I was just discussing screen size with an acquaintance, and the conversation
forced me to confront an ugly truth.

I have screen envy.

When I got my 60-inch Hitachi plasma five years ago it was, by the standards
of the day, a really big screen.

Now, just the other day I found myself looking at the new 70-inch Sharp and
thinking that not only is the screen size great, in profile it’s almost
impossibly thin. It makes my Hitachi look positively stout by comparison.

And while I haven’t seen it in person yet, Sharp has bowed their 80-inch
model, joining Panasonic’s 85-inch plasma in that screen size.

It’s easy to recognize the syndrome I’m suffering from because for years I
made a living recognizing it in others and making sales based on it:

Bigger Boat Syndrome.

If you’ve sold luxury goods, you know what I’m talking about. A new
potential client calls you or stops in to see you and here is how the
conversation starts:

“Yeah, you sold that thing there to my friend/co-worker/brother-in-law. What
do you have that’s better than that?”

I love discussions that start like that. They inevitably lead to enormous
invoices.

What I find endlessly interesting is the wide variety of perspectives on
what people are willing to spend their money on, and what they aren’t. My
aforementioned acquaintance has zero interest in spending the money
necessary for a really, really big TV, but he doesn’t blink at spending an
equivalent amount of money on a suit.

It all comes down to what you like. I wouldn’t spend $200K on a watch, yet
there are people who do.

We all have our thing I suppose.

That said, while I adore high performance audio and video, I’m not a maniac
about it.

Whereas in most people their internal tension is between eros and thanatos,
mine is between luxury and frugality. I like nice things, but I seek maximum
value.

Also, if there’s anything I’ve learned in life it’s this: buy exactly what
you want. Even if you have to wait to save up for it you’ll be so much more
satisfied with your decision than if you compromise and skimp and get
something that’s okay but isn’t really what you wanted all along. Life is
too short.

So what am I to do about my screen envy? I’m holding out for either the
85-inch Panasonic to reach a price I consider reasonable or for the 103-inch
set to both become more fiscally attainable and be reengineered to no longer
need a dedicated 220v outlet for it.

I may have Bigger Boat Syndrome, but I’m patient.