When I was young, a razor was a razor. Nowadays, each razor has at least four blades. The double blade dates back to the 1970s, and the triple blade to the 1990s, approximately, and the four- and five blade variants did not take long to follow. The wikipedia entry on this refers to how this was parodied, among others in 1975 on Saturday Night Live.
To me, it is an example of how free market competition can go wrong: in their struggle to maintain or increase their market dominance, Schick/Wilkinson and Gillette are acting like jealous siblings who are willing do just about anything, however silly, to win the love of the consumer.
Personally, I would love to see a company that goes back to basics, and re-introduces the single blade safety blade. Not very realistic, I know, but still ... and if it ever happens, I would like to suggest that it be called Occam's razor blades, in honor of Occam's razor, which is generally (although not completely correctly) paraphrased as "the simplest answer is usually the correct one".
To me, it is an example of how free market competition can go wrong: in their struggle to maintain or increase their market dominance, Schick/Wilkinson and Gillette are acting like jealous siblings who are willing do just about anything, however silly, to win the love of the consumer.
Personally, I would love to see a company that goes back to basics, and re-introduces the single blade safety blade. Not very realistic, I know, but still ... and if it ever happens, I would like to suggest that it be called Occam's razor blades, in honor of Occam's razor, which is generally (although not completely correctly) paraphrased as "the simplest answer is usually the correct one".
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