It really depends on how we define indulgence to decide whether we should feel bad about indulging or not. If we're playing by Catholic rules then we are in "partial remission of temporal punishment," which means hell, because we still owe some form of penance. That sounds too stressful. Following the more...everyday definition, it is a little simpler: yielding to a desire. Treating yourself to something you want instead of need. The thing we indulge in might not save our lives, but it sure as hell will make that life sweeter.
Tech toys walk a fine line between indulgence and necessity. Being alive in 2015 means having access to certain technologies will enhance not only our quality of life, but also the convenience and accessibility of interaction with culture, popular and otherwise. While having a 75-inch HD 4K flatscreen with 7.1 surround sound might be seen as incredibly unnecessary, if one of your true joys is watching films, TV shows, or sports, then it's basically a priceless investment in happiness.
Life is stressful, dammit, and the moments where true bliss can be found are more important than we give them credit for. Someone who would spend $90,000 on a mountain bike might judge someone for spending $10,000 on a television (and vice versa), but, objectively, everyone has different things that keeps the doldrums away as we wait for that next paycheck or those next vacation days.
Which, yes, makes us consumers. As much as we would all like to be organic farmers living in a yurt, sometimes we just want to watch Bruce Willis blow something up so loudly that we feel it in our toenails. With that said, here are a few things to consume that are absolutely, ridiculously, indulgent...and all the more beautiful for it.
Home Theater
Stereo Planet has a good reputation for indulgences and this setup is by far the most magnificent around. It's a 4K, 75-inch Sony flatscreen with a 7.1 surround sound system ($5,000). But that's just the icing, the cake is the accessories. That beautiful televisual behemoth is connected to a pair of 600W McIntosh monoblock amplifiers ($14,000 a pair) and a McIntosh preamp ($7,000), all coming through flawlessly on Sonos Faber speakers ($13,000). It has a turntable, so there is an analog source, as well. This set-up is mostly geared toward high-quality music, but the video quality from the television is gorgeous. Even the cabling, which is high quality silver wire, will run you around $5,500. All in all, this will set you back around $44,500, but a comfortable home theater is priceless.
Smoke Products
Smoking weed is complicated nowadays with vapes, dabs, nails, and everything in between. For the health-conscious head, there is the D-Nail Ninja ($550) for concentrates. It heats the pen electronically via wall plug-in, so that way the clumsier stoners don't kill themselves by torch or other extreme flame device. The 12-inch T-case comes with a digital control station, heaters, nails, a coil heater with kevlar sheath, and power cords. April Grow from A Piece of Mind reminded this reporter that, "Glass can be techy, too," especially with the advent of the Hi Si ($350), a scientific approach to smoking. With a percolator design that induces maximum cooling to the smoke you inhale, it reduces the health risks inherent in inhaling hot, smoke-filled air. Walter White would love this thing. This way, you can have a pretty glass accessory, while also filling your tech quota.
Camera
The Canon EOS 70D DSLR ($1,299 at Best Buy) is a beast. It has 20.2 megapixels, a 100-12,800 ISO equivalent, 7 frames per second, 1080p with Wi-Fi and multiple exposures while also having a casserole ready if you come home from work late and just need to take a little break. The screen on this bad boy shows you the picture you're taking as opposed to having to look through the viewfinder and as you adjust the ISO, shutter speed, or aperture, the screen shows you exactly what the picture will look like. Maybe we're not supposed to have this technology. Faces will become too clear and mountain ranges will look so beautiful, we won't be inspired to climb them. Oh....AND YOU CAN MAKE MOVIES WITH IT, TOO!! Soon, the Canon will be our master, and we its vassals, sending images to its mother brain, deep beneath the Sierra Nevadas. Seriously though, this camera is amazing and will change your life.
