For me it’s generic/store brands. Even though I know that some of them are just as good as name brands, I won’t buy them.
I’ll buy generic meds (that’s just being thrifty), but not generic food. Buying generic food brands mean you’re cheap and you don’t care what your food tastes like.
At the latest Dashboard Confessional concert I was behind a group of fratboys who were yelling and pushing around (and since it was at the back end of the standing room pit they pushed me against the wall a few times when they bounced.)
I thought they were only there with their girlfriends. But it turns out they knew every word to the songs. For a second or two I thought to myself “I’m SO over Dashboard now that these assholes like it!”
NEARLY indistinguishable is not good enough.
When it can sound better, it matters to me that it does.
Hearing what “nearly indistinguishable from lossless audio” does to recordings that I craft in the studio with care bugs me.
I have always thought that audiophiles who argue that vinyl sounds better are off the mark. It DOES sound different, though.
This. Really, I’m a food and drink snob in general (except wine snob–I haven’t had the time to get into that). I eat almost all organic, my beef is local and grassfed, my latest quest is to find humanely-raised pigs who aren’t fed a diet involving corn or soy. I can tell the difference between different types of salt. My favorite time of year is farmer’s market season. I know all the best local restaurants, from dives to white-tablecloth…and I know all the ones that people think are good but really aren’t. I cooked almost all of the baby’s food myself. I am very, very specific about my chef’s knives and kitchen tools. The list goes on and on, but if it involves food, chances are I do it better than you.
I’m the same way, except my music of choice is progressive rock, and I never grew out of the feeling that my tastes in music are better than the next guy’s. Prog rock fans can be exceptionally snobbish, and I really try not to be that way. But it can be so hard not to look down my nose at you little people and your pop music…
I really hope that a lot of my favorite bands never hit it big (not that there’s much danger of that). It’s always an awesome experience to meet someone with similar tastes, compare notes, turn them on to some cool bands, and be turned on in return. It’s almost like being a member of some secret club.
Many times in the past, there have been bands (not prog rock) I was into that suddenly became huge, such as Whitesnake and Guns 'N Roses. What used to be “my little secret” was now shared by everyone, and I felt “robbed” of the opportunity to share them with others. And I also felt like when I claimed to have been a fan of the band way back when, people wouldn’t believe me, they’d think I was just jumping on the bandwagon. So, I moved on. Stupid, I know.
I’m a little bit of a liquor snob. Which is funny, because I’m by no means a beer, wine or food snob. I’ll happily have McDonald’s and wash it down with a Bud Light, and I’ll go to an expensive restaurant and enjoy it with a $75 dollar bottle of wine.
I draw the line at cheap liquor though; I’ll usually order beer or wine if the liquors behind the bar are Bacardi, Jack Daniel’s, Jim Beam white, Smirnoff vodka or Jose Cuervo gold. Oddly, I can hack most mid-range or inexpensive gins, at least in mixed drinks.
Many store brands are not only “just as good,” but are literally the very same products in different boxes. Many name brands can’t sell enough of their products under the name brand and for the premium price to keep their production line going all the time, so it’s more profitable for them to sell what they can under the brand and then let various stores take the rest at a discount.
Of course, if you’re talking food, the “elitist” position is probably to avoid buying boxed processed products entirely, branded or generic.
All your keyboards are crap and you’re killing your hands slamming your fingers into $2 worth of plastic, rubber and glue every day. This is not elitism, it’s the truth.
Also; electronic music was way better in the 80s when people had to make do with one or two synths and a crappy drum machine. I know it’s irrational (if only because I love Raymond Scott), but that’s what I think.
Perfume. I will save up for months to buy a real perfume I love, than spend a lesser amount on something cheap n’ fruity. And I will not give one red cent to any company hawking “celebrity” perfume. It’s sheer greed - Let celebrities buy their drugs, implants, and botox with their millions of dollars movie salaries. (Seriously - Britney Spears “Circus” perfume? That insults circuses!)…which leads to movies - I do have a few guilty pleasures regarding crap movies, but I will not go to a movie theater and pay actual cash to watch a rom-com or frat boy fart fest. (Because I read reviews ahead of time and know what to expect.) I’m sorry, I overwhelmingly prefer good classic movies. I haven’t got that much time left in my life!
Bahh, back in my day telescopes only had one axis, it wasnt even motorized, and even the damn rotation rate of the earth was erractic. You young whipper snappers have it easy.
Even the great Virgo cluster didnt intimdate me and my decent sized dob.
So, a very much yes (literally thousands of things, though mostly faint and fuzzy). Though I do agree that for the inexperienced it can be a trial. Of course, if you don’t know what you are doing, setting up that computer controlled telescope aint exactly easy either.
I like that I make most of our stuff from scratch and look down on people who regularly give their kids convenience foods like frozen chicken nuggets, canned foods (like ravioli and other Chef Boyardi products) and lunchables. It doesn’t affect me at all, so I should just tamp down those thoughts. Plus, even though my kid has never had McDonald’s or food from another traditional fast-food chain, it’s not like he hasn’t had food that’s probably just as bad for him (possibly worse) at a regular restaurant.
I hate the coffee at work. I think it’s swill and will only drink it if I’m desperate for caffeine. Same for desserts - I prefer to eat only those sweets I’ve made myself. Part of it is a diet thing - it makes it that much harder for me to get dessert if I’ve got to make it myself. But part of it is that I think the stuff I make tastes better. I’m snooty about a lot of food.
I also like that we have a small TV that doesn’t dominate an entire wall of our family room and look down on one of our friends who has this ridiculously large television that takes up most of their family room and then some. Of course, this is subject to change since my husband got a significant raise.
Kid’s bicycles.
I remember as a kid having the only decent bike on the block. And it was a basic Shwinn Scrambler. The rest of the kids got their bikes from Kmart (Kent of Huffy) and they were the biggest pieces of trash. If I rode a friend’s bike it felt like everything was out of alignment.
So my son turns 4 next month and my wife is ready to go to Target and get him a department store special for $60.
Snobby elitist me says “hell no” and he ends up with a Specialized with training wheels for $180.