Absurd advertising

[Joe From NY]

Can anyone explain the operating cost estimate in the advertisement for this Milwaukee Dry Cut Chop Saw

Quote:
The 6190-20 utilizes dry (a.k.a. cold) cut technology which will cut on average three times faster than an abrasive machine and costs 1 1/2 times less to operate.

Does that mean they pay ME to run it? How can it cost less than zero to operate? I haven't been to high school in 30 years, but i can't be that rusty in my math.

 

[mrholeshot]

Wait until you have to buy a blade for it. I cut a lot of steel and I bought one of the blades to go on my chop saw. At the time the blade was 200 dollars (through my local welders supply) and one of my guys tried to cut a bit too fast and screwed up the blade. I went back to 14 inch abrasive wheels. They cut about twice as slow but a good abrasive wheel is still pretty fast. To me the only thing better is wet cutting

 

[Stuart in MN]

I can only assume they're talking about the cost of the electricity to run it.

 

[Joe From NY]

I can only assume they're talking about the cost of the electricity to run it.

Yeah, but 1 ½ time less than "any given number" is always going to be a number less than zero.

 

[kythri]

Consumables cost (blade)
Electricity cost (less power)
Employee cost (less time spent)

Just a guess.

RoI is yet another voodoo accounting trick that only works in perfect little completely-controlled mythical environments. We just bought a ton of new hardware at work, and Cisco was quick to give us a bunch of paperwork for the RoI on the new gear compared to the old gear to help sell it to the beancounters. It's all hokum.

 

[mrholeshot]

I use my Chop saw often but I bet total power it uses comes down to a dollar a month

 

[Joe From NY]

so if my total cost of operation, say blades, electric, labor, for a year, is $1000.
And according to them, my cost will be 1½ times less than that.
then 1000 x 1½ =1500.
That's 1500 less than 1000.

1000 minus 1500 leaves you a negative 500.

So not only is the tool completely free to operate for the year, but i mysteriously wind up with $500 more in my pocket than i had to start with.

Apparently they just make up numbers in their product description to dazzle the prospective customer, even if they don't make any sense.

 

[Jack Olsen]

It trips into some foggy grammar. Is '20% less' than a number the same as '20% of' a number?

But it's confusing no matter how you look at it.

I would guess they mean the cost of blades versus abrasive wheels.

I bought my 6190 without a blade, and have used the low cost Freud Diablo blades with it. I've done a LOT of cutting, and am still on my first blade. For me, it's been much more cost-effective than abrasive disks.

Clicking on the Northern Tool link, I see this:

It looks like the chops saw, fitted with a 1300-rpm motor. I'll bet this means we'll see this same Chinese knock-off (assuming that's what it is) at Harbor Freight soon. Maybe it'll push the price of the name-brand saws down.

 

[Joe From NY]

It trips into some foggy grammar. Is '20% less than a number' the same as '20% of a number?'

Those two examples give absolutely two totally different results. In the example of a base of $100, the results are $80 vs. $20. Two totally different numbers.
i would think they are too lazy to work the numbers, rather than being illiterate, and be in charge of writing ad copy.

 

[Big Omega]

I agree, the language is confusing.

Colloquially, "x times less" means 1/x as much.

I'm guessing the original (incorrect) thought process was that
"if it costs x times more to use A over B then the reverse would be it costs x times less to use B over A"

 

[Joe From NY]

I agree, the language is confusing.

Colloquially, "x times less" means 1/x as much.

I'm guessing the original (incorrect) thought process was that
"if it costs x times more to use A over B then the reverse would be it costs x times less to use B over A"

I wouldn't be surprised if the ad copy was written in china, (by the same people who make the tool), then poorly translated into english, like many tool manuals these days.

 

[Coach James]

Or maybe it was written by staffers from the US Congress where they say they cut spending but the budget increases.

Coach