December 9, 2022 - 7:00am
At the height of the Covid culture wars, the people who really hated face masks came up with a derogatory name for them: face nappies.
But I wonder if one day we’ll look back on the face nappy era with longing. You see, things can always get worse. Consider, for instance, the latest gadget from Dyson: it’s a pair of noise-cancelling headphones combined with a personal air purifier. Called the Dyson Zone, the earphone cups contain filters, which pass a stream of purified air down to the mouth and nose via an attachable visor.
Thus, as well as fighting noise pollution, it also protects the wearer against air pollution. Dyson promised the product earlier this year and is now about to deliver it — but at a cost. According to Engadget and Gizmodo the Dyson Zone could be yours for the price of $949.
The immediate question is whether anyone will be willing to pay that much. I’ve got a horrible feeling the answer is yes. Dyson is an experienced purveyor of upmarket appliances; if it can persuade us to pay premium prices for vacuum cleaners and hairdryers, it can surely do the same for the Zone. Millions of consumers already spend small fortunes to cancel out other people’s noise — so, for a few hundred dollars more, why not cancel their noxious emissions too?
One obstacle may be the look of the device. Wearing a highly-engineered piece of tech over your mouth and nostrils is ever so slightly cyborg-y. Comparisons have been made to Bane, a comic book supervillain. But, then again, haven’t we become used to concealing our faces in public?
What’s more, for many consumers, any embarrassment will be outweighed by the advantages of a personal supply of cleaned-up air: people with respiratory conditions, for instance — or who live in the world’s most heavily polluted cities. Better a red face than black lungs.
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SubscribeOur immune systems are anti-fragile. The more you ‘protect’ them from having to contend with threats, the weaker they become. Everyone knows this, and yet we continue to pursue ‘protection’ through masks, obsessive disinfecting and lockdowns. In addition to wearable tech that will turn us all into wheezing darth vaders, pharmaceutical companies will happily attempt to fill the gap with experimental injections to attempt to artificially induce immunity. Sad fact everyone: life is inherently dangerous and inevitably ends in death. Dyson and Phizer will not change that, and attempts to do so often hasten it.
…as demonstrated by the outbreak of Strep A in children, and quite possibly by much higher mortality rates from seasonal flu viruses this winter.
Along with the vaccine issue, there’s also a huge problem with pathogens having become adept at evading antibiotic therapy, and the race to find new forms of antibiotic will only offset that problem for a few decades at most.
“It is better to have a stout heart and suffer your share of misfortune than to be constantly worrying about what might happen.” — Herodotus
I have read somewhere (probably in the New Scientist, but I can’t find the article) that asthma appears to result from too much hygiene – the immune system needs exposure to bacteria (harmless soil bacteria biologically related to the bacterium which causes tuberculosis, seem to be particularly significant).
The study I’m thinking of compared the incidence of asthma in English kids, with the incidence in Polish kids. The English children were more likely to have asthma, and also had less exposure to soil and dirt in general. Although the Polish children in the study were living in an area with high levels of atmospheric pollution, this did not seem to trigger asthmatic attacks, as one might expect.
…as demonstrated by the outbreak of Strep A in children, and quite possibly by much higher mortality rates from seasonal flu viruses this winter.
Along with the vaccine issue, there’s also a huge problem with pathogens having become adept at evading antibiotic therapy, and the race to find new forms of antibiotic will only offset that problem for a few decades at most.
“It is better to have a stout heart and suffer your share of misfortune than to be constantly worrying about what might happen.” — Herodotus
I have read somewhere (probably in the New Scientist, but I can’t find the article) that asthma appears to result from too much hygiene – the immune system needs exposure to bacteria (harmless soil bacteria biologically related to the bacterium which causes tuberculosis, seem to be particularly significant).
The study I’m thinking of compared the incidence of asthma in English kids, with the incidence in Polish kids. The English children were more likely to have asthma, and also had less exposure to soil and dirt in general. Although the Polish children in the study were living in an area with high levels of atmospheric pollution, this did not seem to trigger asthmatic attacks, as one might expect.
Our immune systems are anti-fragile. The more you ‘protect’ them from having to contend with threats, the weaker they become. Everyone knows this, and yet we continue to pursue ‘protection’ through masks, obsessive disinfecting and lockdowns. In addition to wearable tech that will turn us all into wheezing darth vaders, pharmaceutical companies will happily attempt to fill the gap with experimental injections to attempt to artificially induce immunity. Sad fact everyone: life is inherently dangerous and inevitably ends in death. Dyson and Phizer will not change that, and attempts to do so often hasten it.
Just when you thought creaking ‘public’ health care costs had found a ceiling.
