing to be able to sell the standard item as “pro” and at an inflated cost and the stripped down version as the regular item at the regular cost.
@Konraden see, we prefer having the standard be “meh” and literally anything that exceeds that expectation is gravy.