Look, I'm a bearded guy. I let it grow in '74 and haven't changed my mind yet. And I do shave some bits - looks pretty much like your regular captain's beard. I shave them once a week, maybe twice, and have done so since the start. This is just to clear out any doubt as to whether I know what I'm talking about.
The proper Serbian for a razor blade is "nožić za brijanje" (knifelette for shaving), which is clumsy, so we use the brand name "žilet" instead, after mr Gilette. I used those for quite a while, but then they came up with the Techmatic or whatever was its name. The wind-up sharp tape. It was cool, much easier to use, did give you a smoother feeling and didn't even cost much more.
Except that it vanished after a few years. I went back to razor blades, and wasn't really happy. Couldn't find good blades anymore. Then I bought a dozen of cheapest plastic two-bladers and discovered that they aren't any worse. Then I got a sample of some three-bladers from the grocery store. Not too bad, though it's also not for a weekly shave. With the 3mm stubble, it pulls your skin a lot. But I got used to it. After a year, the sample ran out. I discovered that the cartridges for it were ridiculously expensive.
So I switched to something with two blades, which was better, except that it wasn't designed for guys who shave weekly. The longer bits of hair would get stuck between the blades, and cleaning it was a PITA. But I stayed with it for a number of years. A pack of five cartridges would last me a year or two. And then I couldn't find the cartridges anywhere. It was three or four, but no more of those two-blade cartridges.
I had enough of this game. I'm back at cheap plastic two-bladers, which cost me (with the foam) about $2 every year. I'm not buying any other fancy designed handle with replaceable blade cartridges. No more "better", "new", "improved" and other marketing gimmicks. If you guys can't keep me supplied with a product, I'm not buying from you anymore. G'bye, mr Gillet, mr Schick and others. Kick your marketing departments in their collective as*es.
Same to you, mr. Gates. And even to Heineken - new brand of beer is not a better beer. Beer is tradition, not invention. Actually, every time something's invented in beer, it's only to make more profit, not better beer. Rice in beer? Shame on you, Anheiser & Busch.
Hence my resolutions: my music format is mp3 forever. I'll stay with CDs and DVDs as long as they're readable on any of existing drives. I won't buy your "33% more for the same price" package of anything (you could have said "price 25% down", but 30% looks greater) - or if I buy it, by the time I empty it, I'll get bored by your product and will buy it from someone else, or skip it altogether.
If you're not clear on where I stand, gentlemen, let me make it clear then: I'm not a consumer. I'm a customer. Don't try to sell things to me, I'm not buying what I don't need. But when I want to buy something, you better make sure that you have it, that the price is clearly stated, that there's no small print, that the quality is at least commesurate with the price, and that I don't have to give you a loan (read: cash back rebate is a loan from me to you, you won't get that from me!), that there's no advertising for other products on it, yours or others, and if it's a tech piece, that the technical data are clearly laid out on the box.
My soapbox is almost crumpling beneath me. Gotta go. More, maybe later.
