10 ms·

I can appreciate the sentiment, but I actually like doing things. Don't get me wrong, I probably spend much more time than most in front of my computer, but eve

by 0xffff2 11y ago

I can appreciate the sentiment, but I actually like doing things. Don't get me wrong, I probably spend much more time than most in front of my computer, but even so. I'm a photographer -> Two bags full of camera gear, tripod... I'm a hiker/backpacker -> Backpack, tent, sleeping bag, hiking boots... I'm a cyclist -> Bike, helmet, gloves, pump... I'm a computer engineer -> Solder station, wire cutters, crimping tools... I'm a DIYer -> Saws, hammers, screwdrivers... I would love to have less stuff, but the amount of myself that I would have to strip away for it to make sense is mind boggling to me. I go looking to get rid of stuff all the time, but even though I have a lot of things, I use all of them. I truly can't wrap my head around the idea of living a fulfilling life with only a laptop and whatever furnishings came with my apartment.

graeme 11y ago
That's a good point, though the article addresses it explicitly. >I’m not saying anyone else should be this way. Back when I was a full-time musician, I had a whole recording studio full of stuff. But these days, everything I want to do is on my laptop. If I had a different hobby, I’d have a different situation.
- ycmbntrthrwaway 11y ago
  And even if you have a hobby that requires things, receiving them as gifts is not a good idea. Can you imagine musician who received his musical instruments as gifts instead of carefully choosing them himself?
  - falcolas 11y ago
    Yup. Wishlists are a wonderful solution to this problem. You indicate which specific item you want, perhaps with a justification for why, and someone has the option of getting it for you, or not. Or just giving you some cash to go towards getting that one particular item. Of course, gifts in the $300+ range are relatively rare, so most musicians won't usually have to worry about someone getting them the wrong, but high enough quality you can't return it, item.
    - VLM 11y ago
      Somehow my sister collected enough gift certificates when I was a kid to get a nice viola. (note to non-music nerds, not a misspelling, its kind of a big violin) The music instrument market is weirder now and uses cost as a race and class filter to keep the wrong people out. Collecting $25K for a conservatory class instrument in gift certificates in 2016 is a bit unreasonable, but "in the old days" they gave out scholarships based on ability and didn't use the art as a filter on finances, race, and class like they filter for today. Even today you could collect enough gift certs to get an instrument for the joy of music and learning, just not to get a scholarship.
      - falcolas 11y ago
        > Collecting $25K for a conservatory class instrument Wow. Considering you can get a perfectly functional violin for around $100 on Amazon (there's a great YouTube video where a professional violinist picked one up to trash it and ended up recommending it), $25,000 is a lot of money for an instrument.
- sliverstorm 11y ago
  I almost feel bad for the guy. I'm sure he doesn't want my sympathy, but my darkest days were the times when everything I did was on a screen.
mtreis86 11y ago
Everything you describe is a tool. I think there's a difference between unnecessary stuff, and tools.
- 0xffff2 11y ago
  A very insightful observation. That wasn't intentional. Upon reflection I think that everything I own outside of a small collection of half a dozen pieces of art could be classified as some kind of tool. That makes me feel somewhat better about the amount of "stuff" I have.
- Huhuh 11y ago
  The line between tool and stuff is quite often blurred. Lots of tools exist only to facilitate a very specific task and can be replaced by a less specialized one. Its not always as efficient but most of the time its enough. A knife can peel, mince, cut, etc. It can easily replace lots of 'stuff' in the kitchen.
- MisterBastahrd 11y ago
  The average guy who owns a toolbox will never use 80% of the stuff in that box. He owns the tools "just in case."
  - antod 11y ago
    Or more likely, they needed it once. And they remember that time they got rid of something they thought they'd never need again...
  - jlarocco 11y ago
    That doesn't match my experience at all. I can't recall ever seeing a big box of unused tools. I mean who goes out and spends a bunch of money on tools for no reason? 99% of the time, people buy tools when they have a need for them.
  - 0xffff2 11y ago
    Really? Never in my life have I ever bought a tool except when I had a specific need to use it. I can say with 100% confidence that I have used every single tool I own at least one time.
mixmastamyk 11y ago
It's not for everyone. But I doubt you can do all these hobbies in a single day or even week. Many can be rented or bought in smaller "travel" versions, however. (Reminds me of an aside, in that every single sport has very specialized gear (on purpose) now. You can't be caught dead wearing basketball shorts when cycling, even though they are just fine, outside the tour de france.) But still, if you've got a big house there's no immediate need. It's when you have to move that you'll wish for less.
mbrock 11y ago
