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

151–160 of 163 posts

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#151

Post by nicbou »

elevation wrote: post #110
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.

There is an environmental cost that you are not paying alone.

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#152

Post by makz »

I’ve been an amateur bass player since 2008. My GAS stopped when I took a year of lessons from professional player. I learned that most of the sound comes from good playing technique.

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#153

Post by Filligree »

ip26 wrote: post #49
Filligree wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

The difference between nice and average gear in rock climbing is pretty slim. A few grams, smooth action on the moving parts... it's also primarily a failsafe, so it's inherently obvious that it won't help you climb dramatically better, any more than a nicer parachute will help you fly a plane better. There's also a long tradition of the strongest climbers you know climbing on mank (i.e. safety gear so ragged it is t…

Between nice and average, I can believe. That isn't the phrasing that was used. ;-)

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#154

Post by sirsinsalot »

dingnuts wrote: post #100
sirsinsalot wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't need to be good at something to do it. What is good or bad anyway? It's comparison with others. If you enjoy it, it doesn't matter if you're good or bad at it, if joy itself is the aim. If your aim isn't joy, but success, then of course you'll lack joy. It is very liberating to do something, knowing you're "bad" at it, but doing it only for enjoyment.

I relate strongly to the comment you're replying to, and I can tell you that it's very frustrating to have a vision of something you want to create and be unable despite struggling towards that goal for a long time. It has nothing to do with other people. My art doesn't live up to my own standards. That's frustrating as hell! It's not a simple as comparison to others -- who cares about them if I just can't seem to cr…

But if you're enjoying the process, then does it matter?

If it does matter and you're not enjoying the process or results ... why continue?

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#155

Post by thirdsun »

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…

Cycling, particularly road cycling, also comes to mind.

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#156

Post by bborud »

dheera wrote: post #144
omnimus wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So counter opinion. Current lenses just seem to be a way batter optically than in the past. Sony are super expensive lenses but even if you go Sigma, Laowa, Samyang… it is not cool but some of the lenses are just better and you wont pay that much more. I used to have Canon DSLR woth some of the better lenses for that system. Recently i got Sony and to my surprise there is pretty noticeable difference. Like i have som…

Yeah Laowa makes some good stuff. 7Artisans and TTArtisans is very hit or miss, good build quality but mediocre optics. Samyang I've found to be mostly on par with top of the line Nikkor manual lenses. Voigtlander has some /really/ good optics for modern lenses, especially their Apochromatic lenses and the Aspheric Noktons. They are also a couple hundred years old so they know a thing or two about making quality lens…

Do you know of any manufacturers that still make (or have) interesting lenses for F-mount?

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#157

Post by dheera »

bborud wrote: post #156
dheera wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah Laowa makes some good stuff. 7Artisans and TTArtisans is very hit or miss, good build quality but mediocre optics. Samyang I've found to be mostly on par with top of the line Nikkor manual lenses. Voigtlander has some /really/ good optics for modern lenses, especially their Apochromatic lenses and the Aspheric Noktons. They are also a couple hundred years old so they know a thing or two about making quality lens…

Do you know of any manufacturers that still make (or have) interesting lenses for F-mount?

No. But Nikon made so many good Ai-S lenses that you can find lots of them on eBay and other secondary markets.

Note that for old lenses, price and lens quality don't correlate well. There are lots of fantastic old lenses that are cheap because they were produced in large numbers, and there are also a lot of optically shitty lenses that are expensive because they were rare or produced in smaller numbers and have collector value.

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#159

Post by erickj »

thirdsun wrote: post #155
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…

Cycling, particularly road cycling, also comes to mind.

MTB is pretty fun to get the shiny gear too... But yes, particularly cycling, $3500 for just a groupset. Gross

https://www.bike-components.de/de/Shimano/Dura-Ace-Di2-R9250...

Re: Gear Acquisition Syndrome

#160

Post by twic »

sudosysgen wrote: post #88
twic wrote: post #74

A flip side of GAS is that the market optimises for gear acquirers. A decent square taper bottom bracket is perfectly good for 99% of cyclists, and maintenance free for a decade or more. But gear acquirers are only interested in the latest and greatest ultra-stiff super-light external bearing BBs, so now square taper is dead except at the cheapest, shittiest grades. Which means that i, as someone who just wants my cr…

I agree with you regarding press fit BBs, but aren't externally threaded BBs also better for casual cyclists and more reliable? I don't care in the slightest about BB stiffness and weight, but I would much rather have a BSA threaded external BB. That way if something happens and I need to change my cranks (or god forbid, bearings) I don't have to worry about needing a specialized crank puller or anything like that, a…

The bearings in external bottom brackets are much less well protected, and so more vulnerable to water and dust and so on. That means they need to be regreased or replaced more often. I see people talking about doing that monthly, annually, whatever. I have been riding the same square taper bottom bracket since 2012, and it's doing fine.

The square taper per se may not be as good as a bolted spline or something. It is annoying to need a crank puller, but for me, it's been something i need once every five years or so, so not much of a problem in practice. So, compared to external bearing bottom brackets, a small disadvantage that buys you a big advantage. I have no opinion about the splined internal bottom brackets!

Post reply on HN