Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

[Ryujin]

There's a very distinct bitter tang to Diet Coke for me which isn't present, or is massively dialed down, in Coke Zero. IME people who genuinely like Diet Coke find Coke Zero an inferior substitute.

To me, Diet Coke tastes as if someone dropped a few shavings off a peppermint candy into it.

 

[The Firebird]

I'm a fan of the flavored seltzer waters, but many of them are too strong for me. La Croix in particular, their stuff can be really distinctive. I'm both impressed at how well they can fool the taste buds and a bit concerned.

Likewise I was big on meat replacements until an acquaintance of mine, who did a synthetic chemistry PhD, got a job with one of the big companies. It activated the 'no food in lab' part of my brain and I haven't been able to move past it.

 

[payn]

They only made Coke Zero because Diet Coke had been marketed so hard towards women that men refused to drink it. Not a problem until men started to be health conscious and Coca-Cola couldn't sell them their existing sugar free drink, so they made a new one and made it "manly".

This was definitely true at the onset of diet sodas. Very much a for women product. Which is why it was so funny when my buddy and I asked why there wasn’t a diet beer?

Though there has been a softening of this idea that beverages are famine or masculine. Seltzers for example caught on with men quickly and few have any issue of drinking a diet soda. Much to chagrin of the makers of Zima.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I'm also thinking about @Scribe are you? Or you being selfish and only thinking of yourself?

Snarf looked upon this comment and wept, for he was not sure if was more bothered by the concept of "other people," or having to care about something.

 

[dragoner]

All tech is regulated, look at airplanes or cars.

 

[MoonSong]

All that I can think of, at the moment, is the dot.com bubble and all the vapourware that caused it.

And the early 80's microcomputer race to the bottom. Didn't go well for any of the companies involved. It got prices as low as $99. The only survivors were Tandy -by making the switch to clone IBM PCs-, TI -which retreated completely from PCs- and a dying Commodore -that got a lifeline in the Amiga ecosystem but never recovered from the loses in leadership-. All other participants -Atari, Accorn, Synclair, Dragon...- went bust and got sold to the highest bidder -not that there were enough of them- mostly for the valuable parts. Out of the early PC makers, only Apple got out unscathed because the winning move was not to play. And nowadays $500 is a bargain for a decent PC.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

All tech is regulated, look at airplanes or cars.

Boeing looks around nervously

 

[overgeeked]

All tech is regulated, look at airplanes or cars.

Well, not really. Depends on the tech, depends on the place, and depends on how we define tech.

Even if we broadly define tech to include things like agriculture, there are some aspects that are regulated and others that are not. As long as you have access to soil, rain, and seeds you can plant and grow whatever you want. It's illegal to grow certain invasive species, etc.

3D printers aren't regulated and you can find files to print guns online. “AI” is completely unregulated.

 

[Scribe]

Snarf looked upon this comment and wept, for he was not sure if was more bothered by the concept of "other people," or having to care about something.

 

[MoonSong]

That said, my own carbonated beverage of preference is a Zero, not a Diet, and I do feel as though it's a preference based on the actual taste/s (I was drinking the Diet for years before the Zero came out ...).

Between them, I find the flavor of the Zero more palatable. Regardless, I cannot drink any version of it because of the phosphoric acid. No Coca Cola for me anymore. Sometimes I make myself feel better by thinking I could drink Pepsi instead, but then I remember it is Pepsi and ughh Pepsi.