As every male aged 8-45 knows, Sony and Microsoft’s next video generation of video game consoles are being released this November, after a good 6+ months of heavily marketing both the pros of their products, and the cons of their competitor’s, not unlike the older Mac vs. PC ads of a few years ago. While at this point both consoles appear to be largely in demand, with both systems’ pre-orders being sold out in many areas, the road to release has only been a meridian in the battle between Sony and Microsoft in representing their PS4 and Xbox One, respectively. While both companies have tried to build a superior system, Microsoft’s approach was seen somewhat less favorable by the public when some of its console’s detrimental “features” were announced: Many restrictions on physical disc sharing, which would impede on friend-loaning and also re-resale of games, and a requirement that the console must be able to connect to the internet at least once every 24 hours, otherwise the console would lock down, and you wouldn’t even be able to play games that don’t require internet connection. Sony was quick to help Microsoft advertise these features, and make clear that the PS4 would not be similar to the Xbox One in having any of these console additions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWSIFh8ICaA. Though Sony gained attention for its lack of detrimental features, the flack Xbox received forced it to reconsider, and ultimately change its decision in including such limitations. By the power of marketing and competition, Sony effectively assisted Xbox in becoming what many would call a now more appealing console, and as further ad campaigns continue to pour out of both parties as their launch days approach, one thing is clear: both contenders are looking stronger by the day.

People have been conscious of the need for dental hygiene, for centuries, if not millennia, with the practice evolving from chew twigs and horsehair brushes to the synthetic brushes, floss of Today. However, the core of oral hygiene has remained the same since practically the beginning- get your teeth clean. Fast forward from the flossing with grasses of Yesteryear, and here we are with relatively durable brushes, and for the past few decades, that has worked just fine. We seem to have even reached the summit as far as mouth-cleaning innovations go, as anyone who care for their oral health can maintain it quite sufficiently with Today’s tools. Though the industry has clearly fulfilled its purpose, however, companies such as oral-B and Crest continue to “innovate” on an unbroken product to make it more effective- obviously I’m referring to the absolutely unnecessary, will-you-get-suckered-into-buying-this, accomplishment of the $100+ “super toothbrushes,” such as oral-B’s Triumph line, which sells off of features such as “9000 oscillations per minute” and “3D clean guaranteed!,” (what the hell does that even mean?) and comes with packed-in features such as a pressure sensor, which sends an electronic signal from toothbrush, through your brain, and back to the brush’s base to let you know that you are pressing “too hard.” Fantastic. Except, turns out, there’s really no benefit to electric toothbrushes for those without arthritis that can’t move a manual brush effectively: “‘If someone is doing… well with a manual brush and not having any problems with plaque…, there is little to gain from switching to an electric toothbrush,'” says Dr. Peter Alldritt^1. And yet, oral-B and co continue to “innovate” (by continually introducing higher price tags?), and people continue to buy into it. Case and point- when do people start thinking for themselves? Because when else will companies stop making society look so incredibly dense.

1: http://www.abc.net.au/health/talkinghealth/factbuster/stories/2012/02/15/3430307.htm