[dmamills]

> What am I missing?

Likely a disrespect for a living wage for a common craftsman, and a misunderstanding of what quality goods actually are.

Certainly a lot of kids here survived on cheap $25 jansports, but did the people making them?

[dimmke]

Man I'm kind of a bag snob but even pricier brands that differentiate on quality and worker wages are not $400.

I got a Tom Bihn Synapse backpack for around $200 in 2017 that I've traveled to many countries with and has been through I think way more than a kid going to elementary school. It's still going strong today.

It was made in a US factory with workers being paid good wages. $400 is a luxury/captive audience/conspicuous consumption price point.

[buu700]

Sounds similar to my Frost River Geologist Pack, which is around the same price point and handcrafted in Minnesota. I've gotten a lot of mileage out of it while often lugging 35+ lbs of stuff, and it seems pretty much indestructible.

$450 for an equivalent bag could be explained by things like cost of living differences, but the randoseru described in the article are smaller and made from less expensive materials. The design is arguably a little more complicated, but the price still seems high for what you're getting.

[maxglute]

>quality goods actually are

Craftsman also use to make each nail by hand. Looks like kids getting saddled with heavy 200 year old bag designs whose function hasn't updated with the times.

[kstrauser]

It's not my moral duty to keep the makers of expensive bags employed.

I mean, I do that anyway as a hobby, but I don't owe it to anyone.

[2muchcoffeeman]

But maybe the Japanese value some of their traditions and want to keep them alive. There’s nothing wrong with that either.

[dmamills]

Certainly not, and I don't mean to speak for you.

But lets just say that I exist within the FANG dystopia where at any moment I can be wrangled into a meeting with a half dozen people, that if you actually consider the salaries, headcount, and time, racks up to hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars burned. For the takeaway that the modal should be fullscreen, or that we are dramatically adjusting our "design system", or whatever may have been so mission critical. Real tangible goods.

But perhaps what I do is worth more, I mean, we are talkin' computers here! we are the true craftsmen!