Of course, it's possible to "do things" that don't require a lot of extra things. Writing, walking, meditating, listening to music, reading, making out, drinking tea, running, dancing, making electronic music, math, logic, praying, thinking, debating, making movies with your smartphone (one such movie recently won a documentary award), origami, chess, baking, cooking, lifting at a gym, hackerspace participation, movie club, podcasts, philosophy, swimming, concerts, penmanship, cards, geocaching, juggling oranges, composing, whistling, singing... programming... lots of possibilities. Some people live ostensibly fulfilling lives owning nothing but a robe and a bowl.
- scott_s 11y ago
  Sure. But there's also a lot of stuff that does require having specialized things. (And a lot of your list actually does.) 0xffff2's point is that stuff is sometimes an enabler, not just a burden. Personally, I don't have much stuff, and I like it that way. But taken to its extreme, and I wouldn't be able to do my favorite things.
  - mbrock 11y ago
    Sure. I'm just trying to stimulate the imagination of someone who said they can't imagine a fulfilling life devoid of specialized items.
- basseq 11y ago
  There's a question of "need", but for most people in first-world countries: - Writing: Pens, Paper, Laptop - Walking: Shoes, Clothing (other than robe) - Music: iPod, Headphones - Reading: Comfortable chair - Drinking Tea: Teapot, china - Running: Specialized shoes and gear - Making Electronica: Synthesizers - Penmanship: Specialized quills and ink - Swimming: Swimsuit, goggles, towel The list goes on, but I'd argue a lot of those DO require extra things (to do well or "right" at least).
  - mbrock 11y ago
    Sure, but that's all stuff that would fit in Mr. Sivers' sparse apartment or suitcase.
scott_s 11y ago
Agreed. I train Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which means I need to have gis, fight shorts and rash guards. That's not really "clothing", it's equipment, and I can't buy it just anywhere. I also train powerlifting, which means I have a rather serious belt (https://inzernet.com/detail_belt.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FOREVERBELTS_BUCKLE10MM https://inzernet.com/detail_belt.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FOREVERBELTS...), Olympic lifting shoes, chucks, and wrist wraps.
nostromo 11y ago
I wish there was a startup in this space. I have so much house maintenance stuff. For example, I only really need a ladder once a year. But I keep it around forever because when you need a ladder, you need a ladder. I would love to not have to store and maintain all this stuff and to just request it on demand. Can someone solve that for me? I'm embarrassed to admit that sometimes it's easier for me to just buy a new tool than to find the right one at the bottom of a tool box somewhere. It seems so wasteful... Same goes for all my hobby stuff too. (I too have a huge bag of mountain climbing gear that gets used only twice a year.)
- JoeAltmaier 11y ago
  Yeah I tried renting stuff like camping gear, instead of owning it. The University athletic services was glad to rent me old-fashioned heavy tents and so on. For about $50 per campout. It was about the same price to buy good stuff, and use it a dozen times! I'm suspicious that an own-in-common club or organization would end up asking me to pay too much for old stuff. It'd be hard to avoid - they'd want to depreciate it all or whatever. A hard startup to invent.
  - Pxtl 11y ago
    I think you're underestimating the cost of good equipment. Yes, a bunch of fragile Coleman gear at Walmart will all fit into that budget, but it would be quickly destroyed if put through the "government mule" life cycle of rented goods.
    - JoeAltmaier 11y ago
      Pffft. I bought 3lb backpacker 2-man tents on sale for $200. Used them carefully, they lasted for 25+ trips. Oh! I see - yes those tents were fragile and high-tech and would have probably lasted less long in general use. So that's part of the problem - rental to the public is hard on equipment. Again, its hard to see a startup model here that would work.
      - 11y ago
facepalm 11y ago
A lot of these things could be borrowed for the occasion, or you could go to a co-working space that has the right tools. But granted, sometimes it is more convenient to own certain things.
jimbokun 11y ago
Mr. Sivers emphasized repeatedly he isn't trying to convince anyone else to live like him.
- 0xffff2 11y ago
  And I'm not saying he is. I am saying that I would like to understand him and how he derives fulfillment out of his lifestyle better than I do.
  - sivers 11y ago
    See https://sivers.org/no2 https://sivers.org/no2 for a little more context. There are a few programming and writing projects that I've been wanting to finish for years. So when I look at a new hobby or interest, like the ones you describe above, I think, “Ah... sounds fun... some day... But first I have to finish what I've started.” Not having the stuff around helps keep me focused. The pain of not finishing my existing projects is greater than the pleasure I'd get from the new hobby. (FWIW, the few things I own include the hiking gear you describe.)
ideonexus 11y ago
These examples really emphasize how much it depends on the person and the hobbies/interests involved. In recent months, I've become very interested in arcade and pinball history. Those hobbyists are really wrestling with collecting individual cabinets at $200 to $1000 a pop versus just setting up a single MAME cabinet. Many fans are going MAME (storing 3,000 games in a single cabinet), but the hardcore hobbyists are often outright hostile to the idea and denigrate those who post pictures of their custom cabinets to the forums. For myself, the difference between a genuine cabinet and a PC running the same ROM is negligible. Now, with virtual pinball, people are starting to encounter the same issue. I bought a real pinball machine recently and plan on squeezing another into my home eventually because the virtual machines simply don't feel the same. At the same time, I setup a virtual machine with 50-plus tables on it that I perpetually tinker with and try to improve with custom controls, larger screens, and eventually digital back-glass. We have to take it on a case-by-case basis. I remember when Marvel started reprinting and digitizing all their old comics in early 2000. Issues in my collection went from $100-$200 to $10-$20 in value very quikly. I hang those old issues on my walls as art, but when I want to read them, I go to my tablet.
