James Dyson Sold Us on a $400 Hair Dryer. Now He's Trying a $499 Toothbrush

fortran77

https://www.wsj.com/cmo-today/james-dyson-sold-us-on-a-400-h...

m463

It's a good hairdryer, and cheaper at costco. And I know people who have sprung for those detect laser vacuums and they all seem to love them. EDIT: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49525964

qwerpy

Needs special toothpaste and rinse, both of which Dyson will conveniently sell you. Don’t know if it’s actually good or not, but it seems everyone wants in on the subscription model.

ElijahLynn

The 10m interview (video) embedded on the article was a great watch (no toothbrush mentioned). https://www.wsj.com/video/series/in-depth-features/how-dyson... I found it educational on product development (as a new startup founder/product developer myself).

mandeepj

But, he failed to sell us their electric car, which honestly looked great.

dysonophobic12

After buying one of the first bag-less vacuums (animal ball?) I am staying away from anything that man touches. Interesting technology (at least the vacuum, hair dryer less so), but anti-ergonomic and plastic crap that breaks easily.

traceroute66

Not a fan of Mr Dyson politically or "inventor" wise. Politically he was a loud backer of Brexit and then disappeared off to Singapore when it actually happened – he moved back two years later, perhaps having seen the bad PR but that's irrelevant. "Inventor" wise its always the old story of over-engineered stuff of questionable practical quality. For example his "strawberries" are grown by some hyped-up heavily roboticised methodology, but they taste like crap compared to properly grown strawberries, and they are not much better than your average supermarket strawberry either – I did a comprehensive double-blind taste test with some friends. Meanwhile Dyson sells them at a vast markup. He should have stopped at the vacuum cleaner, really. Preferably before then.

add-sub-mul-div

The only Dyson product I've used is the hand dryer in public bathrooms. I don't know if part of its purpose is to sell people on the brand, but it has the opposite effect on me because I hate using them. Regular old hand dryers work much better.

TitaRusell

The oralb Io is 300 euro.

pretendgeneer

At the repair cafe I volunteer at. Dyson vacuums are the only items I've had to hand back without being able to open up fully to find the problem. I like our Dyson vacuum but now knowing what to expect when it needs fixing. Not a chance I'd buy a dyson anything again.

magixx

RANVOO came out with a similar concept tooth brush a couple of years ago where it kinda looks like it just shoots water though the middle of the brush head. The Dyson one definitely seems to use more tech but probably does a similar thing. I don't know where or not either of them improve brushing by a significant amount but if these companies want to spend their money on research then why not?

ChrisArchitect

Some more discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49527879