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307 points MBCook | 3 comments | | HN request time: 0.199s | source
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bunderbunder ◴[] No.42151125[source]
I'd love to see some sort of multiple regression or ANOVA on this, instead of singling out a single variable. Is car brand really the best independent predictor? Or is it specific design decisions you tend to see in certain brands?

(Like, say, maximizing driver distraction by consolidating a bunch of essential controls and information displays into a touchscreen display that's really difficult to operate when it's sunny outside. Just to pick something at random, of course.)

Somewhat related, I was recently shopping for refrigerators, and fell down a data rabbit hole. If you just look at the overall style of fridge, French doors look like a terrible option from a reliability perspective. But then, digging in a bit more, it turns out that's kind of a spurious correlation. Actually it's the presence of bells and whistles like through-door ice dispensers that kill a refrigerator's reliability. And then perhaps on top of that the amount of extra Rube Goldberg machine you need to make a chest height ice dispenser work in a bottom-freezer French door refrigerator creates even more moving parts to break. But a those problems don't apply to a model that doesn't have that feature.

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1. bilsbie ◴[] No.42151413[source]
I was thinking for my next fridge to just buy a plain cheap one and then buy a cheap countertop ice cube maker.

Since that’s the thing that always breaks on the fridges. And it adds like $500 to the price.

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2. _dark_matter_ ◴[] No.42151473[source]
Mine is French door without a front ice maker/water, and I love it. Way more room in the fridge too. Just open the bottom to get ice.
3. interestica ◴[] No.42151915[source]
Dedicated Ice Makers can be quite good and fast at what they do too.