- huherto 11y ago
  You can try to take on hobbies that don't require a lot of stuff. Also, if you can keep the stuff for a hobby together on a storage bin is easier to put away when you loose interest and bring it back when you want to do it again.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
pizza234 11y ago
Minimalism is not a practical matter; it's a principle, a culture, and a mindset. If you observe the amount of things people throws away when moving to a new house, you'll realize that how many things are needlessly accumulated. You can bet that the same things were really needed before buying them. I'd say that the most minimal application of minimalism (this is the idea of the post) is to recognize in advance that one don't really need them. Expanding the concept of minimalism, I wouldn't say you don't need much of the stuff you're mentioning, rather that a minimalist "clone" of you could enjoy and/or perform (depending on the goals) the activities you've mentioned, with probably half of the equipment. Besides, there are only the two extremes of having plenty of tools, and living only with a laptop and furnishing.
- Avshalom 11y ago
  On the gripping hand: not owning a bunch of physical things is not the same as minimalism.
  - coldtea 11y ago
    Minimalism in the sense of the web/hacker/milenial trend doesn't mean the same as minimalism in art or other domains. Not owning physical things is a big part of it.
- wcunning 11y ago
  It's not so much a question of what you throw away when you move as it is a question of what you're using regularly. I'll be moving for work soon, and I'll be throwing away/donating/discarding quite a few things that I will then buy on the other end. It's just not economical to ship a mattress, unless you're packing things into a UHaul, and that's not the only example. I would happily rail against the concept of disposable goods, but that's not the same thing.
Retric 11y ago
A lot of that stuff can be compact if you don't get focused on 'stuff.' Let's assume you have clothing, computer, and aka all hiking/ backpacking gear for a world tour can easily fit into a single backpack or fill a trailer. Photography, 1 decent camera is really enough. A single bike is actually fairly small. Start getting into road bikes, touring bikes, etc and they start taking up a lot of space. DIY can take endless space, but you can get far with a single tool box. 'extra' is often more about saving time than really necessary. PS: I good rule of thumb is if you have not used it in 2 years it's wasting space. But, IMO even better is if you have used it less than 3 times in a year it's fluff.
- vinbreau 11y ago
  "Photography, 1 decent camera is really enough." If only. I have several lenses for a variety of situations. A lighting rig for indoor shoots which includes bounces, tripods, umbrellas, cords and rigging. Then there's the tripod, plus a back pack for the smaller stuff. Not to mention backdrop equipment. There's a big difference between casual hobby and serious hobby.
  - Retric 11y ago
    Your confusing flexibility with necessity. You can get really serious about say photographing bugs with a single camera. It's not going to be as widely useful, but trying to do everything is a great way to fail. Consider, nobody says you need an electron microscope to get serious about photography, but they can take some amazing photos even without using photons...
    - 0xffff2 11y ago
      You're confusing your idea of what a photographer does with "photography" as a subject. Photography is an incredibly diverse hobby and profession. Yes, it is possible to only buy one small subset of equipment that lets you photograph a single very specific things well, but I've never met a photographer with such narrow interests. Even professional photographers that only do a specific kind of photography professional nearly always have amateur interests in other photographic subjects that require different gear.
crispyambulance 11y ago
I think the key problem with "stuff" is when "stuff" starts running your life and dragging you down. People clearly have different thresholds for too much stuff, but there is one universal indicator for when you definitely you have too much stuff: You have too much stuff if you can't "put everything away". By "put everything away" I mean be able to put everything away and then later find it without rummaging or unpacking boxes. It means having tables with nothing but permanent fixtures on them and shelves where everything is visible at a glance. It means, often, that getting new stuff means discarding old stuff to make room. It takes a long time to get to that point, but it looks great and inspires creativity.
overdrivetg 11y ago
These guys are interesting, but may only be in Los Angeles: http://www.getfunship.com/ http://www.getfunship.com/ They deliver & pick up activity-specific gear. As others have said, not sure if there is enough of a market for it, but access code "nextdoor" if you want to give it a try