Family from abroad, (Delhi / Manilla / Mexico City / Jakarta / Beijing / Abuja) living in: London / Birmingham / Manchester / Leeds / Glasgow sue local health board, because air pollution, in their publicly subsidised accommodation, is literally ‘killing’ their kids. Demand ‘expensive’ personal’ fresh air visors, the same as those used by ‘rich’ people, to be provided at public expense on National health. Claims, that not doing so, is evidence of systemic race-ism.
Is this a bigoted fantasy, or is it just a question of time before we see this in the news ?
The good part is it can constantly be administering us what ever drugs in the air one is taking in, that some centralized system thinks good. Put us to sleep at night, wake in the morning, burst of euphoria when we see Big Brother, and some adrenaline/amphetamine when the 10 minute Hate begins. I think society could be improved with these, if used properly.
The good part is it can constantly be administering us what ever drugs in the air one is taking in, that some centralized system thinks good. Put us to sleep at night, wake in the morning, burst of euphoria when we see Big Brother, and some adrenaline/amphetamine when the 10 minute Hate begins. I think society could be improved with these, if used properly.
Just when you thought creaking ‘public’ health care costs had found a ceiling.
Family from abroad, (Delhi / Manilla / Mexico City / Jakarta / Beijing / Abuja) living in: London / Birmingham / Manchester / Leeds / Glasgow sue local health board, because air pollution, in their publicly subsidised accommodation, is literally ‘killing’ their kids. Demand ‘expensive’ personal’ fresh air visors, the same as those used by ‘rich’ people, to be provided at public expense on National health. Claims, that not doing so, is evidence of systemic race-ism.
Is this a bigoted fantasy, or is it just a question of time before we see this in the news ?
If you think the Dyson Zone is dystopian, wait till he starts selling the Dyson Sphere.
Is this truly in the wings? Too scared to google!
Please go ahead ahead and google, it’s a solar system sized engineering structure, which humanity will build, once Saudi oil and American shale runs out.
It was just a geeky wordplay which few people will get unless they are scifi fans.
I remember the episode of Star Trek TNG with one of those in it. And Scotty made an appearance. Good times.
I remember the episode of Star Trek TNG with one of those in it. And Scotty made an appearance. Good times.
Please go ahead ahead and google, it’s a solar system sized engineering structure, which humanity will build, once Saudi oil and American shale runs out.
It was just a geeky wordplay which few people will get unless they are scifi fans.
I look forward to lamenting the state of the world to my great grandchildren when I remind them of the heady days when we’d spend 15 years building a nuclear reactor – none of this century long effort to blot out the sun with metal, just simple British bureaucracy!
Is this truly in the wings? Too scared to google!
I look forward to lamenting the state of the world to my great grandchildren when I remind them of the heady days when we’d spend 15 years building a nuclear reactor – none of this century long effort to blot out the sun with metal, just simple British bureaucracy!
If you think the Dyson Zone is dystopian, wait till he starts selling the Dyson Sphere.
“Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said that outdoor air pollution kills between 26,000 and 38,000 people in the UK every year.”
Isn’t that more than died with Covid in the last 12 months? Why hasn’t Whitty called for immediate and indefinite lockdown so that nobody dies from exposure to this killer air?
Being alive is the biggest cause of death, no one dies without having been alive before
So maybe we should all avoid being alive
Stats are meaningless and covid stats doubley so
Being alive is the biggest cause of death, no one dies without having been alive before
So maybe we should all avoid being alive
Stats are meaningless and covid stats doubley so
“Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said that outdoor air pollution kills between 26,000 and 38,000 people in the UK every year.”
Isn’t that more than died with Covid in the last 12 months? Why hasn’t Whitty called for immediate and indefinite lockdown so that nobody dies from exposure to this killer air?
Given the eagerness we have seen from ‘progressives’ to wear masks despite their lack of effectiveness, be sure that those that can afford it will embrace it.
Out of the window does child development and healthy social interaction.
Given the eagerness we have seen from ‘progressives’ to wear masks despite their lack of effectiveness, be sure that those that can afford it will embrace it.
Out of the window does child development and healthy social interaction.
If you are willing to part with that much money for it, you well deserve it.
If you are willing to part with that much money for it, you well deserve it.
The people who wear such jokes are truly ” purple helmets”…
The people who wear such jokes are truly ” purple helmets”…
There’s an interesting novel by Michael Frayn called “A Very Private Life”. He’s not known for science fiction but this is about a world in which the elite live in sealed accommodation and never go out. Children only play with their friends via computers. Elite adults work and play inside, always. (Does that remind you of something?) Even dinner parties with their friends are carried out virtually. Of course the rest of the people, the outsiders, have to make the world work, producing food, maintaining essential equipment, taking food and supplies to the insiders and so on.
