Cornering the market for wheels
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- Sabrina Cruz, Melissa Fernandes and Taha Khan from 'Answer in Progress' discuss a question about a wheely good idea.
LATERAL is a weekly podcast about interesting questions and even more interesting answers, hosted by Tom Scott. For business enquiries, contestant appearances or question submissions, visit www.lateralcas...
GUESTS:
Sabrina Cruz: @answerinprogress, / nerdyandquirky
Melissa Fernandes: @answerinprogress, / mehlizfern
Taha Khan: @answerinprogress, / khanstopme
HOST: Tom Scott.
QUESTION PRODUCER: David Bodycombe.
RECORDED AT: The Podcast Studios, Dublin.
EDITED BY: Julie Hassett.
GRAPHICS: Chris Hanel at Support Class. Assistant: Dillon Pentz.
MUSIC: Karl-Ola Kjellholm ('Private Detective'/'Agrumes', courtesy of epidemicsound.com).
FORMAT: Pad 26 Limited/Labyrinth Games Ltd.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: David Bodycombe and Tom Scott.
© Pad 26 Limited (www.pad26.com) / Labyrinth Games Ltd. 2024.
![FendiDa Rappa - Clock Dat ft. Shamar Marco [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3NBU8KHdxYY/mqdefault.jpg)
I absolutely love how Tom made the connection with gaming instantly but it took them 8 more minutes to stumble into the answer from the opposite direction.
the captions use tyres for the british speakers and tires for americans. now that's dedication
Technically, they're Canadian. We use the American spelling of tire, but most of the time we use British spelling.
Canadians are Americans. It's still North America.
@@ptrknvk Canadians are from the continent of North America, but they are Canadians, not Americans.
They use Caption+ by JS*, for all of Tom Scott's channels, they always do a great job, worth the money I'm sure
@@Vykk_Draygo We should've probably went with Yanks instead of Americans, but even I don't like Yank that much because it feels very east coast.
I just love how this crew of centenials drive Tom absolutely wild by merely existing in his general social proximity.
5:49 6:25 There’s something about watching Tom actually fire back when young people clown about his age that is immensely satisfying for some reason. 😆
While they are all RUclipsrs, it's obvious clear none of them are streamers.
I was screaming at the screen from the moment the word "DXRacer" showed up.
Or have ever watched any streamers :D
Yeah, my very first thought was "Isn't that the company that makes ?" And I don't even watch streamers, or have one of those things myself. I've just somehow seen them in random clips I guess. So very surprised none of them recognised the name lol
@@EdwardMillen Ya, I was doubting myself until the end. I was like "What in the world do they have to do with cars?"
8:55 "Oh, g'n'augh!" -Tom Scott
for anyone who regularly opens up appliances, the answer is very simple: wheels.
Cogwheels, bearings, nuts on bolts, pulleys... and there are anywhere from dozens to hundreds of them in every appliance and gadget.
I suppose it is a matter of what you would consider a wheel, and what you would consider a window.
Is a nut on a bolt a wheel in your wheel definition of choice? Is an openable window a door?
But if we are counting "wheel like mechanical parts" as wheels, there is no contest, definitely wheels, no matter how far you stretch the definition of doors.
Transistors exist so doors
At that point you're not talking about wheels, you're talking about circles.
@@anarchodin What is a wheel but a circle that goes wheeeeeee?
@@vilnaszekjeYeah, I feel like if we're considering nuts on bolts to be wheels, then switches have to become doors.
@@Gakulon transitor is switch/gate combo and gate with a movable barrier is a door.
Can we just all agree that while there are many fantastic guests at Lateral, Sabrina, Melissa and Taha can't be beat. Sooo much fun to watch, such great chemistry, the bickering about age difference, everything. I love this combo so much.
i think it's due to the three of them being friends and working on their own channel together. So their internal chemistry is already there. in comparison to some other groupings where the people may be meeting for the first time on the podcast.
Watching Tom approach the doors vs wheels debate as car wheels vs house doors was adorable. Makes me want to just sit there and every 3 seconds say another thing he hadn’t thought of. Car doors. Bicycles. Skateboards. Hot Wheels and other toys (if the doors don’t open they don’t count). Hinged lids, like for a basket. Sliding lids, like for the freezers at convenience stores. Does that mean that all drawers are doors? What about ball bearings?
