E-peen stands for electronic penis. Much like how caring too much about how well endowed their penis is is ridiculous, the phrase 'e-peen' has been used pejoratively to mean somebody who is overly obsessed with looking good on the internet. Often this has to do with very vain things, like having a big house or having the most expensive computer. With computers the performance gained from upgrading to higher and higher end parts tend to be smaller and smaller despite higher costs. This is results in worse and worse price to performance but nets (usually) higher performance. This is the idea of the Law of Diminishing Returns.
I want to push back a bit on 'e-peen', especially as its used in the context of computing. Sometimes a person buys something with very low price/performance and barely higher performance. Sometimes a person may buy something with higher performance at a point where any higher performance would not be perceivable to the user. The first is a question about value and the second is a problem about OCD and possibly placebo.
We are all different. Given a sum of money we would all spend it in different ways on different things. We have different interests and where we have the same interests we vary in our comittment to those interests. Deciding whether a purchase is worth it depends on factors like frugality, wealth, income, outlook on the future, and perceived value of the object in question. Every one of these factors can be more complicated once we look closely at it. For example, frugality is determined by upbringing, social class, impulsiveness, and other aspects of one's personality. Regardless, all of these factors are subjected to irrationality and emotion to some degree. We are human after all, not machines. It is a complicated set of factors that determine a person's perception of what a good buy is.
Let's bring it closer to the actual hardware for just a moment. Graphics card A costs $700 and graphics card B costs $1200 but is 5-15% faster than graphics card A. Is it worth it? Well, that depends on many things even when looking solely at objective factors. For example, how long will it be until a new generation of graphics cards come out, rendering A and B obsolete? What are the resale values of A and B? But also, do I even need the 5-15% increase in performance or am I perfectly happy with where I am right now? Maybe I am at a framerate where a small increase in performance results in a much better experience.
People are used to the world they are in and they assume that's the way the world is. Anybody reading this blog post are probably among the top 10% of the world financially yet that doesn't register emotionally as fact. If $1200 is a lot to a person and the people the person comes in contact with then it seems absurd to spend $1200 on a graphics card. It seems like not too large of a leap then, for this type of person to attack others for being reckless with their money or simply stupid for spending that much. Still, it is a stupid leap. How many people make fun of Bill Gates for having a private jet? Yet when it comes to something much cheaper more people feel entitled to insult others. This is a problem about subjective value judgments not of objective facts.
Yet, when a person decides to smoke cigarettes, an activity known to cause cancer among a host of other issues like emphysema, it seems like an acceptable use of money. A person smoking a pack a day for 20 years will spend about $45,000. Convert that into an activity like computing which has much less of a collateral damage and that buys many generations of graphics cards and then some. A person that cares more about high end graphics is more willing to save more money to buy a high end graphics card in the first place.
When I see people getting outraged over new $1200 graphics cards displacing old $1200 graphics cards I tend to see people who never even bought such a graphics cards in the first place. Funnily enough the people who actually buy such cards understand what they were getting themselves into: An expensive card with poor price to performance which no longer becomes the best in a year's time. In other words, some people are getting outraged seemingly on behalf of people who would spend $1200 on a graphics card. And when people do buy such a card far too many people are tempted to attack the buyer, claiming they have 'more money than sense'. On the contrary, the people frequenting such computer forums which these arguments take place are often among the most knowledgeable. The frequency in which poorer enthusiasts attack others who buy expensive cards and their self-righteousness is concerning. It may be born out of jealously on a subconscious level, and the person deals with it by lashing out.
While graphics cards depreciate at a rate faster than objects involved in other hobbies, it is still a cheap hobby compared to many others, like home improvement or cars. The value judgement of enjoyment from the card versus its costs is a subjective one. The problem with buying an expensive card is not with others having a very different value judgement than mine; the problem is with people who buy with the wrong information, expecting the card to do things it cannot.
A car analogy is often way too convoluted to be a useful analogy but it is very fitting here: Nobody would be tempted to attack a person buying an Audi because it's expensive and a Toyota can get you to work just as quickly due to speed limits. Functionally a Toyota and an Audi are not that far apart. People recognize that people care about different things and have different abilities to pay for things. The same is true from cars to graphics cards.
A company may offer more expensive product lines to cater to different audiences. It both addresses a demand the consumers have and increases product segmentation leading to higher profits. One purpose of a 'halo card', which is a top of the line graphics card which hardly anyone can afford due to its extravagance is to show the consumers what their company can do. Perhaps you will now aspire to get that card one day, but there are cheaper products in the meantime. It is a legitimate business strategy and is a product of product segmentation which the consumers want. Pushing the boundaries of what is possible has always been the driver for innovation and success. PC gamers ought to know this better than anyone. Their precious graphics cards are a product of many years of company rivalries, each with a rabid fan base. Competition is good; attack the free market at your own peril. Top of the line graphics cards are not an essential good and no one company has a monopoly on it. In fact, when it comes to add-in-board-partners like EVGA and Asus, the competition is actually quite healthy with many companies in the ring.
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Being obsessed with something or someone has been my way of life for half of my life. It gives me a reason to go on. After I quit Runescape and Maplestory and I was done with high school I had to do some soul searching. Being unable to concentrate in school and making that my next obsession could have been crushing. I was able to occupy myself from wandering from project to project.
I build computers not just because I want to get the best possible experience playing video games. It quickly became more than a means to an end. I have spent time planning my next build and even went so far as to make a Powerpoint slide showcasing a roadmap of computer progression. Each computer has a name and the name has a background attached to it. Dreaming about what the next build might bring and the pride and craftsmanship on a level I hope I can reach makes me joyous just at the thought of it before any work has even been done.
Even if that extra 5-15% performance improvement from graphics card B doesn't make sense objectively, subjectively it might. Sometimes we want to best and that could be from simply wanting the best or OCD. Not everything everybody does is for other people. Sometimes people do things for themselves. Often it is a complicated mixture of both. To simplify my decision to spend a significant amount of time and money to plan a computer build because it is bad price to performance is to insult me about my priorities and aspirations. I spend a ton of time worth far more than graphics card B working on Skyrim textures yet nobody calls that e-peen. It's only called e-peen if it's something others might get jealous of. My months of discussions about my latest custom watercooling loop project is proof positive that this goes beyond scoring internet points. I never make fun of people who are not as fortunate as me or cannot bother with the planning and responsibilities of maintaining a custom watercooling loop. I give a level of understanding to others, and I expect it reciprocated.
I don't deny that it's human nature to exaggerate and to boast. My Intel CPU charts designed to chart the overclocks of various people have guidelines that must be followed for entry because I am well aware of the tendency of people to embellish their overclocks. This tendency is born out of the wish to be higher in social standing but also of the wish to be a master at a craft. Jealously can ruin a friendship but that same energy could also be used to improve oneself. It is motivation and fuel to do better next time.
Sometimes people do and buy things that would be irresponsible out of context. But approached with sufficient planning, caution, and financial responsibility, such actions can give life meaning. Money allows you to live; your hobbies and friends make it worth living. We all have times where we boast and feel proud of our accomplishments. When that happens we often want to share it with others. It's a very human thing to do. Of course, it is very possible to be overly jealous or boastful in a way that is disgusting and an impediment to one's or others' well being, but almost anything in excess in this world can be bad.
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