status symbols
- Thread starter shootthebandit
- Start date
Recommended Videos
I'm just curious, have you tried the iPhone? I usually buy the crappy cheap phones, but I decided to get an iPhone when it was my birthday because my dad's friend could get a nice discount. I wasn't expecting much, but it is worth the price, especially when you jailbreak it and you can do whatever the fuck you want.PrimoThePro said:
Like, just yesterday I had no idea where this cinema was in town, so I went on to the maps app, typed in my destination and the postal code of the cinema, and it gave me a walking route. I found my way there with no problem. That's when a phone goes beyond its duty and just becomes a fucking hero.
OT: I agree with what you say, but I always weigh things up. Like, some people might think I'm stupid for buying (for example) a 20 pound shirt, but that shirt will last me longer and be more comfortable than say 4 shirts that shrink after every wash.
I don't take things seriously enough to care about status symbols. I certainly don't want to gear my life towards working my ass off to buy ridiculously nice things.
Having said that...I would love to have a kickass grand piano. I made the mistake of having a whirl on a £7000 piano in a shop down town, I sounded great...and I'm a pretty iffy player.
Having said that...I would love to have a kickass grand piano. I made the mistake of having a whirl on a £7000 piano in a shop down town, I sounded great...and I'm a pretty iffy player.
its acceptable if you buy the latest ipod to listen to your favourite music but NOT acceptable if you buy it merely to show off to your peers.Kagim said:
also what im saying about expensive cars is that a vauxhaul vectra or ford mondeo is very similar to a jaguar or BMW. infact my uncle gets a company car and he had the choice of a jaguar or a mondeo and he said the mondeo had a far more comfortable ride quality
you also mention eating fried spam, i have to disagree if you save money in areas like expensive cars and pointless gadgets then you have more money to spend on a much higher quality food product, one thing i would never buy low quality is meat. if i was to buy meat id buy a higher quality good cut
basically im saying to live like an amish person, im basically saying that there is always a cheaper alternative which is less flash but serves the same purpose. Also you can buy something if YOU want it but dont buy something simply because you can or you want to show-off
it would be different if you bought a piano simply as an ornament but since you are actually a pianist then its a worthwhile purchaseSexual Harassment Panda said:
its like buying a PS3 simply because you can afford it and i ends up being and expensive paperweight, whereas if you are a gamer then its a worthwhile purchase.
call me niave but id much rather drive a cheaper car (which will also have cheaper tax and insurance), live in a smaller house with comfortable furniture and buy cheaper clothes so that when i do have money to burn ill save it up and ensure that if/when i have children they have money to help them have the best opertunitiesZeeky_Santos said:
It's really no different to your car example, though. I have a cheap piano that works fine, it gets me from "A" to "B" without tipping over or exploding...shootthebandit said:
The extra money doesn't add extra functionality that is necessary. It just makes what is there nicer, and possibly adds a few extra bells and whistles.
My bells and whistles are all taped to the side of my piano...
1. Because people are shallow and do often put stock in these things. You can try to live your life avoiding and ignoring them and get away with it, but if you drive a beaten up old metro people will think of you as scum at first glance.
(eh, i've gotten used to it, though i drive a slightly bigger, faster old jalopy because i need the pace and the storage)
2. Marketing, vanity, cheap credit, and occasional taboos / ickyness about using stuff other people have owned.
3. I've driven nicer cars as well, and it's a mixed bag. Really I'd prefer one like my first one, which was basically a 4-seater go-kart, just with a bit more pace and some kind of expanding storage bay a la Inspector Gadget. The ride was fine because it just skipped over potholes. The bigger, fancier one absorbed them, but in doing so lost most of the feeling of connection with the road, and it felt a bit like piloting a yacht down the road. It was also fast, but difficult to launch properly because of the inertia, and so much money went into stuffing it full of toys they forgot any aspect of ergonomics or usability. Plus, with that much cash at stake, you end up driving with kid gloves, but not for the sake of road safety - for the sake of not scratching the paint. I can't have with that. Keep it simple (well, only as complex as it needs to be for improved user comfort and utility), keep it cheap, spend the money saved on vacations, beer, paying off loans, and christmas presents.
