Iteration the Seventh, in which we muse on Wittgenstein, death and underpants

So, why is a washing machine like a camera?
No, this isn’t one of those surrealist riddles to which the answer is something like ‘logic is not representative; there can be no representative of the logic of facts’ as Wittgenstein, the old funster, had it. Nor is the answer ‘because they both have incomprehensible instruction manuals’ which is closer, as the one for the washing machine will be written in Swahili, but still wrong as the camera will come without any proper manual at all.

To find the answer, come with me on a short journey in which we may discover the essence of my contention.

The story begins with a death.

Perhaps I am over-dramatising here, as the death we are talking about is that of a washing machine, but you may well have cried had you seen what it had done to my underpants. A man came, shook his head sadly, directed us to a showroom, and we became the proud owners of a new machine. (A process which was a touch surreal: The engineer came at the time he had said he would come, the people in the showroom were knowledgeable and helpful and delivered when they said they would deliver. Which was one hour, ONE HOUR, afterwards. A round of applause, if you would, for Becks Electrical Centre of Glastonbury).

Be that as it may, we choose a washing machine. We had a choice of, ooh, around twenty of the things, varying slightly in size and colour, rather more in price. The most expensive was two hundred pounds more than the cheapest. All were machines that fall into the ‘basic domestic’ category; not washer-driers, not built to cope with hotel-size loads, just wash clothes.

So why the difference in price? Does the more expensive machine make your underpants £200 cleaner? Can it do extra tasks such as make a nice cup of tea to drink while waiting for it to do the wash? Will it use £200 less power/water/washing powder?

No. To all of the above.

Now look at these two photographs:




One was taken on a digital camera that cost, new, under fifty pounds. The other on a full-spec pro DSLR that would (and did!) absorb a month’s wages. You can probably see where I’m going here.

For basic photography, or basic washing of underwear, a basic machine is adequate. If all you want from a camera is to get a decent snap shot in straightforward conditions, go for the cheapie. I can’t see much significant difference between a modern camera costing £50 and one costing double that. If you do more challenging photography, sport, say, or wildlife, then you will have to spend more. The washing machine we ended up with has 3 dials, 6 buttons, 16 cycles and 10 lights. All of these add to the cost. How many are necessary? Are there really 16 different ways to wash underpants?

Visit the website: http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk

Jon Ryan