Why do I prefer some products (various computer hardware, software, automotive, household products, etc.) over others? Usually, it seems to come down to little things.
I prefer Mobil1 motor oils, because, among other “little things”, Mobil makes a wide array of reliable, high-quality synthetic lubricants besides just motor oil, and I like having a consistent quality across the board in my automotive lubes.
I prefer ASUS computer hardware wherever possible, because I have come to find ASUS hardware to be consistently reliable and high-quality, but also–perhaps especially–because of one important “little thing”–live people respond quickly to support requests 24X7. I have not always liked the answers I’ve gotten, but I’ve never gotten any lame excuses from the support folks, either. Oh, and they all seem to be competent speakers of English. *heh*
I prefer Opera as my web browser for TONS of “little things” it does right. Built in mouse gestures that work consistently well and aren’t “broken” by upgrades like the add-on mouse gestures other browsers clumsily implement. Paste-and-go. Why the heck is that not a context menu option in other browsers (let alone, as in Opera, a quick keystroke combo)? How many times each day do folks paste links in a nav bar and then have to press “enter” or click another button to get the simple functionality of CTRL+D I have (yes, I modded the built in keystroke combo, because I have no use for CTRL+D as a keystroke combo to bookmark a site).
Speaking of modding keyboard navigation keystrokes, that’s another little thing: super simple, easy-peasy in Opera to make darned near any keystroke combo one wants.
Tons and tons of those kinds of “little things” make Opera THE choice here at twc central.
Household products? You may not have heard of the company, but for years now we have relied on the consistently exceptional quality and affordable cost of Melaleuca products, and my Wonder Woman will NOT give up her nutritional supplements the company makes. One example of affordable, high quality: the liquid laundry soap (not detergent) generally requires about 1/8 of a cup of product to do an excellent job cleaning clothes in our washer, with our small town water. That’s half what the company recommends, but it works for us. And that makes the product less expensive to use than buying something else at WallyWorld
And all the products work similarly for us. Little things like, use less (often much, much less) or simply unique properties–like the disinfectant spray that uses thyme as a primary component, for its disinfectant properties–have solidified the company’s products as our default for household needs.
Unique properties and features, customer service, consistently high quality, attention to detail: come to think if it, these aren’t “little things” at all!
Have you heard the news?
Bad things come in twos.
But I never knew
‘Bout the little things.
Every single day
Things get in my way.
Someone has to pay
For the little things.
And I’m through with the stories
And I’m sick to my shoes.
And the walking and the talking,
It’s got nothing to do with
The final solution.
It’s a box full of tricks.
And I’m through with repairs
When there’s nothing to fix,
When there’s nothing to fix,
When there’s nothing to fix,
And it all comes down to you.
Let the headlines wait,
Armies hesitate.
I can deal with fate
But not the little things.
Armageddon may
Arrive anyday.
I can’t get away
From the little things.
With a pile of cares
And a bucket of tears,
I could look at the sunlight
And I feel no fear.
With a mountain of maybes
And some Icarus wings,
And I’m armed with delusions
And one little thing,
And that one little thing,
And that one little thing,
And it all comes down to you.
Have you heard the news?
Bad things come in twos.
But I never knew
‘Bout the little things.
Every single day
Things get in my way.
Someone has to pay
For the little things.
— Danny Elfman —
(Forgive me, David. I couldn’t resist.)
Thanks, Sunshine. Here I was celebrating the good little things and…
*heh*
Never heard of Asus. I’m a Dell dude, have been for awhile. Probably bought at least 70 of them by now.
Oh, and Coek is way better than Pepsi, and that was before they went and did the unforgivable:
http://woody.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/01/pepsi-is-the-new-kool-aid.html
Dells can be good, especially if one avoids Dell’s consumer grade crap–and not all of Dell’s consumer-oriented equipment falls under that category. I know whole businesses that’ve thought they’d save some $$ by purchasing consumer grade Dells and regretted their decision (large-purchase case: largest single employer in America’s Third World County decided to go this way and had to replace ’em all w/in a three-year period of time. MOBO failures ‘cos of cheap capacitors. Told ’em so up front, but the price point was too tempting for ’em. Warranty went out and… then so did the computers). OTOH, the last computer I purchased for my Dad was a Dell… but it was a mid-range business class machine with added (by me) features for a home user. Better components. The key with Dell (or with HP or whomever, for that matter) is looking at the components. ASUS has been a go-to maker for other computer companies’ mid-to-better class computer components for quite some time now. I’ve been very pleased with ASUS-component computers for some years’ time.