My perfect phone btw would be something that combines the versatility of my N79 with the greater reliability and smooth user experience of the iPhone4 or Android. The iP4 I found to just be too limited - and sharp edged! (plus rather poor signal still) when trying a friend's one. Kept hitting stupid barriers, and it was often non-intuitive. The android phones thus far are, well... too big. Maybe I've seen the wrong ones. But the nokia is a good pocket size, has an epic amount of features, and though the keypad is deeply flawed, it does have Proper Buttons. It's just a crying shame that the operating system is so bloated and flaky, sitting on top of core processing hardware that was obviously never intended to take such a load (...and they make very poor use of the accelerometer - Nokia swear blind it's just got a left/right tilt sensor, but 3rd party apps show it's got full orientation abilities).
But, it was the cheap option, and it's not dead yet. Cost me nothing on top of my call plan, but I can still do proper internet, downloadable apps, music (and video!) output over cable (or FM for audio), full fat bluetooth, 5mpx camera + movie recording including MMS and video calls, cut and paste between apps, multitasking, GPS tracking etc. The £400 saved mean I've been debt free the last couple months despite an otherwise dodgy patch, financially.
(eh, i've gotten used to it, though i drive a slightly bigger, faster old jalopy because i need the pace and the storage)
2. Marketing, vanity, cheap credit, and occasional taboos / ickyness about using stuff other people have owned.
3. I've driven nicer cars as well, and it's a mixed bag. Really I'd prefer one like my first one, which was basically a 4-seater go-kart, just with a bit more pace and some kind of expanding storage bay a la Inspector Gadget. The ride was fine because it just skipped over potholes. The bigger, fancier one absorbed them, but in doing so lost most of the feeling of connection with the road, and it felt a bit like piloting a yacht down the road. It was also fast, but difficult to launch properly because of the inertia, and so much money went into stuffing it full of toys they forgot any aspect of ergonomics or usability. Plus, with that much cash at stake, you end up driving with kid gloves, but not for the sake of road safety - for the sake of not scratching the paint. I can't have with that. Keep it simple (well, only as complex as it needs to be for improved user comfort and utility), keep it cheap, spend the money saved on vacations, beer, paying off loans, and christmas presents.
My perfect phone btw would be something that combines the versatility of my N79 with the greater reliability and smooth user experience of the iPhone4 or Android. The iP4 I found to just be too limited - and sharp edged! (plus rather poor signal still) when trying a friend's one. Kept hitting stupid barriers, and it was often non-intuitive. The android phones thus far are, well... too big. Maybe I've seen the wrong ones. But the nokia is a good pocket size, has an epic amount of features, and though the keypad is deeply flawed, it does have Proper Buttons. It's just a crying shame that the operating system is so bloated and flaky, sitting on top of core processing hardware that was obviously never intended to take such a load (...and they make very poor use of the accelerometer - Nokia swear blind it's just got a left/right tilt sensor, but 3rd party apps show it's got full orientation abilities).
But, it was the cheap option, and it's not dead yet. Cost me nothing on top of my call plan, but I can still do proper internet, downloadable apps, music (and video!) output over cable (or FM for audio), full fat bluetooth, 5mpx camera + movie recording including MMS and video calls, cut and paste between apps, multitasking, GPS tracking etc. The £400 saved mean I've been debt free the last couple months despite an otherwise dodgy patch, financially.
As others have said, I would argue it depends on if you're buying a status symbol, or an expensive product for reasons other than status. Those two things can be the same product.
Do you buy the sports car because you have loads of money and want people to buy it? Or do you buy the sports car because you enjoy the engineering accomplishments, and take it to the track on weekends?
I couldn't care one bit what someone thinks of my car. If I have a huge commute every single day, and I can afford it, I'm going to buy a comfortable vehicle that gets me back and forth with the extras that will make my commute tolerable. If I love driving my car on the track, or compete in autocross, I'm going to spend more money on a more sport-tuned car.
edit: as an afterthought it also really depends on perspective. To the person spending 7 grand on a piano: really? 7k on a piano, you're insane! Meanwhile, I'm going to go spend 7k on a bicycle. Status symbols to one person can be a hobby to another.
tldr I think the motivations behind the purchase can change the item from insane status symbol to a product that fit my needs and budget.
