Seen by Matt on February 18 2009:
The copy at Urban Spectacles > Philosophy offers a nice example of how little guys can compete against bigger competitors by emphasizing the strengths of things that are handmade: “Whereas eyewear mass produced by means of machines and computers results in the exact same pair of frames every time, two human hands, even if they wanted to, would not be able to make exact duplicates of anything. This is very true of the spectacles I create. Every pair stands alone as an absolute original, born from my hands, to live on the bridge of your nose.”
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6 comments so far
Charlie Park 19 Feb 09
Those are beautiful. Really cool find.
Braxo 19 Feb 09
My glass frames are also wood, made by Ralph Lauren.
I figure if they ever break I can just nail or glue them back together.
Heath Huffman 19 Feb 09
This works for software/web development as well. Our Premium Plan (another idea we got from you guys about creating a pricier plan) is one of our most popular plans. We provide a ‘custom made’ header and color theme for our clients. Larger companies like GoDaddy that we compete with don’t do any customization.
Keith 19 Feb 09
Neat find. It’s too bad that companies and people like that only find very niche support from consumers. Go to any “downtown” that used to be thriving. It used to have its own mom & pop department stores, restaurants, etc.
If people truly cared about unique and personal service downtowns wouldn’t be a collection of Gaps, Pier 1s, Starbucks, & other chains.
I know that’s a little harash, but people that care about those sorts of things are nearly as unique as the folks who sell them sadly. Truly too bad.
Austin Ramsland 19 Feb 09
I think that they encapsulate here is a good understanding of the “workmanship of certainty” versus the “workmanship of risk.”
My wife, who builds bikes, covered the same topic a while back:
http://www.sweetpeabicycles.com/blog/2007/09/26/mind-like-water-at-1000-degrees/
Dave! 19 Feb 09
Curse you!! Those frames are gorgeous and now I badly want a pair! But my wife will kill me if I buy another pair of glasses, let alone custom made wood frames. :)
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