gd剃须刀带来的烦恼- Windows Live

【Neal Templin又写文章了，很有意思。他说一个节俭的法国人至少等两个月才换一次剃须刀刀片，最长六个月才换一次刀片。如果他知道我至少一年才换一次剃须刀刀片，最长一年半换一次刀片，肯定要佩服死我了。不过因为每次换用新刀片的时候太爽了，我每天不得不用极大的毅力dz诱惑，坚持用旧刀片！】

A Penny Shaved Is A Penny Earned

gd剃须刀带来的烦恼

For years, I've felt like a sap whenever I bought razors.

很多年来，每当我买剃须刀时都觉得自己像个傻瓜。

It killed me to spend $2.50 to $3 a blade for my Gillette Mach 3. Yet the few times when I used cheap disposable razors, it was like shaving with a file.

为我的吉列锋速3（Gillette Mach 3）买一个刀片要花2.50美元到3美元，这让我心疼不已。但有几次我用便宜的一次性剃须刀时，感觉就像在用锉刀刮胡子。

Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I bought a serviceable store-brand razor that costs about half the price of the premier brands.

最终，几星期前，我买了一把商店自有品牌的剃须刀，这把剃须刀也还好用，而且价格只有mp剃须刀的一半左右。

It shouldn't have come to this. I've used Gillette razors for decades, and I like them. The rub is the cost. In my book, a fair price for refills would be about a buck.

事情不应该变成这样。我已经用了几十年吉列剃须刀了，而且我喜欢用它。问题出在价格上。在我看来，刀片的合理价格应该约为1美元。

I'm a believer in markets, but it doesn't seem like the razor-blade market gives me what I want. Instead of competing on price, Gillette and Schick largely seem to be engaged in a silly arms race to improve a product that already works perfectly well. Two blades, three blades, four blades -- when will it stop?

我是一个信奉市场的人，但剃须刀刀片市场看来并没有给出我想要的结果。吉列（Gillette）和舒适（Schick）并没有在价格上进行竞争，而更像是投入了一场愚蠢的军备竞赛，以改进一种本来已经很完善的产品。双刀片、三刀片、四刀片──什么时候才是个头？

Not anytime soon, apparently. Schick will soon launch its own five-blade razor, and says that prices for it should be 10% to 20% above the Quattro, its four-blade razor that was introduced in 2003.

显然，这种趋势短期内不会停止。舒适公司很快将推出它的五刀片剃须刀，并称该产品的价格将比其2003年推出的四刀片剃须刀“创4纪”（Quattro）高 10%至20%。

Gillette, a unit of Procter & Gamble, got there first. Its Fusion Power MVP -- an early version of which went on sale in 2006 -- has five spring-mounted blades and battery-powered micropulses to reduce friction 'so you barely feel the blades.' The Gillette Web site has a video of a mechanic with a giant razor blade on a car lift.

宝洁公司（Procter & Gamble）旗下的吉列公司是率先推出五刀片剃须刀的生产商。吉列的Fusion Power MVP──这款剃须刀的早期型号于2006年上市──带有五个弹簧式刀片和电动微脉冲以减少摩擦，“因此您几乎感觉不到刀片”。吉列公司的网站上有一段视频，视频中，一位拿着巨型剃须刀刀片的机械师站在一架汽车升降机上。

Razor makers, I have news for you. A razor is not a sports car. It won't make us feel young again or turn women's heads. We don't like shaving, and no matter what you do, we never will. All we want is a razor that will do the job without nicking us, either literally or figuratively.

剃须刀生产商，有件事我要告诉你们。剃须刀不是跑车。它不会让我们感觉重返青春，也不会引来女性的顾盼。我们不喜欢刮胡子，不管你们怎么做，我们都不会喜欢。我们想要的只是一把不会刮伤脸，也不会让荷包挨宰的剃须刀。

But Gillette and Schick have a different view. Gillette is constantly doing research and development to create the perfect shave, says Mike Norton, a spokesman. 'It's not the number of blades, it's the science behind the blades that gives you a better shave.'

但吉列公司和舒适公司有不同的观点。吉列公司的发言人迈克?诺顿（Mike Norton）称，吉列公司一直致力于研发能带来wm剃须体验的剃须刀。“关键不是刀片的数量，而是刀片背后带给您更佳剃须体验的科技。”

Jackie Burwitz of Energizer Holdings, which owns Schick, says, 'If you look at the sales data, consumers are willing to pay up for a better-performing razor.'