I saw a debate online that was down to certain cellular functions and whether those could count as doors or wheels
I wouldn't count drawers or lids as doors, but there are cupboard doors and various appliances with doors (oven, microwave, dryer, etc). If we're counting wheels on toy cars, then we also have to count doors on/in dollhouses...
Thanks for sending me down a mental rabbit hole
As another commenter pointed out, if you consider a switch to be a door then I'm pretty damn certain we manufacture more transistors than wheels. At that point you need to start looking at the physical world itself to classify things as wheel, door, or neither.
I'm screaming "gaming chairs!" at my computer.
There are also more wheels just on chairs than there are doors in my house.
@@elliottmcollins I have doors with wheels (backporch glass doors have wheels below on the track)
i heard dx racer and i remembered how much i dont like them😭
Drawers have wheels too etc
damn, why didn't we get this one on our subscription feed? the view count is really bad
I thought it was just me that missed it but you're totally right. 650 views as I watch this compared to the 20-30k average on all the others. Very strange since it shows as uploaded 2 days ago but suddenly appeared?
may have been unlisted until now
The viewers are being spared.
No conspiracy. The wrong episode got released, so it was unlisted until today. -- David (producer)
Goddammit, Dave!
Tom immediately going to steering wheel over anything else is wild to me
I mean... the show is called "lateral" not "linear".
god i LOVE the banter between tom and answer in progress soooo much
Sabrina Cruz, businessperson extraordinaire 😂
I think she fired off business plans for like three or four of the questions in this episode.
While they were all hilarious, they'd also all end up being speedruns to the bankruptcy courts.
Business business business, numbers, is this working?
@@phineas81707 exactly 😂
That question was elegantly written! It's a true lateral thinking question: (spoilers)
The automotive industry component was seats, the wheels component was office chair casters. In terms of brand recognition to product association, I heard "DX Racer" and thought, "That's a gaming chair." If you don't know that brand, then doors vs wheels is the right argument to consider to think about what types of wheels there are. I'm surprised the crew didn't start listing more types of doors and wheels in a household - they would have nailed the question sooner!
That question was delightfully deceptive!
I'm watching this episode while I sit on the answer
Like, 'Whoever wrote that question, I hate you' has to be a badge of honor lol.
That was one of the most magnificent endings in the series. :D
Good job to the person who submitted this question and to Melissa for having played it perfectly.
I immediately recognized the brand name as selling gamer chairs, and yet somehow spent the entire video stuck on "they made the first computer steering wheel".
Tom is quite well known as a traveller, has he no wheeled luggage?
He also doesn't remember that bicycles have wheels, despite having learned to ride one relatively recently.
There are so many doors in every kitchen and bathroom! Even a car interior has mini doors everywhere, like the glove box, the jack and tire iron compartments, the cupholders, and various other cubbies
This episode is wild lol, lots of tangents, ontology and pedantry, and Tom's beef with Sabrina certainly made this episode very delightful
Gamers immediately got this as soon as they heard DXRacer. I could have sworn they were the face of ***spoiler below***
....
....
"Gamer" chairs.
7:07 - Tom needed to remember the famous line in “Shawshank Redemption” when Brooks Hatlen (the old guy from the library) who called them ‘giggly-hula-gals.”
Re: wheels vs. doors, what's classed as a wheel? Is a bearing a wheel? Then every electrical device with a fan in it contains a wheel and a vehicle suddenly has a lot more wheels, as does almost any piece of machinery. Factories would have loads of wheels. Airports too, with all the conveyor rollers everywhere. Drawer runners? That adds a whole lot more wheels to every household.
Add cogwheels and the count increases by an order of magnitude or two - technically, a cog is one of the teeth on the wheel, and a cogwheel a wheel with cogs on its rim.
a wheel is classed as a simple machine, consisting of a circular thing which can turn on an axel. anything that fits this is a wheel.
I think the answer should be very simple.
In that the answer is: The Wheel and Axle is one of the seven simple machines. One in seven THINGS is a wheel. Meanwhile doors are very specific in their purpose ("construction that serves interchangeably as a seal or an entrance")
Like its not even a good question when you think about it definitionally
We also need to consider what a door is, because if we consider a door to be "something you close to stop things going through and open to allow things going through" then basically every single switch becomes a door, and trust me when I say there are a LOT of switches.