by 0xffff2 11y ago

graeme 11y ago

That's a good point, though the article addresses it explicitly. >I’m not saying anyone else should be this way. Back when I was a full-time musician, I had a whole recording studio full of stuff. But these days, everything I want to do is on my laptop. If I had a different hobby, I’d have a different situation.

ycmbntrthrwaway 11y ago
And even if you have a hobby that requires things, receiving them as gifts is not a good idea. Can you imagine musician who received his musical instruments as gifts instead of carefully choosing them himself?
- falcolas 11y ago
  Yup. Wishlists are a wonderful solution to this problem. You indicate which specific item you want, perhaps with a justification for why, and someone has the option of getting it for you, or not. Or just giving you some cash to go towards getting that one particular item. Of course, gifts in the $300+ range are relatively rare, so most musicians won't usually have to worry about someone getting them the wrong, but high enough quality you can't return it, item.
  - VLM 11y ago
    Somehow my sister collected enough gift certificates when I was a kid to get a nice viola. (note to non-music nerds, not a misspelling, its kind of a big violin) The music instrument market is weirder now and uses cost as a race and class filter to keep the wrong people out. Collecting $25K for a conservatory class instrument in gift certificates in 2016 is a bit unreasonable, but "in the old days" they gave out scholarships based on ability and didn't use the art as a filter on finances, race, and class like they filter for today. Even today you could collect enough gift certs to get an instrument for the joy of music and learning, just not to get a scholarship.
    - falcolas 11y ago
      > Collecting $25K for a conservatory class instrument Wow. Considering you can get a perfectly functional violin for around $100 on Amazon (there's a great YouTube video where a professional violinist picked one up to trash it and ended up recommending it), $25,000 is a lot of money for an instrument.
sliverstorm 11y ago
I almost feel bad for the guy. I'm sure he doesn't want my sympathy, but my darkest days were the times when everything I did was on a screen.

mtreis86 11y ago

Everything you describe is a tool. I think there's a difference between unnecessary stuff, and tools.

