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Comment by k-mcgrady | Hacker News Reader

>> It is no great virtue to think that when you have wealth, but try living like that when you are poor and all of your meagre possessions were hard-earned.

>> Minimalism is an ostentatious luxury.

Those are separate things. Minimalism would be the opposite of buying things that are easily replaceable. Surely you would buy things that don't need replaced often/can be repaired and are higher quality/more expensive.

Using plastic dishes, throwing them out after every meal, and buying new ones isn't minimalism. Spending money on 4 good quality ceramic plates which will last the next 10 years is.

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> Spending money on 4 good quality ceramic plates which will last the next 10 years is.

Are there bad quality ceramic plates? Mine costed $1-$3 each and they're great.

Yup, if you can trust the glaze not to contain cadnium or lead, pretty much the cheapest will do. Same with stoneware.

Only if you don't care about beauty. And you should care, looking at something beautiful every day makes you happier.

I think it's just a bad example. Unless you mishandle them these things never break and are basically free at the next good-will or fleamarket.

Maybe shoes are a better example? Though identifying good quality is a lot of work in itself and may signal status I guess.

Shoes: definitely. But it applies to other, seemingly mundane things. e.g. Cookware, Vacuum Cleaner, Furniture etc. The quality differential b/w a dyson and the cheap $20 vaccuuum is staggering; using a dyson is a pleasant experience while the $20 cheapo? Not so much.

Don't get me wrong. When I was a grad student, I bought the cheapest vacuum, cheapest shoes and clothes. But I did know that better quality things did exist, and didn't hesitate to purchase them when I could finally afford to.

Do the Dysons suck more?

Dyson vacuums have interesting industrial design, but in terms of function they don't even make the CR top ten[1], so yes, I expect they are better than some, but they are also more expensive than most.

1: https://www.consumerreports.org/products/upright-vacuum/rati...

Those reviews are paywalled, so I can't really see what criterion they are using to rate a product high/low. I agree though that Dyson's are pricey, but they last long and are a joy to use. Not saying there aren't other models that do the same.

DSW has a rack in the back of every store with heavily discounted (50+%) shoes. Good quality, great price, limited selection. 10/10

Too bad the worth of this information is regionally constrained. (The internet is truely amazing to bridge this gap so easily.)

It's a terrible example. I was in a hurry and for some reason it was the first thing that came to mind.

> Minimalism would be the opposite of buying things that are easily replaceable.

I believe what parent is referring to might be better termed "mental minimalism".

In that the optimization is for not having to think about physical goods. Good qualities here are durable, reasonably priced, reliable, simple, and effective.

To tease the thread apart from what separates the well-off doing this from the poor doing this, I'd say it's the "reasonably priced" criteria. An ideal good under this lifestyle is cheap enough that one isn't weighed down by worry over caring for their devices.

F.ex. If something happens to my refurb XPS 13 on the road, I wouldn't be annoyed. If I had a brand new MBP, I might be a bit more disappointed. Thus, with the former, I don't even have to worry about that eventuality, whether or not it ever happens.

> Using plastic dishes, throwing them out after every meal, and buying new ones isn't minimalism. Spending money on 4 good quality ceramic plates which will last the next 10 years is.

No, using cheap plastic plates, which will easily last a decade (my mom I think, still uses ones my family got free as promotional items with cereal purchases ~30 years ago when I was a kid) and making them last is minimalism.

Ceramic plates break a lot more easily then cheap but durable plastic ones.

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