@@fumthings By that definition, door hinges are wheels, so every door has more wheels than doors.
I love how each episode with Sabrina turns into a generational war between her and Tom
I really like the chemistry between the four!
Cars come out close to a wash on wheels & doors and trucks, bikes, motorcycles, skateboards, rollerblades, etc put wheels way ahead. Then drawers, rolly carts, suitcases, and rolling chairs ensure the average middle-class house and office building also has more wheels than doors. I counted at least 80 wheels just in my house. It's not even close.
Cars don't even come close to a wash when you consider all the wheels in the engine and the clutch. Plus, my car is a two-door convertible coupe.
Okay but cabinets have doors. And of course so do refrigerators, ovens, etc. You've probably got 20+ doors in your kitchen. The battery compartment of electronics is often referred to as having a "door". Wheels definitely still come out ahead _globally_, but the count in your house is closer than you think.
The measurement of how amusing Tom is in the episode is how many times Sabrina falls out of screen
The wheel is the solid bit that the tire is put on. Tires increase traction over just using wheels, and also prevent wear and damage to the wheels. They also serve to improve comfort by damping impacts (to a less extent than suspension would, but still noticeable on both cars and bicycles). As well, a "rim" is a just a colloquial word for wheel.
No, sorry. The rim is the metal part, it consists of a center disk, spokes, a barrel and the rim flange (and multiple holes for lugnuts and so on and an air valve). The tire is the rubber part. The wheel is both combined.
@@MyRegardsToTheDodo nope
@@Sam-lr9oi Yes.
THIS IS MY FAVE EPISODE EVER
This episode when off the tracks and I loved it so much
I've not become too old, have I? The wheel is the metal bit, the tyre/tire is the rubber bit (likely with an inner tube inside), and the rim is the outer edge of the wheel, on which the tyre sits, held in place by friction and air pressure. That's right, isn't it?
It is indeed and it definitely was hard to watch that go unsaid.
Yeah, that bit was like questioning which is the foot, the toes, and the sock
Everything is a wheel if you try hard enough
Car tires generally don't have inner tubes. At least not here in the States. Only place you'll regularly see inner tubes is on bicycles (and other such small tires).
In an automotive context, yes, but there are also solid wheels directly attached to an axle such as on casters or in many toys.
These are the most intelligent people I've ever seen who can't agree on what a wheel is.
My first thought was that it was something to do with spare parts and the second hand car market. So if people were buying fewer new cars, then logically they might be trying to make existing cars last longer (and therefore need more parts, over whole vehicles).
About the only time I knew the question right off the bat, because man, I hate those chairs
2:47 - A typical office chair has 10 wheels (5 "feet", 2 wheels each). Every toy car has 4 wheels (and many don't have doors). Bikes have 2 (sometimes 4) wheels and no doors. Skateboards, rollerskates, electric scooters, etc.. Nearly every mechanical device has at least a couple of wheels inside it. I doubt it's even remotely close.
At the reading of this question, entirely unrelated pieces of information got linked in my mind and I knew the answer, because it was the solution to a question I had long ago asked but never bothered to investigate assuming that the name was just a name.
The satisfaction of having a question pondered but unanswered for over a decade getting a resolution is such a rush.
When I saw the first clip from this episode, I was also expecting to see the question on the barcodes and the Go board, but these work too (at least the comments actually got a hold of Tom's thoughts on the wheels/doors debate).
My take on the wheels vs doors debate: There are thousands times more replacement wheels in the world of all different types than there are replacement doors. That should make up the difference between in-use wheels and doors. (I'm also only counting the door itself not the doorway and I'm not counting gears in the wheel count but I am counting skate wheel conveyors.)
Also Tom didn't take into account that every drawer in a house usually uses at least two wheels, garage doors have several, sliding doors use more than one wheel and of course rolling chairs have several as well.
When they started to get in a tussle about Sabrina's age, I looked up her article on Wikipedia and she's only two years older than me oddly enough, and also Canadian. Yeah, she would not be reading the news in 2003 most likely. She also apparently hosted Crash Course Kids which I feel stupid for because years ago I was trying to find some science resources for a cousin I know on that channel and I never made the connection since.