Do you buy the sports car because you have loads of money and want people to buy it? Or do you buy the sports car because you enjoy the engineering accomplishments, and take it to the track on weekends?
I couldn't care one bit what someone thinks of my car. If I have a huge commute every single day, and I can afford it, I'm going to buy a comfortable vehicle that gets me back and forth with the extras that will make my commute tolerable. If I love driving my car on the track, or compete in autocross, I'm going to spend more money on a more sport-tuned car.
edit: as an afterthought it also really depends on perspective. To the person spending 7 grand on a piano: really? 7k on a piano, you're insane! Meanwhile, I'm going to go spend 7k on a bicycle. Status symbols to one person can be a hobby to another.
tldr I think the motivations behind the purchase can change the item from insane status symbol to a product that fit my needs and budget.
We are human, our ego is big, our wallets have to match that.
If it doesn´t, we are considerd less that others.
We have used "status symbols" for generations.
These are for "marking" those that are lesser that you, but also those that are better, and there are always people better.
For instance, the desinger clothes wearing popular guy vs the poor walmarkt confections clothes wearing normal guy. Even if they both say, play football and music and have many things in common, they are not considerd equall because of their clothing.
But we also do it because we can. Imagine, you have 1 million dollars, would you really buy the same confection clothes, or would you buy that awesome looking Jacket costing 1000 dollars? You would probably choose the jacket, because finding such a beautifull jacket for only say 80 bucks is possible, but its harder and you no longer have to.
So too with cars, but with these things there is another factor, thrill.
Wether it is the thrill of riding, or the thrill of owning a super car. Driving one gives us a good feeling. Not to mention that if your drive past a toyota prius, driving a lamborgini yourself, it's pretty hard not to think; my car is way better than yours.
And if you're not one of the people judging others for their clothes, that probably means you're one of the people being judged, and buying the fancy clothing so that they don't judge you differently.
It's a status-ruled society, and there's only one thing you can do, just don't care about what others think.
If it doesn´t, we are considerd less that others.
We have used "status symbols" for generations.
These are for "marking" those that are lesser that you, but also those that are better, and there are always people better.
For instance, the desinger clothes wearing popular guy vs the poor walmarkt confections clothes wearing normal guy. Even if they both say, play football and music and have many things in common, they are not considerd equall because of their clothing.
But we also do it because we can. Imagine, you have 1 million dollars, would you really buy the same confection clothes, or would you buy that awesome looking Jacket costing 1000 dollars? You would probably choose the jacket, because finding such a beautifull jacket for only say 80 bucks is possible, but its harder and you no longer have to.
So too with cars, but with these things there is another factor, thrill.
Wether it is the thrill of riding, or the thrill of owning a super car. Driving one gives us a good feeling. Not to mention that if your drive past a toyota prius, driving a lamborgini yourself, it's pretty hard not to think; my car is way better than yours.
And if you're not one of the people judging others for their clothes, that probably means you're one of the people being judged, and buying the fancy clothing so that they don't judge you differently.
It's a status-ruled society, and there's only one thing you can do, just don't care about what others think.
>RAK the undead
I can just see me being able to afford that
And I wonder if they'll keep all the useful bells and whistles what I "bought" the phone (with whatever percentage of the line rental goes towards it) for?
edit:...hmm, funny, quoting isn't working for me here...
I can just see me being able to afford that
And I wonder if they'll keep all the useful bells and whistles what I "bought" the phone (with whatever percentage of the line rental goes towards it) for?
edit:...hmm, funny, quoting isn't working for me here...
Well, yes I have tried it out, but you know, when a friend will just take your iPhone and play around with it, that kind of thing. I was talking about the kids who get ALL of the iPhones, and the second iPhone 4 comes out they HAVE to have it, if they don't they'll "die". All I'm trying to say is, if you didn't really need it, there is no point in getting it. But you see, I am an old hermit, and therefore my views are... dated at best.Jasper Jeffs said: