There's something so innocently charming about this whole story, the idea of an aristocrat taking his pineapple down the street to impress his peers is ridiculously funny.
Also, we have similar signals today. For example, a handmade Swiss watch signals for which you pay for months of a skilled artisan's work, all for something whose ultimate function you could replicate with a $20 watch.
I can't wait for the Tesla Roaster 2.0 to be delivered in volume (idem for its motorbike equivalent), so I can finally sleep with open windows.
Old habits die hard.
If it's accelerating using cold gas thrusters (SpaceX package) it'll be extremely loud. Thankfully it'll probably only have 1-2 seconds of juice from the air tanks.
Next up, flamethrowers on the front?
(founded in 1766, so they may have overlapped a bit with the pine apple...)
All of them have cheaper, equally functional equivalents, but people very conspicuously overpay for more than they need with all of them.
Cars, watches been the typical examples.
[1] going for 1,2 M USD in 1963 (a 0,7 MIPS 48-bit machine). Figure at least an order of magnitude more in 2020 USD?
[2] p. 6 http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_Histo...
====
In the nineteenth century, aluminium was more expensive than gold. By the twentieth it would be used for wrapping potluck dishes.
===
Montaigne was proud of his library, all manner of elites of their realistic portraits, and white sportswear used to imply someone else had to wash the grass stains out.
Expensive wines/liquors never stopped being a flex of wealth/status.
Luxury consumption has become much more diverse, so there isn't something as universal as the pineapple anymore. But if you spend time around it, you can feel it in the air.