Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Gear Acquisition Syndrome

library.oapen.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 163 posts

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#61

Post by katbyte »

davidw wrote: post #56

I think a lot of businesses kind of thrive on selling the dream. Like how much gear bought at REI is really pushed to the limit for outdoor pursuits vs worn around town? I love shopping there and looking around and daydreaming about being out in the woods. It's not really an indictment of the businesses, it's just sort of human nature.

It sucks for us who do push gear. I’m constantly breaking things because I’m well, using them. Anytime u have to buy something it involves hours of research to determine “is this a real quality product or a shitty one marketed as quality”, or “has it changed owners and now rubbish”

I don’t mind paying for quality gear at all. It just needed to be quality

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#62

Post by SonOfLilit »

Filligree wrote: post #38
SonOfLilit wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One exception is rock climbing. I've been pressuring everyone around me to get off of rental shoes already, it makes the experience so much less painful and more pleasant...

Rock-climbing with shitty gear sounds less like a matter of enjoyment, and more like one of survival.

Nobody climbs actual rocks with rental shoes. There'd be nobody to rent them to you. Rental shoes are for gym climbing, which is quite a safe activity if you're not stupid or crazy.

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#63

Post by doe_eyes »

It's funny to see it framed in the context of music when it's a pretty universal behavior, essentially limited only by how many cool upgrades exist for a particular hobby.

It's a particularly common affliction for photographers (better cameras, better lens, studio lighting, etc), but the same happens in lo-tech fields - say, woodworking (check out my premium chisels!) or even lawn care.

In most hobbies, it's just a money sink. It is uniquely destructive in photography because if you have too much gear, you can't carry it around and you end up missing out on shots.

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#64

Post by floren »

kimbernator wrote: post #20

I think every hobby that involves equipment has some version of this. I feel like we've been conditioned to believe that consumption of a product is equivalent to participation in that hobby, mostly because the biggest "reward" we get from it is often the appearance of having varied interests and appearing to the layman like you know what you're doing because you have the "nice" stuff. Broad strokes, if you don't enj…

I agree with your first point, which is that by all appearances the acquisition of the product is the entirety of the hobby -- look at any subreddit for musicians or ham radio operators or whatever, it's all photos of some newly-purchased toy with titles like "I couldn't resist!". I think this is in part because it's a lot more effort (and risk of criticism) to post a video of yourself e.g. playing that guitar... and in part because of the feedback loop that makes us think buying shit = participating.

On the second point there is some basic level of quality which is just unpleasant to go below. Sure, maybe a $500 ukulele isn't that much better than a $100 one, but that doesn't mean you should try to learn on a $10 plastic ukulele from Aliexpress.

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#65

Post by ibejoeb »

doe_eyes wrote: post #63

It's funny to see it framed in the context of music when it's a pretty universal behavior, essentially limited only by how many cool upgrades exist for a particular hobby. It's a particularly common affliction for photographers (better cameras, better lens, studio lighting, etc), but the same happens in lo-tech fields - say, woodworking (check out my premium chisels!) or even lawn care. In most hobbies, it's just a m…

Rock climbers, man. Total gearheads.

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#66

Post by twic »

jerlam wrote: post #50

I think of myself as resistant to the pull of advertising and gear acquisition, but I've developed a related problem. When I find something that I like, I want to buy multiples of it, even if there is a very low chance that I'll wear the item out or lose it, and it may become unusable in that time. I've had many objects in my life that I thought were great, and then they become unavailable and I spend an inordinate a…

This only seems like a problem if you struggle to afford these purchases, or lack space for the spares. Otherwise, it's mildly eccentric but sensible.

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#67

Post by twic »

drblastoff wrote: post #22

I’ve fallen victim to this, though perhaps fortunately with digital synth plugins that take up no physical space. This is related to another problem of mine: ignoring things I’m naturally good at, and fixating on things I’m naturally bad at. In this case, I have no real musical talent, can’t play instruments in rhythm, can’t arrange a song, and I’ve nevertheless been pursuing this in my spare time for a decade with n…

> I have no real musical talent, can’t play instruments in rhythm, can’t arrange a song

Have you heard of dubstep?

Actually, acid house might be the genre for you, since "it’s true that if you gave 100 monkeys a TR-808s and a TB-303 each, you’d probably get at least 70 decent acid tracks". [1]

[1] https://www.factmag.com/2014/01/22/20-best-acid-house/

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#68

Post by kirth_gersen »

This sounds like another guise of fear of missing out. You can't do X without gear Y. However, your brain doesn't realize there are other constraints on realistically doing X; free time, energy, creative spark, etc. But at least buying Y feels like a concrete step towards doing X and modern society has made it VERY easy to buy things. So, you buy Y and promise yourself you'll do X...someday.

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#69

Post by johnohara »

Seems to me GAS is nuanced by the type of musical instrument acquired. The syndrome may be less severe with piano and harp players than it is with guitar, and electric bass players. Although, it may extend to excessive acquisitions of sheet music and books on musical theory.

Single kit exceptions may include drummers and xylophone players.

This syndrome is very evident in high-performance vehicle markets where there seems to be no end to the modifications one can make to go faster, sound louder, or look cooler.

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#70

Post by jrsdav »

“I'm really not that fussy — I think it's more important to make the best use of what you have. I don't like to walk into a studio, lay down the law, and say, 'I must have this, otherwise I cannot continue with the session.' I'm not like that. I prefer to be more, 'What have you got? Let's see what we can do with that.' I hate spending inordinate amounts of time just playing with a sound, trying different pieces of equipment, and different mics and that stuff. Let's get the job done. Let's make a record. The whole process of recording is one big experiment in itself." - Alan Parsons
Post reply on HN