In the article, he lists his 14 major electronics purchases for 2025 along with "more mechanical watches than I can count". Serious question: is this a normal level of acquisition? I'm not a minimalist, but that's more electronics than I buy in a decade.

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BeetleB 12 hours ago | parent | next [-]

He likely has good money, or just decided on a shopping spree and won't buy much in the next few years.

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pelagicAustral 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I can certainly relate to the mechanical watches. There is a certain beauty behind timepieces that makes them so alluring to me. It is the only thing I can effortlessly buy in the knowing that I am hoarding. I do feel guilty sometimes, but not often.

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mikkupikku 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Probably once you're buying stuff that often, you have so much stuff that you forget what you already have and end up buying even more.

	▲	at1as 11 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Some of these are simplifications. Instead of upgrading my 12 year old Canon 6D to the mirrorless ecosystem with all its lenses, I opted for a single handheled camera. In other cases, I bought alternative devices instead of upgrading within the same platform (my Mac and iPhone are both 5 years old). The alternatives turned out not be compelling enough to fully switch to, but found a niche as purpose driven devices. In many cases distraction free devices. In some cases, the super upgrade cycle was driven by a desire to finally stop carrying a microUSB cable with me when I travel. As for the mechanical watches, yes I have too many.

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at1as 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It's a combination of a few things, and actually uncharacteristic of me.

Many of these purchases are replacements for 10+ year old devices (a Canon 6D, an absolutely brain-dead iRobot, a smaller hard drive that finally filled up, etc.).

I’ve made very few tech purchases over the past several years. Part of that was a general lack of inspiration inside Apple’s ecosystem stranglehold, and I tend to hold onto their hardware for a long time anyway (I’m hoping to skip from M1 straight to M6 or later)

A desire to spend less time purely in the software domain. Hardware can be fun. I originally studied electrical engineering but ended up spending all of my career in software; the 3D printer ties into a few side projects I’m working on, with mixed success.

A preference for narrow, purpose-driven devices. I now use the Android phone for "serious" things with minimal distractions, and the iPhone for everything else. And if Apple or Google ever become untenable, I have some optionality (and this is my first non-Apple phone since my Blackberry).

The programmable lights seemed kind of unavoidable. If you want lighting where you can change the color, the bundled software and ecosystem bloat is largely unavoidable.

The mechanical watches are tied to travel and circumstance: a Casio from Japan, a Mondaine from Switzerland, and the Interstellar Hamilton Murph as a gift. I’d honestly be happy with two or three watches, but they have a way of finding me. I do tend to match watch to outfit color, which admittedly opens the door for a few more options.