the corner office

The Economist ran an article about razor manufacturers going ape with the multi-blade razor thing. They have a graph which suggests that we'd hit 14-blade razors in 2100. Then (via Unqualified Offerings) a feller named Avram Grumer noticed something else:

Now, that power-law curve predicts 14-bladed razors by the year 2100, but that’s not the interesting curve. The interesting curve is the hyperbolic one, for two reasons: One, it matches the real-world data. And two, it goes to infinity in 2015. And how are you going to get an asymptotically-accelerating number of blades onto a razor? Why, you’d need godlike super-technology to do that.

Right. There it is, proof of the approaching Vingean Singularity, sooner than anyone expected it, clear as the chin on your face.

This is quite topical because we were discussing razors at work the other day. I got my very first razor, a 2-blade Gillette Contour as a birthday or Christmas present in '87 or '88 - I don't remember which, except I think it was '87 because our mate D moved to Welkom in '88 and he started shaving after me even though he needed to sooner 'cause he was a hairy bugger and he started getting the man-tendrils going on the sides of his face and the whole lot.

I digress. My coming-of-age Gillette Contour served me faithfully until early last year, when it finally broke. I got a cheapo replacement 'stalk' and ran down my remaining stash of Contour blades. I was adamant I wasn't going into this whole n-blade hype thing and would stick with a 2 blade razor - except that suddenly Gillette Contour blades were off the market, so I had to use dreadful no-name brands from the supermarkets that had that 'made in China and we sure as hell aren't gonna use 'em. Bleed imperialist white scum bleed' look to them.

Those were not happy shaving days. Eventually I decided that I had to put pride in pocket before I got permanent scars, and took myself off to the local Clicks. It was touch and go, but I got one of them fancy 3-blade Gillette Mach3 jibby-jobbies. I came home, lathered up, and had an epiphane. That third blade was awesome. Shaving was a pleasure again. I've been a happy Mach3 person ever since.

So my point is basically this. I stuck with 2-blade technology for nearly 18 years. I was chuffed as hell when I finally made the jump to 3 blades. I can only imagine how much 14 blades is going to rock.