(2023-11-06) The myth and the curse of "entry-level" products
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Just like the misconception of "user friendliness" had plagued the software
world beyond repair, it appears that a similar misconception has been
dominating the realm of material goods all this time. Whenever I stumble
upon a review of some item, say, a watch, a knife, a pen, a phone etc, more
often than not I see/hear the phrase "entry-level" or "starter" or
"beginner" applied to it. One recent occasion of this became my tipping
point after which I decided that I no longer can hold this to myself.
As I said in my previous phlog entry, I was going to have some update about
my EDC pen arsenal. It still is underway, and it's pointless to brag about
all the options I have tried so far, but my next step is going to be a Pilot
MR from Animal series, Euro version. In case you didn't know, this version
takes "international" standard cartridges and converters instead of
proprietary ones from Pilot. Why have I ordered it? Well, that's one of the
cheapest all-metal FPs that are not a part of Chinese QC lottery and that do
have F/EF nib options (I ordered the EF, of course), and I really do need
all-metal pen body after realizing what happened to the plastic barrel of my
Parker Jotter CT FP. Why didn't I order the Jotter SS FP instead? Because it
turned out to be much more expensive than Jotter BP and the Pilot MR here,
that simple. But I'm keeping this in mind as a last-resort fallback option.
Why Animal series? Well, that's even simpler: because it's the only MR
series I could currently find where I live, even online. But the
black-on-black "crocodile" strip pattern doesn't bother me at all.
Now, here is the real kicker. I have ordered this fountain pen on Saturday
(and, of course, this means they will only react to my order today and I'll
get it tomorrow or even on Wednesday (if not on Thursday), so, while waiting
for it, I decided to read and view some reviews both from regular users and
"professional" pen reviewers. Most of them are about the US and/or Japanese
versions with proprietary refills, and I thought "well, OK, not a big deal,
the rest of the pen is still the same". But I kept seeing/hearing how each
and every one of these reviews said how good this pen was _as an entry-level
fountain pen_. Well, at first I didn't pay much attention to this, but then
a thought crossed my mind: "an entry-level pen with proprietary refills that
costs about 30x Centropen Student? Something is not right with this term".
But then I remembered how most reviewers called Orients "entry-level
automatic watches", Victorinoxes "entry-level knives" and so on. And
everything fell into its place. It has nothing to do with quality, usability
or affordability. It is pure marketing once again.
You see, if you, as a reviewer, publicly call Centropen Student an
"entry-level" fountain pen (which it actually is, as it's perfect for
beginners and students to try them out without spending a lot), then you
will have to admit that Pilot Metropolitan/MR no longer is one. You'll have
to call it a "mid-range" fountain pen, which it really is price-wise (by the
way, doesn't MR stand for "mid-range"). I'd even say "upper-mid-range", but
that would mean that the prices for even more expensive pens are even less
justified. And that conclusion is perfectly fine for me as a normal user,
but not for the reviewers who often shamelessly advertise much more
expensive items and get their share of profit out of it.
But even this Overton window sliding is not the main issue with the
"entry-level" term. The main issue is a subconscious attempt to program your
mind to buy more even if you are fully satisfied with what you already have.
By labeling an item as such, they are trying to say something like "this is
just the beginning of your journey, you are going to find more substantial
items as you grow and delve deeper into it, you are not going to use an
entry-level product for the rest of your life, are you?" And a lot of people
really fall for this shit and give up their money to own something that's
not labeled "entry-level" without even asking who labeled it and why. I
guess I own a lot of such "beginner" items and they do their things well, so
why would I even want to change them? Heck, I even saw some YouTube reviews
that call Orient Kamasu (RA-AA00..) "an entry-level automatic dive watch".
Yes, they said this about a Kamasu, not a Tristar. Look around you, how many
people are going to pay even that amount of money for a mere mech watch in
2023? How can you call it "entry-level" at all? But no, they know what
they're doing. They are trying to set your brain to anticipate the "growth"
you never need in the first place and to come to them once again for a
"higher-tier" Seiko, Citizen or some Swiss brands (almost all of which are a
pure ripoff to begin with). Combined with FOMO and planned obsolescence,
this is the third consumption-driving trick being played on you these days.
