BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="JerryLogan" data-source="post: 3499193" data-attributes="member: 129128">Hello Chuck,I admire your posts and always read them with respect and consideration. So please, please don't take this reply as directed to you personally. It's just that your thoughtful (and true - as far as they go) comments have made me twitch a little. So here goes!After a certain point, to the vast,vast majority of users - it doesn't matter that the Swarovski is "better" because the extra quality doesn't make any practical difference in actual use. A Porsche 911 is inarguably a "better" quality auto than a Toyota Camry. But Monday morning at 8:30 on the New Jersey Turnpike - it doesn't matter (except for the conspicuous  display of social status). You're going to get to the same place at the same time in the same comfort in either vehicle.Undoubtedly we can imagine situations where the 911 will make a difference. The Camry will be slower through the crucial S turns at Le Mans. So we can buy, test and compare and find real differences - but they're differences without a difference to almost all real users in real situations. So it's easy to thump Dennis on a literal level. Of course many "alphas" have something extra. The extras may even be something that a few special people will notice/need in their unique circumstances. But, if we're honest with ourselves, I suspect we've fallen into one of the special traps of modern commerce. We spend a lot of extra money buying things we don't really need in order to make ourselves or others feel like we're "alpha"  people. Meanwhile, we're waiting for traffic to move just like everybody else - but down a $100k compared to the Camry driver behind us. If this is true then "alphas" will never die. Not because they have something special that can never be replicated - but because we desperately want to show in someway that we're something special that can't be replaced. I'm not sure we can actually buy that feeling. But I am absolutely certain there will always be people offering to sell it.Very best regards,Jerry</blockquote>

Verification