Finally a Lateral question I knew the answer to immediately 😅
A tire without a wheel is just a tire, a wheel without a tire is still a wheel.
The presence of a wheel is implied when calling both parts together a tire. A spare tire better have a wheel, but someone's winter tires in the shed probably don't.
That was a good one!
I knew I'd heard of DXRacer, but did not make the connection. I was thinking decorative wall mounted steering wheels.
Initial thoughts: they are replacement parts for the vehicles already in use that would have to stay in use for longer as less new one are bought.
Hey the original DXRacer chairs are actually quite comfortable. After their succes a lot of companies made cheaper versions that were much worse.
I got to do the thing for this one.
I knew DXracer for this product primarily (I in fact was gifted one for my 18th birthday), so to me, it was a slam dunk on the answer.
as to the wheels vs doors debate, it depends on how loose/strict the definition of each is. if "wheel" includes things like the internal parts of a bearing, or lego/toy wheels, that's a stupid high number of wheels in the world.
on the other hand, if it includes anything that's a hinged panel of some type, then we include cupboard doors, fridge doors, oven doors, microwave doors, but we also have a solid starting point with nearly every building out door-ing wheels via internal doors, shopping centre doors, office doors, automatic doors (which might count as two, for left and right) etc.
if we're including toy wheels, I think it'd be wheels, just because I think lego do it on a scale that dwarfs the difference between the two.
Adding spaces for spoilers
It's funny how long it took them to get that when the gaming chairs is literally all I know DXRacer for.
If you count logic gates in i think the question is clear
if you can count a logic gate as a door, I'm pretty sure you could also make a case for loops being counted as wheels
We are *not* counting logic gates.
However... are lids doors? If I lift open a lid to toss something into a trash can, am I using a door?
I counted 58 wheels in my household, and I'm sure I've missed some. Two cars with 5 wheels each (spare tires), 3 office chairs (my wife and I both work from home) with five wheels each (casters count as wheels), two garden carts with four wheels each, a wheelbarrow, three utility carts with four wheels each, a movable kitchen countertop thing with 4 wheels, a small kitchen appliance stand with 4 wheels. And two wheels built into the bottom of the sliding patio door.
I won't even count things like a few model cars and internal parts of things, just load=bearing wheels. And I have a very average house. 1600sf on a quarter acre plus a 200sf utility/storage shed and no garage. It has a total of 8 doors.
Hate to say it but I had this one in the first thirty seconds. To be clear, this is an indictment of myself.
As someone who the brand DXRacer's products cater to, I knew the answer from the very beginning.
I feel so bad for Tom at the end there XD
Funnily enough, before gamer chairs were a thing, I'd known a few people who'd decided to make their computer chairs by taking seats from totaled luxury cars and building a platform to put them on (usually these involved a way to use the power seat controls though) - so I shouldn't be too surprised that gamer chairs were born from a company that made seats for sports cars.
i recognized the brand name DX Racer from the beginning xD i was just waiting for them to get to gaming chairs and then they kept not getting there.
Tyre and wheel are *NOT* interchangeable terms. The tyre is the rubber loop on the outside. The wheel is the metal bit that wears the tyre.
Tom finally firing back at Sabrina for the age jokes
As someone who owns a racing chair, this was painful
From what I've heard about these chairs, that seems appropriate.
9 doors in the house, 1 in the garage, and say 40 lego doors.
The car has at least 6 wheels, 2 bikes have 4 wheels, and I've got hundreds of Lego wheels.
I'm thinking there's more wheels. 😀
When a video game character is born they are a new Tron. Once they get a job they become a pro Tron. And if they run for and get into public office they become an elect Tron.
Its wild how they all had no clear idea what a wheel is.
I remember the days of RUclips when you knew someone made it after they got their DxRacer in branded colors
It took me a long time to realise they are talking about the buying of caster wheels?
I had it that they had 'cornered the market' ie buying the world's stock of caster wheels
DXRacer is extremely popular for gaming chairs in Brazil. Apparently, judging by the comments, it's not as omnipresent elsewhere.
Hi Tom, more doors than wheels. My house has more than 60 doors and only about 25 wheels. how about a cruse ship? lots and lots of doors but not many wheels. Cheers.