0xffff2 11y ago
A very insightful observation. That wasn't intentional. Upon reflection I think that everything I own outside of a small collection of half a dozen pieces of art could be classified as some kind of tool. That makes me feel somewhat better about the amount of "stuff" I have.
Huhuh 11y ago
The line between tool and stuff is quite often blurred. Lots of tools exist only to facilitate a very specific task and can be replaced by a less specialized one. Its not always as efficient but most of the time its enough. A knife can peel, mince, cut, etc. It can easily replace lots of 'stuff' in the kitchen.
MisterBastahrd 11y ago
The average guy who owns a toolbox will never use 80% of the stuff in that box. He owns the tools "just in case."
- antod 11y ago
  Or more likely, they needed it once. And they remember that time they got rid of something they thought they'd never need again...
- jlarocco 11y ago
  That doesn't match my experience at all. I can't recall ever seeing a big box of unused tools. I mean who goes out and spends a bunch of money on tools for no reason? 99% of the time, people buy tools when they have a need for them.
- 0xffff2 11y ago
  Really? Never in my life have I ever bought a tool except when I had a specific need to use it. I can say with 100% confidence that I have used every single tool I own at least one time.

mixmastamyk 11y ago

It's not for everyone. But I doubt you can do all these hobbies in a single day or even week. Many can be rented or bought in smaller "travel" versions, however. (Reminds me of an aside, in that every single sport has very specialized gear (on purpose) now. You can't be caught dead wearing basketball shorts when cycling, even though they are just fine, outside the tour de france.) But still, if you've got a big house there's no immediate need. It's when you have to move that you'll wish for less.

mbrock 11y ago

Of course, it's possible to "do things" that don't require a lot of extra things. Writing, walking, meditating, listening to music, reading, making out, drinking tea, running, dancing, making electronic music, math, logic, praying, thinking, debating, making movies with your smartphone (one such movie recently won a documentary award), origami, chess, baking, cooking, lifting at a gym, hackerspace participation, movie club, podcasts, philosophy, swimming, concerts, penmanship, cards, geocaching, juggling oranges, composing, whistling, singing... programming... lots of possibilities. Some people live ostensibly fulfilling lives owning nothing but a robe and a bowl.

scott_s 11y ago
Sure. But there's also a lot of stuff that does require having specialized things. (And a lot of your list actually does.) 0xffff2's point is that stuff is sometimes an enabler, not just a burden. Personally, I don't have much stuff, and I like it that way. But taken to its extreme, and I wouldn't be able to do my favorite things.
- mbrock 11y ago
  Sure. I'm just trying to stimulate the imagination of someone who said they can't imagine a fulfilling life devoid of specialized items.
basseq 11y ago
There's a question of "need", but for most people in first-world countries: - Writing: Pens, Paper, Laptop - Walking: Shoes, Clothing (other than robe) - Music: iPod, Headphones - Reading: Comfortable chair - Drinking Tea: Teapot, china - Running: Specialized shoes and gear - Making Electronica: Synthesizers - Penmanship: Specialized quills and ink - Swimming: Swimsuit, goggles, towel The list goes on, but I'd argue a lot of those DO require extra things (to do well or "right" at least).
- mbrock 11y ago
  Sure, but that's all stuff that would fit in Mr. Sivers' sparse apartment or suitcase.

