November 16th, 2004

Exploiting the inattentive

The makers of a certain major brand of detergent which I will not name (but which for the purposes of this discussion will be called “Snide”) appears to take every step to exploit inattentive customers.

A box of Snide detergent powder comes with instructions indicating that for a normal-sized load, you should use 3/8 cup of detergent; for a large load, 1/2 cup.

The detergent box also comes with a handy measuring cup.

The measuring cup holds 5/8 cup of detergent.

Not to be outdone, Liquid Snide plays a similar trick.

The instructions indicate that for a normal-sized load, you should fill the cup to line 1 (the lowest line). For a large load, fill to line 2. If you look at the cup they provide, there is also a line 3 which is even higher than lines 1 and 2. Not even counting the imaginary “line 4” which is what you get if you fill the cup to the brim.

Just because it comes with a measuring cup doesn’t mean you have to use it.

Author

Raymond has been involved in the evolution of Windows for more than 30 years. In 2003, he began a Web site known as The Old New Thing which has grown in popularity far beyond his wildest imagination, a development which still gives him the heebie-jeebies. The Web site spawned a book, coincidentally also titled The Old New Thing (Addison Wesley 2007). He occasionally appears on the Windows Dev Docs Twitter account to tell stories which convey no useful information.

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