Top 10 Things You CAN'T Have For Christmas

Zothecula writes "It's getting a little late for a last minute Christmas shopping list, but not to worry, most of us outside the Forbes Top 100 couldn't afford any of these anyway! Still, it's fascinating to look at what's possible if the word 'budget' isn't in your vocabulary, so here's a look at what you won't be getting for Christmas (CT: Warning, gizmag features really intrusive advertising) this year – the most outrageous examples of high-end overkill from 2010."

Comments

Meh

[Anrego]

Fairly poor “top 10” list. Nothing on this list was particularly extreme, and not really “geek” oriented.

I guess the problem with this kind of list is that _everything_ has an extreme. Pick something you like, and some millionaire probably has an obscenely expensive version of it. This list was mostly the extreme versions of things I have no interest in.

Often with these extreme versions they’ve just taken something existing and covered it in gold/diamonds/rare metals/rare woods.. which isn’t all that interesting to me either. I remember there was some vodka (touted as the worlds most expensive) that was basically just garden variety high-end vodka with a column of diamonds down the center.

The only thing on this list that really held any interest for me was those speakers, but at that cost it’s totally not worth the novelty, and they probably look terrible close up (as this kind of stuff tends to look great at a very specific angle but look ridiculous from everywhere else).

Ah well, can’t spend it all on philanthropic interests.. I guess after a while you run out of shit to do with that much money.

Re:Meh

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm pretty sure I won't be getting a hot wife for Christmas, especially from my current wife.

Re:Meh

[ocdscouter]

I'm pretty sure I won't be getting a hot wife for Christmas, especially from my current wife.

Well, she could, but you'd probably have to get her a hot husband in exchange.

Re:Meh

[mlts]

The speakers looked good. However other goods such as the diamond inlaid TV set were pretty pointless.

With electronics, adding bling is pretty much the best people can do for selling ultra-expensive devices. Mainly because of the economy of scale market. If a boutique company made a cell phone that was slimmer than an iPhone, and only made 100 copies, the cost would be astronomical (tens to hundreds of millions of dollars), even factoring out the fact that the device would need a lot of QA testing. The only exception would be taking a motherboard from an existing device and putting it in a custom case, perhaps replacing some components (like the camera or screen) and making sure the OS can work with the modifications. Regression testing is important too.

Re:Meh

[nospam007]

"The speakers looked good. However other goods such as the diamond inlaid TV set were pretty pointless."

They are all pointless. My one and only Christmas gift I'll get, I'm getting it every year:
Peace of mind.
Since a dozen years or so, I don't accept gifts and I don't give them so no shopping stress, no disappointments to see or feel for me.
It's heaven on earth.

Re:Meh

[Anonymous Coward]

Except that people think you are a jerk. Yeah you get what you want out of it and you haven't conformed to societal traditions, but other people like getting and giving gifts. If you feel it's gone too far, there are other ways to improve the issue that don't require robbing other people of their enjoyment of the traditions. An easy one is shop online or throughout the year and buy whenever you see something people might like. The money wasted on the gift, if you view it that way, isn't that big a deal in the end. It's just money and other things are more important.

Re:advertising?

[TheRaven64]

Yup, I do. If a site is funded by adverts, then it's bad manners to take their content and not the ads. If the ads are irritating or intrusive then I simply blacklist the site and never return.

Re:So...

[geekoid]

Yes, but it's coming from amazon and will be shipped in several boxes. Some assembly required.

i know i know!

[dominious]

A girlfriend!

ducks

Re:advertising?

[TheRaven64]

Funny and troll? Interesting choices there mods - I'm completely serious, so why don't you comment and justify your moderation choices. Sites that show ads and provide content for free are typically only able to do so because of the money that they receive from adverts. If you block the ads, then this becomes less likely to be profitable in the long term and these sites will cease to exist. If the inconvenience of seeing the ads is less than the value of the site, then I am happy to see the ads. If it isn't, then I am happy to go without the content. Apparently not having an entitlement mentality is either funny or a troll.

In unrelated news, this is probably the first time that commodore64_love and I have ever agreed on anything.

Re:As the old saying goes...

[AlamedaStone]

Only the rich can afford poor quality

Thank god they got to keep those juicy tax breaks. Think of all the rotating wooden house builders and the hard-working people in the jet balcony industry. And the children.

God bless us, everyone.

Re:Here's a top 3

[apoc.famine]

That sort of list will get you arrested if anyone finds out...

Re:Meh - Now with even more useless extreme

[cyberfunkr]

More extreme things we can't afford:

1) Diamond-tipped pizza cutter with baby elephant ivory handle
2) Stadium seat cushion made from puma hide and filled with narwhal blubber
3) Beer cozy built from the insulation of the original NASA space suits
4) Sofa throw blanket woven from the used toupees of William Shatner
5) A 1:3 scale replica of the "Stay-Puff" Marshmallow Man crafted from albino bat guano

The List

[southpolesammy]

1. Seabreacher X -- submersible shaped like a great white shark, from Innespace, $93,500
2. "Mercedes-Benz Style" helicopter -- cost not indicated
3. The Kid's Walker exoskeleton -- made by Sakakibara-Kikai, 5.25 feet tall, for kids (???), $21,000
4. The most exclusive motorcycle on the planet -- NCR M16 MotoGP streetfighter, based on Ducati's Desmosedici RR, $176,880
5. LEICA M9 'Titanium' digital camera -- $29,000
6. Top of the line television -- Panasonic PrestigeHD SUPREME Rose Edition, 152" 3D plasma w/ diamond encrusted bezel, $2,293,580
7. Domespace rotating wooden house -- cost not indicated
8. A balcony for your private jet -- Design Q, $16-18M (comes with a free plane!)
9. See-thru speakers -- Greensound Serac and Floe series speakers, $8000
10. A quiet getaway ... in a "flying" submarine -- Necker Nymph, rent for $88,000 per week