I must be getting grumpier in my feeling old age, 46, because it is starting to bother me how many threads want to know the best way to do something. No offense intended, but there should be some sort of parameters or definitions involved shouldn’t there be?
1. Best = cheapest
2. Best = easiest to do/install
3. Best = most profitable should be followed by ” for whom”!
4. Best = longest lasting
5. Best = Prettiest to look at
6. Best = best value combines 1 & 4 in some sort of ratio
7. Best = the one we agree to do most often! only half joking, some times I wonder why we do things the way we do.
Dan
Replies
grumpydan,
That points out the fact that the more information a questioner gives about himself and the job, the better answer he can get. I offer advice to my customers based on what is best for them. Sometimes, it is not what is best for me, because it is harder to do. Best is part of a statement, best for these given circumstances. People can afford that sort of best. not many can afford perfect, even if there were any of us who could do perfection.
I AGREE!!!
I have long been frustrated when some one ask what is the best "abc" without every defining what there criterial is.
I remember in one forum that someone asked what the best bandsaw was. I posted a link to 48" servo controled tilting head bandsaw designed for ship building.
But there is one advantage to answering those "best" questions is that ANYTHING IS RIGHT.
Since they did not give any criteria of "what is best" then you can use your own.
Example "What is the best way to install replacement windows". Answer use an axe to take out the old one. Then nail 2x4's across the opening and screw through the casing into the 2x4's.
Hey is it fast, therefore it is the "best".
Edited 9/1/2002 7:45:47 PM ET by Bill Hartmann
Yea when folks ask me for the "best" be it price or materials ect. I first ask questions to figure out exactly what they mean. I think for the most part they mean by best is "most bang for my buck" or cost effective or what meats my needs and or budget. Darkworksite4: When the job is to small for everyone else, Its just about right for me"
Best Guy to do the job..........ME!
Jeff.......Sometimes on the toll road of life.....a handful of change is good.......
Great! We now have someone to shovel out the septic tank. Did we mention your "shovel" is a teaspoon? It's the best tool we could find, to go along with the best guy!
:)If everything seems to be going well, you've obviously overlooked something.
Fine by me....jobs like that I just charge by the hour....and tripple the rates....if U can still afford to fly me in with romm and board.......I'll even bring my own spoon!
Jeff...anything to make a.....Buck.......Sometimes on the toll road of life.....a handful of change is good.......
Well, what's been your 'best' response so far?
http://forums.taunton.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=tp-breaktime&msg=22859.1
I'd like to nominate this postExcellence is its own reward!
Hey Piff;
I think that everybody that uses this forum on a regular basis gets the idea, but some of the first timers, or people branching in to new area's just don't realize the number of circumstances that have to be dealt with. Budget seems to be the biggest of the qualifiers, as what most people really want is the "best" that they can afford. So far I have learned that most questions get answered with more questions, and I want answers doggone it. I am not a patient man, I want them NOW! And please don't encourage the use of the word "perfect". The defintition is more broadly interpeted than "best", in my best perfect opinion.
Dan
8. The answer I want to hear, but I need a bunch of people to tell me I'm right.
You want that HERE?
geesh,
lol, Tim Mooney
Aren't we all on the same page?
Yes we are on the same page on this post . Seems rarely that happens . I took the liberty of looking at your profile and found 10 posts . Maybe you have brought up one of the reasons we differ in other posts . I was meaning that as a joke. Seems we ever have 8 that agree with anything . Good post ,
Tim Mooney
this is a mass market phenomena that has to do with people just wanting an answer without doing the work, or understanding the process by which the answer was derived. It's percolated many aspects of society from news media and the 10 second soundbite to schools teaching children how to answer the questions on the test, rather than how to solve the problems.
It would be overly simplistic to say we have become a lazy society, because the evidence is to the contrary. Look at productivity, innovation, and technology adoption as key indicators to dispel that notion. But nonetheless, I do believe we have become addicted to the shortcut to the answer regardless of the nature of the question or problem. Herein lies the root of the 'best xyz' dilemma: "tell me what I should buy/do/believe, and if it's wrong I can always blame someone else."
The other troubling result of this is that something becomes best by summary vote, thereby eliminating competitive products that may in fact be 'better' before being put to test. How many times on this board, and others, has the Leigh dovetail jig been 'voted' best by the shere number of responses? How does a new product, such as the Akeda jig, have an opportunity to compete in this forum when the Leigh is assumed to be better because more people use it... only the odd post will point out that the Akeda has only been available for a month, while the leigh for years.
Well said.Quittin' Time
Yes, very well said! Atta boy !! [you dont get too many of those on here ]
Tim Mooney