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Tools for a loved one

To: shop-talk@autox.team.net
Subject: Tools for a loved one
From: dave.williams@chaos.lrk.ar.us (Dave Williams)
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1999 11:42:00 -0500

-> Why do you Snap-On guys like those things?

 It's called the "magpie effect".  Given a choice, people will go for
the bright, shiny object every time.

 Snap-On makes a line of tools called "industrial", most of which have a
coarse matte black finish, like some impact sockets have.  They claim
dramatic reductions in theft rate, among other things, for the black
tools.  I was briefly interested, until I found they cost even *more*
than the polished tools...


-> At least I can pick up the 9/16 when it falls in the pan of oil.

 The finish doesn't bother me so much as the shape of the handle on some
wrenches.  Snap-On's blade-thin handles require me to wrap a shop rag
around them sometimes when dealing with a particularly stubborn
fastener.  Bad design.

 Snap-On, again, makes something better - their "aircraft" line of
wrenches, which have forged end lugs welded to a round tubular handle.
Nice fat handle to get a grip on, and lightweight enough not to break
your back when you're carrying a portable toolbox around.  You don't
even *want* to know what those cost...

 Don Norman's "The Design Of Everyday Things" spends half a book talking
about the origin and design of cutlery, specifically forks, and how
unsuitable most of them were to their intended tasks.  The design of
hand tools reminds me a lot of that...

==dave.williams@chaos.lrk.ar.us======================================
I've got a secret / I've been hiding / under my skin / | Who are you?
my heart is human / my blood is boiling / my brain IBM |   who, who?
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