"Stupid gamer chairs"
*looks at bright pink Razer gaming chair*
*cries a little*
In the doors/wheels argument - what about bicycles and motorbikes? Standard will have two wheels each but no doors and many families will have multiple bikes - one for each member of the household....
how is it possible none of these people have heard of DXracer lol
Dang i started to think there was something involving the Fast and the Furious franchise. 2003 is probably somewhere around the 2nd movie.
every gamer screaming as they heard the question. i didn't even realize DXRacer made chairs for cars first before inflicting bucket seats on gamer nerds
Rim is the metal part, rubber Tire goes on the Rim, Wheel is 2 together. Long time mechanic here. The wheels didn't come from cars the seats came from cars makes question very deceptive.
Obviously an answer on this show needs to be weirder that this, but...
A slowdown in new car sales means that more old cars are still being driven, which means they need replacement parts such as wheels. Anyone who sells car parts to garages rather than manufacturers should expect increased sales.
I'm still confused. How is a car wheel the same as a chair? And how are gamer chairs a new market? What did people do before 2003- squat?
I've had a dxracer chair and it fell apart after two years.
Ohhhh Tom…. Think of cabinets and drawers inside the house. 1 door each cabinet, but each modern rolling drawer has avg 2-4 wheels and no “door”… airplanes have a few doors, but always more landing gear, large transport trucks have 4 doors with a trailer, 2 without, but always more wheels, ANDDDD every automobile, whether it be 2-door, 4-door, etc has an additional wheel…. The steering wheel. Bicycles, motocycles, ATV’s, golf carts, etc all wheels with NO door. I’d say your biggest argument would be a cruise liner for ratio, but then think of the engine compartments and emergency systems whose valves are operated byyyyyy… hand wheels. It’s truly a conundrum.
Think about all the wheels on every office chair all over the world
I had my ah-ha moment right after the 7 minute mark.
But instantly felt two things that feel contradictory: I felt dense for not figuring it out earlier, but also that if I was on the panel it would have taken me far longer.
Wait. I know about boot and bonnet, but do you not call them wheels in England⁉
I am an English Major and still can't keep adverbs and adjectives straight.
What about steering wheels
at the end, it all make sense :D
How can Brits not know the difference between a wheel and a tire (the black rubber bit on top of the wheel)?
DXRacer... Gaming *Chairs* with the 5-point 'star' base with 5 pairs of wheels and a seat akin to those in racing and rally cars...
Before I finish the video (5:45 mark);
The company pivoted from car parts/accessories to making gaming chairs with spare seats that would have otherwise shelf-warmed in auto stores; is my guess seeing as I'm sitting in one of their gaming chairs.
Edit: I was right! XD
For a large part of this I thought that DXRacer were buying F1/racing car wheels and turning them into stuff to be sold to fans... I was so wrong.
When you said they created a new market for wheels my mind went to ... mouse wheels (actually mouse balls then mouse wheels)
DXRacer used to be an auto parts company?!
I'm not much of a gamer, nor do I have a gaming chair... but I watch a lot of Minecraft and Mario RUclipsrs, so I knew the company name immediately and had the answer 😅
But aren't furniture wheels called rollers or casters ?
i was genuinely surprised that none of the youtubers knew the brand dxracer 🤷
There are more wheels than doors because wheel is more abstract than doors. Every ceiling fan has a wheel at its core. Door is more concrete as a panel cover without hinges is not a door
Why are lateral episodes so short?
there highlights of full length podcasts.
It's always wheels. Because some bacteria have actual molecular wheels. And bacteria outnumber everything animal related by magnitudes.
Dear Scott - I was HAVING children in 2003, don't worry, I am way older than you and feel you.
What if they just wanted to have a wheely good time?
My actual answer was more along the lines of they were buying up the market to drive demand, but then it went to kit cars
A tire is mounted on a wheel.
I'm kinda disappointed that Sabrina doesn't respect the majesty of automotive engineering.
Hearing four people that don't know the difference between a tire and the wheel it goes on ramble about the confusion makes me feel old for some reason. It makes no sense, wheeled vehicles have not become less common and I think Tom is actually older than me. I just don't understand how that confusion exists.
@2:50 worst argument ever as most cars have as many doors as they have wheels.