Why are technical specifications not "information that will lead to a product decision"?

Question

I asked this question which was closed without explanation: Where are datasheets for Crucial products?.

While I agree that it is "not asking for recommendations", I do not understand why the endurance specifications for a product do not count as "information that will lead to a product decision".

I had understood the options at https://hardwarerecs.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic :

• a request for a product recommendation
• a request for information that will lead to a product decision

to be "OR" rather than "AND" given that the bullet points in the following section are clearly "OR".

Answer 1

Not a definitive answer (and I wasn't the person who closed the problem), but here's my opinion in brief:

• I agree with your interpretation of the on-topic portion of the help section; it seems reasonable that a question that asks guidance on how to choose between products is equally (if not more) valuable than a pure recommendation.
• However, questions that focus on a request for information should still conform to other traditional StackExchange-y guidelines, namely avoiding the XY problem. We're happy to provide information to help make a decision, but only insofar as that information is generally applicable and pertains to your problem rather than your attempted solution.

With regards to your specific question:

• I think your question is very close to being an XY problem. You've presented two drives that you're interested in, which is good, but you haven't discussed what your problem is and why or how you chose those drives as a potential solution. This is pretty solvable with minimal editing; for example, if you're looking for a drive with high endurance, your question might be something along the lines of "High-endurance drives with xx GB capacity for $xx cost". We could then help you find a drive with the required TBW ratings.
• We can't really help you get the information you want on Crucial's drives. It's great that you know what you're looking for, but unfortunately, we're not Crucial. We're limited to the same search engines and sites you are. We can help provide methodologies to find high-endurance drives, but we can't access any special information.