Christmas is coming, and with that, two things:
- I will return home to Sweden (to be precise, on boxing day, 26th of December)
- Christmas means shopping. I am starting to become a shopaholic.
When I realize I I’m leaving Hong Kong without clear plans on when or how I would return, I immediately starts thinking of all the stuff I can get cheaper in Hong Kong than elsewhere. Hong Kong is the shopper’s paradise. Let me give you a list of things my mind tells me to buy before going home:
Playstation 3. Will be released already on the 17th of November, whilst medieval Europe has to wait until late March. This is a sure buy, after considering all facts. Approximately 350 euro (3800 HKD) is a good price, too.- A tailor-made suit. Hong Kong is famous for it’s tailor services. Tall as I am, I actually have a small need for tailor made suits (so it’s not just about the boast factor) – but then again, I seldom wear a suit at all. Around 100 euros / 1000 HKD for a suit with shirt is a good price. Should I buy or not?
- More computer gadgets. They are small, they are cool, they are cheap, but are they useful? If my plans on starting my own company, currently in the works, succeeds, then there will be plenty of gadgets to play around with
- Bluetooth keyboard. For my phone. So I can type novels on the go. Cool.
A digital SLR camera for taking really good photos. People have lately told me my photos are good – I am flattered, but then people ask me what camera I have and… well. I know as a fact that SLR cameras give better pictures, but they are at least 500 euros, probably more. And they are heavy as a computer. And they need different lenses, most of them big. But they also allow cool things like fish-eye lens. Buy or not?
MacBook. I have mentioned it before, but the fact remains – I’ve had my own Lenovo Thinkpad for barely a year, but a MacBook is faster, sexier, and yes, much more expensive. One could ask – do I survive the change to Mac OS X? But alas, Bootcamp lets me use Windows almost as good as any other laptop. A MacBook, obviously a Pro one, would set me back almost 18000 SEK/HKD – and by modern standards, that’s just very expensive.- Christmas gifts. To people at home. Can’t tell you more. But to be honest – I’m this close skipping the christmas thing altogether.
A new phone. My Eten M600 is excellent, but it is getting old – probably 9 months old đ There are newer, cooler models, and getting a 3G connection would be the dream, as I very rarely use internet on the go now due to the cost and low speed of GPRS. In addition, a built-in GPS receiver would be my favorite useless feature.
Oh, did I mention I have to use some serious magic or quantum mechanics to fit 60 kgs of Hong Kong equipment into a 20 kgs limit for air plane luggage? đ
Is not shopaholic behaviour in the rich part of the world one of the causes of the environmental threats. How much energy and other resources do all “gadgets” and the non-endning “need” for materialistic goods use? How much energy is needed to break down and take care of unhealthy materials that all “wornout” thing produce? Think twice and twice again before you buy new things.
You are right in essence, but as I see it, gadgets might be bad, but they are far from a big problem. The big problem is how big countries like the US is taking care of its CO2 – where most of the CO2 comes from getting energy, from cars and from burning forests/removing forests.
So I will continue to buy gadgets, but I will make sure to not have them on all the time, as well as recycling them when they are used (in my case, I keep most gadgets a very long time, even if I dont use them).
Like the Stern report I linked to before says, we only need to spend 1% of our money to fix the enviromental problem. By buying things people contribute to the economy, and that’s partly why rich countries are rich.
As with any purchase, you should ask yourself if you really actually need something.
That said, two things on your list that I would spring for in a second are the suit (Legendary Hong Kong tailors – who cares if you don’t wear suits often, you need at least one good one – and it’ll prolly make you feel really big and important
) and the DSLR. As something of a photographer myself, I know what a big difference SLRs make compared to P&Ss. I’ve got a pretty decent camera (Nikon 8800), but I’ve already found that the quality, sharpness and “range of photographic opportunities” all go way up with an SLR.
But that’s just me. I don’t necessarily need something in order to want it. Guess that’s part of the problem.
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