Oliver went to Target to buy a new vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaners at Target cost $60 to $500. The expensive ones were too bulky and, of course, too expensive. He bought the cheapest one in the store: a Dirt Devil “Vibe.” Its label claimed that it had “full size features, a clean release dirt cup, onboard cleaning tools, and weighed less than 11 pounds.” Plus, it had an HEPA filter. All of these features were nice, Oliver thought, but the most important feature was the cheap price.

When he got home, he tried out his new Vibe. It worked pretty well. It had a nice long cord; he could plug it into the outlet in his kitchen and the vacuum cleaner would reach all corners of his apartment. The handle, however, was not very comfortable to hold. Every few minutes, he had to stop vacuuming in order to rest his hand. Whoever had designed the handle had done a very poor job. He figured it was probably the same person who designs the tiny rear windshields that restrict a driver's view of what’s behind him.

But, otherwise, the Vibe seemed to clean quite well, and the plastic cup was easy to empty. There was no bag to hassle with—just pour the dirt out of the plastic cup, rinse it out, and snap it back onto the vacuum cleaner.