paying for simplicity?

Why do people pay 600 $ for a cell phone with a screen and only one button? There are phones with qwerty keyboards for much less.
 
hardheart said:
Oh no, it makes sense. It just seems strange to have a question asked on a knife forum "Why is XYZ frame lock worth $400-600?" and a few people post "I appreciate the simple design with few moving parts" and then maybe on a watch forum someone could ask "Why is XYZ automatic watch worth $4000-6000?" and a few people post "I appreciate the extremely complex and intricate assembly of hundreds of parts in the complications."
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I can see where your coming from, I think the people who feel that way tend to echo the opinions they've heard from other people, basically they're trend followers who if they had to justify their opinions wouldn't be able to without parroting someone else's words.
 
hardheart, I see by your join date we both came onboard around the same time, another BFC old timer. ;)
 
I'm inclined to agree that people giving that as a reason are stretching a bit. I also tend to think those peoplenare more guilty of misusing the word simple than making a more deeply flawed argument. Many people seem to use simple as a synonym for either minimalist, which is an aesthetic ideal much more than a lack of moving parts, or for reliable, which brings a slew of entirely different problems.

And there's the fact that few moving parts doesn't always mean simple. The Klecker lock is a one-piece handle, but it's a pretty complex mechanism when compared to a framelock.
 
hardheart said:
Oh no, it makes sense. It just seems strange to have a question asked on a knife forum "Why is XYZ frame lock worth $400-600?" and a few people post "I appreciate the simple design with few moving parts"
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Thus far, we've discussed the situations in which a simpler design may equate to tighter tolerances, better finish, and therefore a steeper price. Barring those circumstances, I'm gonna go out on a limb and suggest that people who offer that explanation are... wrong/trying to justify the price to themselves using moon logic/confused.
 
I pay for design and quality. I certainly prefer more simple designs as well. I love minimal art but most of it is BS or an accident. My favorite minimal art is maximum effort with minimal outcome. ...like taking an old car and carefully rolling it into a tight sphere or taking a huge piece of aluminum block and machining it into a hollow box. These things may seem simple but they are delightfully uselessly extravagant.

Ditto on knives. Plus, say, a one piece CRK would certainly be overall more reliable than, say, a Microtech OTF. It's just a fact. Again, I want quality and reliability. Typically for me that equates to a more expensive knife with fewer parts. I will likely comment on the positive aspects.
 
Totally agree, I have seen many full blown BFC fights on the subject "Why is xyz knife so great?" (heck I'm guilty asking that) and the answer is always about the tolerances and materials used, but the amount of those materials used in a $400+ knife are also used in a $100- knife, so it comes down to just tolerances and the brand name.

In my opinion, if I want a $400+ knife I want a piece of art, by a custom maker, who put his time and effort into hand crafting the knife himself, and creating those tight tolerances by himself, and resulting in a unique design that I can be proud to own, and can trust will last many lifetimes :thumbup:

Not saying a production/mid line knife won't do that, heck that's been proven the world over, but the pride of ownership is different to me :)
 
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