There’s an excellent scene in which the young girl who leaves the sealed pod first comes across soil and realises it’s full of living things.
There’s an interesting novel by Michael Frayn called “A Very Private Life”. He’s not known for science fiction but this is about a world in which the elite live in sealed accommodation and never go out. Children only play with their friends via computers. Elite adults work and play inside, always. (Does that remind you of something?) Even dinner parties with their friends are carried out virtually. Of course the rest of the people, the outsiders, have to make the world work, producing food, maintaining essential equipment, taking food and supplies to the insiders and so on.
There’s an excellent scene in which the young girl who leaves the sealed pod first comes across soil and realises it’s full of living things.
Strikes me as very uncool like google glasses. Also don’t see why the headphones need to be included, very easy job for thieves.
Strikes me as very uncool like google glasses. Also don’t see why the headphones need to be included, very easy job for thieves.
The timing of Whitty’s comments and the release of this thing could be interesting to explore
Yes… you do have to wonder if Whitty has as many shares in Dyson as he does in the various medical companies that have profited hugely from COVID. There desperately needs to be a public database of the investments of people in positions that can influence public policy like Whitty, unfortunately we all know that will never happen.
Yes… you do have to wonder if Whitty has as many shares in Dyson as he does in the various medical companies that have profited hugely from COVID. There desperately needs to be a public database of the investments of people in positions that can influence public policy like Whitty, unfortunately we all know that will never happen.
The timing of Whitty’s comments and the release of this thing could be interesting to explore
It’s probably not an accident the model is Chinese.
The air quality in their cities could make this a much sought after device.
It’s probably not an accident the model is Chinese.
The air quality in their cities could make this a much sought after device.
The Dyson Zone will be an excellent way for non-users to identify neurotics and OCD sufferers, and take appropriate avoiding action.
The Dyson Zone will be an excellent way for non-users to identify neurotics and OCD sufferers, and take appropriate avoiding action.
When I rode a motorbike every time I got petrol and went inside to pay I had to remove my helmet. This doesn’t look much different from a helmet.
When I rode a motorbike every time I got petrol and went inside to pay I had to remove my helmet. This doesn’t look much different from a helmet.
Dyson isn’t always successful remember (or not) the Dyson washing machine and it recently(ish) withdrew from developing electric cars. Further there has been the recent development of a an “air mask” which is essentially a cap with an attachment that blasts air in front of your face so it acts as an “invisible” face mask. So while its early days – combining this with a pair of noise cancelling earphones will be a lot cheaper if you want that sort of thing.
But where does the air in the ‘blast’ come from?
But where does the air in the ‘blast’ come from?
Dyson isn’t always successful remember (or not) the Dyson washing machine and it recently(ish) withdrew from developing electric cars. Further there has been the recent development of a an “air mask” which is essentially a cap with an attachment that blasts air in front of your face so it acts as an “invisible” face mask. So while its early days – combining this with a pair of noise cancelling earphones will be a lot cheaper if you want that sort of thing.
I have 4 Dyson’s vacuum cleaners and not one work after 6. -9 months of using them. I have the upright which I paid $699.00 , I have three of the dyson cordless . I have the 6 , 7 and 11 I believe it is. They send me new batteries that do not help me out at all !! Iam very disappointed in the service I have received !! And to spend that kind of money on each vacuum I sure expected much better customer service along with quality service . I’m so disappointed in the quality of the dyson and the service is just as poor as the quality!! I sure would appreciate getting the replacement of my dyson vacuum cleaners . I feel I put a lot of money out for these thinking I was getting top of the line vacuumed but at this time I do not agree with that !!! Please get back with me and make it right !
I have 4 Dyson’s vacuum cleaners and not one work after 6. -9 months of using them. I have the upright which I paid $699.00 , I have three of the dyson cordless . I have the 6 , 7 and 11 I believe it is. They send me new batteries that do not help me out at all !! Iam very disappointed in the service I have received !! And to spend that kind of money on each vacuum I sure expected much better customer service along with quality service . I’m so disappointed in the quality of the dyson and the service is just as poor as the quality!! I sure would appreciate getting the replacement of my dyson vacuum cleaners . I feel I put a lot of money out for these thinking I was getting top of the line vacuumed but at this time I do not agree with that !!! Please get back with me and make it right !
“Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said that outdoor air pollution kills between 26,000 and 38,000 people in the UK every year.”
If you wonder how Chris Whitty could give us this number, he just made it up. Epidemiologists think they can do that. And they get away with it!
“Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said that outdoor air pollution kills between 26,000 and 38,000 people in the UK every year.”
If you wonder how Chris Whitty could give us this number, he just made it up. Epidemiologists think they can do that. And they get away with it!
Reminds me a bit of the Google Glass product.
Reminds me a bit of the Google Glass product.