舒适公司的母公司，劲量控股公司（Energizer Holdings）的杰基?布尔维茨（Jackie Burwitz）说：“如果你考察销售数据，就会发现消费者愿意为性能更好的剃须刀多掏钱。”

There you have it. There's more money to be made developing fancier and fancier razors than in keeping the same razors and engaging in a price war. In other words, we American males have only ourselves to blame for the five-blade razor.

现在你明白了吧。研发越来越gd的剃须刀比守着老款式剃须刀打价格战能赚到更多钱。换句话说，面对五刀片剃须刀，我们美国男人只能怨自己。

Over the years, I've compensated for the rising prices of razor blades by using less of them. Whereas I once might have changed blades every week or so, I now go two or three weeks before popping in a new one.

这些年来，我应对剃须刀刀片涨价的方法就是少用它们。我曾经几乎每周都更换刀片，而我现在两至三个星期才更换新刀片。

A colleague of mine is married to a thrifty Frenchman who waits at least two months before changing razor blades. He has gone as long as six months. When he does change blades, it feels 'like a warm knife through butter,' says Jean-Philippe Masson, 36 years old. 'If you changed every week, you would not appreciate that pleasure.'

我的一位同事嫁给了一个节俭的法国人，他至少等两个月才换一次剃须刀刀片，最长六个月才换一次刀片。36岁的让-菲利普?马松（Jean-Philippe Masson）说，当他换完刀片后，刮胡子的感觉“就像热刀子切开黄油一般顺畅”。“如果你每周都换刀片，就享受不到这种乐趣了。”

That's the French way. The American way, of course, rarely involves denying ourselves something. Instead, we look for a way to get it cheaper.

这是法国人的处理方式。当然，我们美国人很少有好东西舍不得用，而是会寻找让它更便宜的方法。

Maybe that's why there's a thriving market out there for after-market razors.

可能这就是剃须刀刀片市场如此兴旺的原因。

There are people still selling blades for Gillette Trac II, the two-blade razor I used as a young man. A Web site advertised a 100-pack of after-market refills for $49.99. Alas, I haven't owned a Trac II for many years.

有人仍在卖吉列Trac II的刀片，我年轻时用过这种双刀片剃须刀。一个网站上刊登了一种100片装Trac II刀片的广告，其售价为49.99美元。唉，可惜我已经有许多年没用过Trac II了。

Instead, I went to my local CVS pharmacy, where the chain was pitching its 'three-blade shaving system.' I paid $12.50 for a razor and 10 blades, bringing my per-blade cost to $1.25.

无奈之下，我去了本地的CVS药店（CVS pharmacy），这家连锁店正在推销其“三刀片剃须套装”。我花12.50美元买了一把剃须刀和10个刀片，这样每个刀片的价格就降到了1.25美元。

I've been trying out the CVS razor for the past couple of weeks. It was just as comfortable as the three-blade Gillette I've used for several years.

过去几周我一直在试用CVS剃须刀。它用起来和我已经用了几年的三刀片吉列剃须刀一样舒适。

The Gillette might have given me a slightly closer shave than the CVS razor. I really can't say for sure. I can't tell the difference between a great shave and good one. But I can tell the difference between paying $2.50 and $1.25.

吉列剃须刀的剃须感觉可能比CVS剃须刀稍微贴合一些，但我真的说不准。我说不出上佳的剃须体验和良好的剃须体验有何区别。但我说得出花2.50美元和花1.25美元的区别。

To be fair to Gillette, I agreed to try out its latest, greatest razor. So Gillette sent me a Fusion ProGlide Power razor, a five-blade razor that hits the market in June. It will have a suggested retail price of $12.99 for a razor and two cartridges. A four-pack of refills will cost $17.99.

为了对吉列公平，我同意试用其{zx1}{zh0}的剃须刀。于是，吉列公司寄给我一款Fusion ProGlide Power剃须刀，这是一种将于6月上市的五刀片剃须刀。这款剃须刀的建议零售价为12.99美元，包括一把剃须刀和两个备用刀头。含四个备用刀头的套装售价为17.99美元。

I used the new razor over the weekend before sending it back to Gillette. It was a closer shave. But when I finished, the smooth face I saw peering back in the mirror was still my own, not George Clooney's. And I'd still feel like a sap spending $4.50 each time I changed blades.

zm用过这款新剃须刀后，我将它寄回给吉列公司，用它剃须的感觉的确更贴合。但当我刮完胡子后，我在镜子里看到的那张光滑面庞仍然是我的脸，而不是乔治?克鲁尼的，而当我每次为换刀片花4.5美元时，仍然感觉自己像个傻瓜。

So I'm sticking with the CVS razor. Until I find something cheaper.

所以我会继续使用CVS的剃须刀，直到我找到更便宜的剃须刀为止。

Neal Templin