003 // The end of G.A.S.
For the last ten years or so, it’s been a constant cycle: buy the new thing, own it for a while, and then research the next best thing. I’m absolutely sick of it.
As much as I love nerding out on the newest gear, it’s just not fun anymore. If I’m honest with myself, everything I own would blow me away if I could go back in time 10 years and show my younger self.
Last week, Apple announced their new iPhone like they do every September. I’ve been itching for a proper zoom lens in my iPhone since my friend Chris visited from England in 2023. We went to see Blink-182, and even though we had great seats (thanks to an awesome friend who hooked us up), you still need to zoom in since the default camera is about 24mm.
I had my iPhone 14 Pro, and he had a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. I had a 3x optical zoom, he had a 10x. There was no comparison. It was miles better than my iPhone. My current iPhone 15 Pro Max looks pretty bad most of the time. Sigh.
But why do I even care? What would I be using that zoom for? Our daughter is easily my most photographed subject these days, and I don’t really need a zoom lens for her. I mostly use my Fujis for snapping shots of her anyway. I occasionally take photos of funny license plates, of which there are many in Tennessee. The new selfie camera looks amazing, and I think it’s actually going to push camera brands to doing more open gate stuff with some unorthodox sensors. But I don’t even really take selfies.
The banana stand doesn’t stop here… it extends to almost all my interests and hobbies.
It’s the same story with camera gear. I bought some new smaller mics for ~*creating content*~, the DJI Mic Mini. Two weeks later, the Mic 3 was announced. Twice the price, with some more pro features that I’ll likely never use, and I returned the Mic Mini to get the Mic 3 kit. The cheaper one is a much better buy, but I figured ‘hey, let me just future proof with the newest release’. Silly.
I had the same thing happen when I bought and immediately returned the Leica Q3 43. I thought of it like my fake midlife crisis purchase. I wanted to treat myself to “the best”. But once I had it in hand, I didn’t feel good about how many features were missing on a $7,500 camera. (I made a whole YouTube video about it if you’re curious.) I realized what an amazing value my Fuji X100VI is in comparison, and thought there was really no reason to need more. Except having that Leica glass, and a full frame sensor… ahh! This is a topic that I could go on about forever, so I’ll spare you.
I did recently get a new lens for my X-T5 which is incredible– the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8. It’s tiny, not a fortune, and has great image quality. (It deserves its own post and full YouTube review.) When I get something that fills a gap in my workflow or solves a problem, I feel justified.
Video games are where my addictive personality gets its hooks in me, so I tread lightly. I bought a Nintendo Switch 2, and ended up returning it just before the return window closed. I came to my senses and realized that I play a total of a few hours per YEAR. My original Switch was fine! It was more comfortable to hold, and I already had all the accessories I needed. Why do I need the newest one? Maybe if they release a sequel to Mario Odyssey 2…
Guitar is something that I’ve been into on and off since 2022. I can play a little bit outside of some simple punk stuff. I’ve bought and sold a handful of guitars, only to realize that the one I started with three years ago was the one I liked best and does everything I need it to. Say it ain’t so! (c’mon, it’s a great song and a fun solo to play)
Even cars… I’ve got two years left on my lease and I’m already eyeing what else is out there for… 2027. The thing is, I’m not even a car guy. I actually feel crazy just writing all this out, but it’s good. Maybe someone out there will resonate with it and we can start a support group or something. But the new Land Cruiser does look pretty sweet!
I don’t know why, but I feel like I keep chasing the thing that will perform the task the best and most efficient way. But what does it matter when I’m spending more time thinking about how to do the task the best, instead of doing the task? The gear gets slightly better, but at what cost? So much time, energy, and money gone.
There’s definitely plenty of marketing from brands to keep us on the ‘upgrade’ hamster wheel, making us feel like our stuff is never good enough: it could always be slightly nicer, slightly better, more optimized.
But maybe it’s just me. Maybe it’s a form of procrastination. The reality is that instead of putting my brain power into stuff that matters, I focus on specs of material stuff that I don’t really need. The silver lining is that it means life is stable enough for me to even spend time thinking about that stuff.
At the end of the day, if I asked myself "could I use this for the rest of my life?" The answer is almost always yes. So now I try to be more intentional (2025’s worst word) with my decisions, and think ’why’ instead of the ‘why not’.