scott_s 11y ago

Agreed. I train Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which means I need to have gis, fight shorts and rash guards. That's not really "clothing", it's equipment, and I can't buy it just anywhere. I also train powerlifting, which means I have a rather serious belt (https://inzernet.com/detail_belt.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FOREVERBELTS_BUCKLE10MM https://inzernet.com/detail_belt.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FOREVERBELTS...), Olympic lifting shoes, chucks, and wrist wraps.

nostromo 11y ago

I wish there was a startup in this space. I have so much house maintenance stuff. For example, I only really need a ladder once a year. But I keep it around forever because when you need a ladder, you need a ladder. I would love to not have to store and maintain all this stuff and to just request it on demand. Can someone solve that for me? I'm embarrassed to admit that sometimes it's easier for me to just buy a new tool than to find the right one at the bottom of a tool box somewhere. It seems so wasteful... Same goes for all my hobby stuff too. (I too have a huge bag of mountain climbing gear that gets used only twice a year.)

JoeAltmaier 11y ago
Yeah I tried renting stuff like camping gear, instead of owning it. The University athletic services was glad to rent me old-fashioned heavy tents and so on. For about $50 per campout. It was about the same price to buy good stuff, and use it a dozen times! I'm suspicious that an own-in-common club or organization would end up asking me to pay too much for old stuff. It'd be hard to avoid - they'd want to depreciate it all or whatever. A hard startup to invent.
- Pxtl 11y ago
  I think you're underestimating the cost of good equipment. Yes, a bunch of fragile Coleman gear at Walmart will all fit into that budget, but it would be quickly destroyed if put through the "government mule" life cycle of rented goods.
  - JoeAltmaier 11y ago
    Pffft. I bought 3lb backpacker 2-man tents on sale for $200. Used them carefully, they lasted for 25+ trips. Oh! I see - yes those tents were fragile and high-tech and would have probably lasted less long in general use. So that's part of the problem - rental to the public is hard on equipment. Again, its hard to see a startup model here that would work.
    - 11y ago

facepalm 11y ago

A lot of these things could be borrowed for the occasion, or you could go to a co-working space that has the right tools. But granted, sometimes it is more convenient to own certain things.

jimbokun 11y ago

Mr. Sivers emphasized repeatedly he isn't trying to convince anyone else to live like him.

0xffff2 11y ago
And I'm not saying he is. I am saying that I would like to understand him and how he derives fulfillment out of his lifestyle better than I do.
- sivers 11y ago
  See https://sivers.org/no2 https://sivers.org/no2 for a little more context. There are a few programming and writing projects that I've been wanting to finish for years. So when I look at a new hobby or interest, like the ones you describe above, I think, “Ah... sounds fun... some day... But first I have to finish what I've started.” Not having the stuff around helps keep me focused. The pain of not finishing my existing projects is greater than the pleasure I'd get from the new hobby. (FWIW, the few things I own include the hiking gear you describe.)

ideonexus 11y ago

These examples really emphasize how much it depends on the person and the hobbies/interests involved. In recent months, I've become very interested in arcade and pinball history. Those hobbyists are really wrestling with collecting individual cabinets at $200 to $1000 a pop versus just setting up a single MAME cabinet. Many fans are going MAME (storing 3,000 games in a single cabinet), but the hardcore hobbyists are often outright hostile to the idea and denigrate those who post pictures of their custom cabinets to the forums. For myself, the difference between a genuine cabinet and a PC running the same ROM is negligible. Now, with virtual pinball, people are starting to encounter the same issue. I bought a real pinball machine recently and plan on squeezing another into my home eventually because the virtual machines simply don't feel the same. At the same time, I setup a virtual machine with 50-plus tables on it that I perpetually tinker with and try to improve with custom controls, larger screens, and eventually digital back-glass. We have to take it on a case-by-case basis. I remember when Marvel started reprinting and digitizing all their old comics in early 2000. Issues in my collection went from $100-$200 to $10-$20 in value very quikly. I hang those old issues on my walls as art, but when I want to read them, I go to my tablet.

