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I've thought about this a lot. Across a all of my hobbies I've seen shrinking markets, decreasing sales, fewer consumers, decreased companies in the space.. an

I've thought about this a lot. Across a all of my hobbies I've seen shrinking markets, decreasing sales, fewer consumers, decreased companies in the space.. and offset by higher prices and longer product cycles. 1) I think it's partially a time thing. You read economists vision of the future back 50-75 years ago and they imagined automation would give us more leisure time. In practice there's a bifurcation with the K shaped economy where a lot of white collar jobs have become more time demanding (nights/weekends) such that we have a lot more money but even less time. So more than ever before, we try to by shortcuts to time/happiness with money. I find I have a lot of trouble finding long blocks of time to spend uninterrupted on my hobbies. 2) Along with this society has become ever more consumeristic. I note that across my friends and acquaintances, it doesn't strike me that many even.. have hobbies. Hobbies are almost an oddity now. 1&2 conflate to make for a lot of hobbyist GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) such that people spend more time reading/watching reviews/shopping/trading gear than they do actually doing their hobbies. Its a lot easier to spend 30min during my lunch break shopping for some accessories than it is to get away from my desk and actually do my hobby.

rqtwteye 2y ago
"hobbyist GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) such that people spend more time reading/watching reviews/shopping/trading gear than they do actually doing their hobbies. " That's a huge problem for photographers and bikers. Much easier and less time and effort consuming to buy nice gear than to actually use it.
- steveBK123 2y ago
  It's hugely problematic for both for likely the same reason - daylight and climate. I have 20+ years of metadata on my photo catalog and it's funny how seasonal it is for me living in the northeast. For years I would try dabbling in things like macro and birding just to do SOMETHING in the long cold season, but it's always been a waste of money for me. Meanwhile I've started dabbling in music and the fact I can just spin my chair over to my other desk, regardless of time/light/temprature and get on with it is very freeing.
pimlottc 2y ago
I read something once that said there’s 4 main modes for interacting with any hobby: doing the thing, talking about doing the thing, collecting gear for doing the thing, and talking about gear for doing the thing
- mulmen 2y ago
  This is brilliant and absolutely describes my personal experience. I think the “doing the thing” can also be broken down into subcategories of “doing the thing with the thing” and “keeping the thing working to do the thing”. My hobbies are motorcycles and pinball machines. They both require significant maintenance time, to the point that alone could be a hobby.
  - Cerium 2y ago
    I heard it described as: motorcycle riding actually consists of two hobbies, riding and maintenance. Most people can't afford to only participate in the riding. I think each riding maintenence have their own four quadrents.
    - mulmen 2y ago
      Having thought about this a bit more I think hobbies are recursive. I buy a motorcycle. I talk about the motorcycle. I ride the motorcycle. Riding motorcycles is a hobby now. The motorcycle needs maintenance. I talk about the maintenance. I do the maintenance. Motorcycle maintenance is a hobby mow. A part is unavailable. I talk about making the part. I buy a welder. I make the part. Welding is a hobby now.
- steveBK123 2y ago
  This is spot on, and also its worth noting there are different time/energy requirements for each of these modes. I can text my friend in the same hobby randomly throughout the day, listen to gear reviews while I do some rote work, and shop for accessories on my lunch break. But depending on the hobby, I might need a solid 1-2 hour block of time to really get into actually doing anything. Some are even worse if setup/cleanup or any travel is involved. And for some hobbies daylight & weather must cooperate.
Gud 2y ago
Automation did give us more leisure time. It's just unevenly distributed!

rqtwteye 2y ago

"hobbyist GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) such that people spend more time reading/watching reviews/shopping/trading gear than they do actually doing their hobbies. " That's a huge problem for photographers and bikers. Much easier and less time and effort consuming to buy nice gear than to actually use it.

steveBK123 2y ago
It's hugely problematic for both for likely the same reason - daylight and climate. I have 20+ years of metadata on my photo catalog and it's funny how seasonal it is for me living in the northeast. For years I would try dabbling in things like macro and birding just to do SOMETHING in the long cold season, but it's always been a waste of money for me. Meanwhile I've started dabbling in music and the fact I can just spin my chair over to my other desk, regardless of time/light/temprature and get on with it is very freeing.

pimlottc 2y ago

I read something once that said there’s 4 main modes for interacting with any hobby: doing the thing, talking about doing the thing, collecting gear for doing the thing, and talking about gear for doing the thing

mulmen 2y ago
This is brilliant and absolutely describes my personal experience. I think the “doing the thing” can also be broken down into subcategories of “doing the thing with the thing” and “keeping the thing working to do the thing”. My hobbies are motorcycles and pinball machines. They both require significant maintenance time, to the point that alone could be a hobby.
- Cerium 2y ago
  I heard it described as: motorcycle riding actually consists of two hobbies, riding and maintenance. Most people can't afford to only participate in the riding. I think each riding maintenence have their own four quadrents.
  - mulmen 2y ago
    Having thought about this a bit more I think hobbies are recursive. I buy a motorcycle. I talk about the motorcycle. I ride the motorcycle. Riding motorcycles is a hobby now. The motorcycle needs maintenance. I talk about the maintenance. I do the maintenance. Motorcycle maintenance is a hobby mow. A part is unavailable. I talk about making the part. I buy a welder. I make the part. Welding is a hobby now.
steveBK123 2y ago
This is spot on, and also its worth noting there are different time/energy requirements for each of these modes. I can text my friend in the same hobby randomly throughout the day, listen to gear reviews while I do some rote work, and shop for accessories on my lunch break. But depending on the hobby, I might need a solid 1-2 hour block of time to really get into actually doing anything. Some are even worse if setup/cleanup or any travel is involved. And for some hobbies daylight & weather must cooperate.

Gud 2y ago

Automation did give us more leisure time. It's just unevenly distributed!