Ask HN: What do you perceive as worth spending money on?

1) Gifts for loved ones 2) Things that make my life easier 3) Things that bring me joy

Roughly in this order of priority ...

I opened the thread to say just this, in a much less succinct fashion. I like your version much more.

First, I really (really) enjoy spending money on other people, especially those important to me (friends and family). When it's a surprise it's even more fun! I love to see their face light up when they least expect. Great feeling.

Now, if we are talking about items for myself, not necessarily of great importance, I do indulge on certain things, but I have rules.

I have no problem spending money on well designed items that look, feel, and function properly with the quality I desire. Examples include Macbook Pro with Mac OS X, Apple Cinema Display, Water Field Designs Muzetto and I'll tell you why.

First, the Macbook Pro. I used to do Linux as my platform of choice, loved the whole idea of open source, freedom, the platform, the options, and it's abilities. However, I would spend countless hours gettings thing like sleep / hibernate working on my laptop, wireless card setup correctly, tweaking my Fluxbox settings, among other things. It got the point I started to really value my time spent working (this was before I actually had a career) and doing other things I enjoyed. I didn't have much desire to use Windows for my main system, so I grudgingly invested in my first Apple, a Macbook Pro v1. It was hotter than heck, but I loved it. Things worked! Wireless! Video! And most important to me was sleep and hibernate were flawless! it was amazing.

For the Apple Cinema Display, you wouldn't think it would be that big a deal, but it made my desk nearly clear of cables now and the extra power connector made it worth every cent. This is the 24". Since I have this nice display now, I had now qualms purchasing the 13" Macbook Pro this time with it's smaller screen (and price). I love the portability of this little guy and not having to take out the power supply and just keep it in my bag, pure luxury. The screen is gorgous too!. My other display is a Dell U2711, I have delegated it video games.

Finally, the bag, as many call it, a nearly $300 man purse, the Water Field Designs Muzetto (with sleeve of course). Quite simply the most beautiful bag I have ever owned or seen. I love it to death. It looks great, feels like a tank, is easy to just pick up and go. It gets a little cramped with my iPad, power supply, and Macbook Pro, but that's good otherwise I would jam it full of excess items. It forces me to travel lite. I got the cream. It attracts all sorts of people and I get comments almost everytime I'm out and about with it.

That got a little long, so I'll leave it at that.

I personally enjoy collecting scientific gadgets that fascinate me like a child. I have an IR thermometer, pocket microscope (might get a USB one soon), range-finder, digital caliper (measuring the height of a piece of paper is surprisingly gratifying), altimiter, multimiter, scale (not as precise as I'd like [10mg]), and weather indicator.

Eventually, I want a collection capable of measuring any attribute of anything I come across. On my list: lightmeter, wetness-ometer, electron microscope (when I hit it big), soundmeter, and smelloscope.

Food: meals and snacks.