My favorite tech channels—Austin Evans, Front Page Tech, Hardware Canucks, iJustine, Linus Tech Tips—featured videos of the same product unboxing earlier this week. The Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute, a $700 vacuum cleaner. That begs the question: “Who pays 700 bucks for a vacuum cleaner?”
Sponsored Unboxing Videos
It’s not unusual for tech channels to release similar unboxing videos on the same day. Dyson sponsored these YouTube videos as part of a larger campaign to get the word out about their newest vacuum cleaner arriving at stores on Tuesday, March 13, 2018.
A $700 cordless vacuum cleaner that hangs off your wall like a glorified Black & Decker Dustbuster wasn’t something that most viewers of these tech channels expected. From reading the comments for each video, viewers were perplexed by this multi-channel product unboxing.
What Can $700 USD Buy
Seriously, $700 for a vacuum cleaner.
- $700 is 70% of the price for an Apple iPhone X.
- $700 can buy a dozen Amazon Echoes to stash around the house and freak you out when Alexa does the evil laugh behind your back.
- $700 can get you hookers and blow.
Not that I have any personal experience with hookers and blow, being a 48-year-old virgin who lives a modest, drug-free lifestyle. Remember what Nancy Reagan said in the 1980’s: “Just say NO to $700 vacuum cleaners.”
Cheaper Vacuum Cleaners
While Dyson may produce bleeding edge tech that sucks by design, a $25 vacuum cleaner can do the same job just as well. For ten years I used a Dustbuster to vacuum my 475 square feet studio apartment. When the Dustbuster died two years ago, I replaced it with a Dirt Devil stick vacuum cleaner. I got the vacuum cleaners for less than $25 each.
For something that stays in your hallway closet all the time, $700 is too much for bragging rights on a vacuum cleaner. A vacuum cleaner should suck up your dirt and not your money.
Updated 3/10/2018: Check out the vacuum cleaner parody video by Gamers Nexus.