huherto 11y ago
You can try to take on hobbies that don't require a lot of stuff. Also, if you can keep the stuff for a hobby together on a storage bin is easier to put away when you loose interest and bring it back when you want to do it again.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

pizza234 11y ago

Minimalism is not a practical matter; it's a principle, a culture, and a mindset. If you observe the amount of things people throws away when moving to a new house, you'll realize that how many things are needlessly accumulated. You can bet that the same things were really needed before buying them. I'd say that the most minimal application of minimalism (this is the idea of the post) is to recognize in advance that one don't really need them. Expanding the concept of minimalism, I wouldn't say you don't need much of the stuff you're mentioning, rather that a minimalist "clone" of you could enjoy and/or perform (depending on the goals) the activities you've mentioned, with probably half of the equipment. Besides, there are only the two extremes of having plenty of tools, and living only with a laptop and furnishing.

Avshalom 11y ago
On the gripping hand: not owning a bunch of physical things is not the same as minimalism.
- coldtea 11y ago
  Minimalism in the sense of the web/hacker/milenial trend doesn't mean the same as minimalism in art or other domains. Not owning physical things is a big part of it.
wcunning 11y ago
It's not so much a question of what you throw away when you move as it is a question of what you're using regularly. I'll be moving for work soon, and I'll be throwing away/donating/discarding quite a few things that I will then buy on the other end. It's just not economical to ship a mattress, unless you're packing things into a UHaul, and that's not the only example. I would happily rail against the concept of disposable goods, but that's not the same thing.

Retric 11y ago

A lot of that stuff can be compact if you don't get focused on 'stuff.' Let's assume you have clothing, computer, and aka all hiking/ backpacking gear for a world tour can easily fit into a single backpack or fill a trailer. Photography, 1 decent camera is really enough. A single bike is actually fairly small. Start getting into road bikes, touring bikes, etc and they start taking up a lot of space. DIY can take endless space, but you can get far with a single tool box. 'extra' is often more about saving time than really necessary. PS: I good rule of thumb is if you have not used it in 2 years it's wasting space. But, IMO even better is if you have used it less than 3 times in a year it's fluff.

vinbreau 11y ago
"Photography, 1 decent camera is really enough." If only. I have several lenses for a variety of situations. A lighting rig for indoor shoots which includes bounces, tripods, umbrellas, cords and rigging. Then there's the tripod, plus a back pack for the smaller stuff. Not to mention backdrop equipment. There's a big difference between casual hobby and serious hobby.
- Retric 11y ago
  Your confusing flexibility with necessity. You can get really serious about say photographing bugs with a single camera. It's not going to be as widely useful, but trying to do everything is a great way to fail. Consider, nobody says you need an electron microscope to get serious about photography, but they can take some amazing photos even without using photons...
  - 0xffff2 11y ago
    You're confusing your idea of what a photographer does with "photography" as a subject. Photography is an incredibly diverse hobby and profession. Yes, it is possible to only buy one small subset of equipment that lets you photograph a single very specific things well, but I've never met a photographer with such narrow interests. Even professional photographers that only do a specific kind of photography professional nearly always have amateur interests in other photographic subjects that require different gear.

crispyambulance 11y ago

I think the key problem with "stuff" is when "stuff" starts running your life and dragging you down. People clearly have different thresholds for too much stuff, but there is one universal indicator for when you definitely you have too much stuff: You have too much stuff if you can't "put everything away". By "put everything away" I mean be able to put everything away and then later find it without rummaging or unpacking boxes. It means having tables with nothing but permanent fixtures on them and shelves where everything is visible at a glance. It means, often, that getting new stuff means discarding old stuff to make room. It takes a long time to get to that point, but it looks great and inspires creativity.

overdrivetg 11y ago

These guys are interesting, but may only be in Los Angeles: http://www.getfunship.com/ http://www.getfunship.com/ They deliver & pick up activity-specific gear. As others have said, not sure if there is enough of a market for it, but access code "nextdoor" if you want to give it a try