Gadget Obsession
In my life, I’ve probably spent more money on eBay than off it, grand total. Why? I’m completely obsessed with having cool gadgets, and the best deals are on eBay.
In just the last few weeks, I’ve bought a new 6MP digital camera ($350, the Canon SD700) and a GPS-powered bike computer for my mountain biking trips ($200, the Garmin Edge 305). Brute strength of will is the only reason I haven’t yet bought a cool Windows Mobile-powered cell phone (about $400) or a GPS system for my car (about $350). Still, I’m considering the GPS for the car and will probably get it within the month, despite my best intentions to the contrary.
I don’t really understand my need to have cool stuff. If I had the GPS system for my car, how often would it really save me from getting lost? Maybe it would help me find some home teaching appointments, but other than that I don’t drive many new places in any given month. If I had the high-powered cell phone, would I really use it to track my schedule? Would I really write software for it to manage and track my tax-deductible expenses, gas purchases, etc?
I think my real problem is my amount of disposable income :-) Even with my silly purchases, I’ll have enough money saved up by the end of summer to fully fund my remaining 2 years of college education even without the scholarship I’d probably get. So in that sense, I don’t feel so bad about wasting money, but sometimes I feel like I should have a $5,000 mutual fund investment that I contribute a few hundred to each month. I could have that if I’d never gotten… let’s see…
- Palm m500 ($400)
- Palm m500 foldable keyboard ($100)
- Software for Palm m500 ($200)
- Canon S200 camera ($400)
- 20GB 4th-generation iPod($300)
- Car charger & microphone for iPod ($100)
- 2x 500GB SATA hard drives ($300)
- Luxury computer upgrade to Athlon x2 3800+ system ($900)
- 20″ widescreen LCDÂ monitor ($400)
- Sony LCD projector ($1000)Â
- USB remote control ($50)
- High-end wireless keyboard/mouse ($50)
- Canon SD700 camera ($350)
- Garmin Edge 305 ($200)
- Software for gifted PocketPC ($75)
How much does that add up to? I don’t even want to know.
March 16th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
$4825 total listed.
You forgot the $900 for your bike, and the cost of your car (luxury in my mind). Why, when I was your age, I didn’t even have a car. Had to walk up-hill to campus both ways… You get the idea.
March 16th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Hey, Ben, don’t forget to donate your old camera to Jesse so we can finally see some non-blurry pictures of Urban!
March 16th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
For the ultimate in nerd toys.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110102580135&indexURL=0&photoDisplayType=2#ebayphotohosting
March 20th, 2007 at 6:35 am
And the money for snow boarding paranaphelia (I can’t spell anymore. Serbian’s 99.9% phonetic.)
March 20th, 2007 at 7:00 am
Bikes and snowboards are not gadgets.
March 20th, 2007 at 10:49 am
Uh, maybe not gadgets, but definitely somewhat frivolous expenses.
March 20th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
I resent that! The snowboard and bike are… uuuuhhh… EXERCISE equipment! I had no entertainment purposes in mind when I bought them, I assure you.
March 28th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
Yeah, I’d say you have a little bit of a problem.
April 9th, 2007 at 8:32 pm
[...] As discussed previously, I have a bit of a… problem with gadgets. My latest toy? A PPC-6700 from Sprint. I was tired of having my cell phone reception (previously from Cricket) go out every time I got on the highway. Or, for that matter, when I entered my house. So, in typical style, I decided it was finally time for me to get the coolest. phone. ever. [...]