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<blockquote data-quote="JohnNephew" data-source="post: 173758" data-attributes="member: 2171">Now I understand why I spend most of my budget on necessary items like food, while leisure items like movies are almost free!&nbsp; ;-)I'm willing to agree that textbooks aren't a good example, because of the captive audience factor.&nbsp; On the other hand, I think that a lot of technical and scholarly texts ARE a good example.&nbsp; If you're a medievalist, you don't have to own every book in the field -- but the ones you choose to buy can easily set you back $60 for a 300-page hardcover.&nbsp; (Just got a catalog in the mail today from the Penn State Univ. Press, and I was leafing through it.)Hobbies are, in general, pretty expensive.&nbsp; My dad is really into RC planes (gliders, in particular).&nbsp; He says the &quot;must-have&quot; model airplane, that wins all the competitions and stuff, costs $1400.&nbsp; And they have something like an 18-month waiting list.&nbsp; Doesn't that make gaming look cheap?The thing is, you can get into flying model planes for relatively cheap -- but there's a whole range of price, quality and feature options running up to the $1000+ level.&nbsp; And you can bet the hardcore types who shell out for the high-end have a lot of everything else too.&nbsp; (My dad said one guy on a mailing list mentioned owning THREE of those expensive planes.)&nbsp; Gaming has lots of starter kits, but not as many super-mega-amazing things that only the most devoted will buy and everyone else will envy.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="JohnNephew, post: 173758, member: 2171"] Now I understand why I spend most of my budget on necessary items like food, while leisure items like movies are almost free! ;-) I'm willing to agree that textbooks aren't a good example, because of the captive audience factor. On the other hand, I think that a lot of technical and scholarly texts ARE a good example. If you're a medievalist, you don't have to own every book in the field -- but the ones you choose to buy can easily set you back $60 for a 300-page hardcover. (Just got a catalog in the mail today from the Penn State Univ. Press, and I was leafing through it.) Hobbies are, in general, pretty expensive. My dad is really into RC planes (gliders, in particular). He says the "must-have" model airplane, that wins all the competitions and stuff, costs $1400. And they have something like an 18-month waiting list. Doesn't that make gaming look cheap? The thing is, you can get into flying model planes for relatively cheap -- but there's a whole range of price, quality and feature options running up to the $1000+ level. And you can bet the hardcore types who shell out for the high-end have a lot of everything else too. (My dad said one guy on a mailing list mentioned owning THREE of those expensive planes.) Gaming has lots of starter kits, but not as many super-mega-amazing things that only the most devoted will buy and everyone else will envy. [/QUOTE]

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