Gear Acquisition Syndrome • Hacker News Board

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#101

Post by MisterBastahrd » Wed, Aug 07, 2024, 6:34 PM UTC

Was doing this with food storage containers.

I looked above my fridge one day and saw about 40 tupperware lids that I had never used and would likely never use. I went through them, saving the large containers for large meals (think Thanksgiving leftovers) and some moderate sized containers for eating for the week. Everything else got tossed and I instead purchased two sets of food service containers. They accomplish the same goal, they're all the same size, and they don't take up nearly as much space.

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#102

Post by AlotOfReading » Wed, Aug 07, 2024, 6:41 PM UTC

jajko wrote: post #84

ibejoeb wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rock climbers, man. Total gearheads.

Maybe if they do alpinism too, or trad climbing. But it can also be just a neat little pile worth less than 500$

You might be able to squeeze in a nut set and a couple quickdraws after you spend $400 of that on the rope, shoes, and harness.

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#103

Post by m3kw9 » Wed, Aug 07, 2024, 6:52 PM UTC

There is also left end of the bell curve where one enjoys and tries to squeeze single big out of a product that they love and resisting upgrades.

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#104

Post by herpdyderp » Wed, Aug 07, 2024, 6:53 PM UTC

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…

I do this with shoes. I won’t need a new pair for decades!

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#105

Post by dimatura » Wed, Aug 07, 2024, 6:56 PM UTC

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…

Yes, as someone who is into synths and photography (apparently not an uncommon intersection), it's definitely common to both, even with the same term. And I'm sure they're not the only ones. As someone who likes bikes there's also this old joke of "what is the minimum number of bikes to have", the answer being "current number of bikes + 1".

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#106

Post by solid_fuel » Wed, Aug 07, 2024, 6:56 PM UTC

From another angle, I think it's understandable that people like to have premium "signifiers" of their skill. A carpenter with a full set of well maintained chisels seems on first glance more likely to be a good carpenter than one who carves uses with a box cutter.

So there may be a natural drive to collect and display things that indicate skill in our chosen areas of interest.

Now, to twist this around a bit: is this "gear acquisition syndrome" a contributor to the constant churn of tools and frameworks in our field? Especially in programming, collecting and using new "gear" (libraries, frameworks, administrative tools) is essentially free - often the only cost is time.

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#107

Post by dmd » Wed, Aug 07, 2024, 6:56 PM UTC

herpdyderp wrote: post #104

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…

I do this with shoes. I won’t need a new pair for decades!

I did this with shoes. Bought 4 pairs of the shoes I liked. Right on schedule, they discontinued them, and I was so happy I'd done so!

And then when after about 5 years I said "hey, these shoes are getting pretty worn, time to move on to the next pair", I was 43 years old, and lo and behold ... my feet had widened and I couldn't even get my feet into the brand-new shoes. I had to put them in an expanding last for almost two MONTHS before they would fit.

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#108

Post by KittenInABox » Wed, Aug 07, 2024, 6:58 PM UTC

AlotOfReading wrote: post #102

jajko wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe if they do alpinism too, or trad climbing. But it can also be just a neat little pile worth less than 500$

You might be able to squeeze in a nut set and a couple quickdraws after you spend $400 of that on the rope, shoes, and harness.

If you're into bouldering, you can just get a crashpad and shoes.

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#109

Post by aspenmayer » Wed, Aug 07, 2024, 6:58 PM UTC

blackeyeblitzar wrote: post #78

I only learned of this phrase recently but now I see it mentioned everywhere. Isn’t there a word for this phenomenon? Or is it actually a new concept that is spreading virally or something?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion

> The frequency illusion (also known as the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon) is a cognitive bias in which a person notices a specific concept, word, or product more frequently after recently becoming aware of it.

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#110

Post by elevation » Wed, Aug 07, 2024, 6:59 PM UTC

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…

Stockpiling is a valuable technique to limit/defer the risk of being deprived of (whatever you're stockpiling,) while incurring a different set of costs (the time, energy, storage space, and inevitable degradation of the good you've stockpiled.) Set limits on these costs, e.g, "I'll stockpile no more than I can fit in my spare closet" and you can rationally stockpile within those limits to your heart's content.