> A Lamborghini may be fun to drive for the first days or weeks, but pretty soon it fades into the background of your life.
That depends on whether you bought it for yourself or to show off. A lot of people buy/wear/own expensive tools to show off, as a status symbol. Especially those who can afford a Lamborghini are seen as such (whether appropriate or not I don't know). At the same time, many people who cannot afford a Lamborghini would love to drive around in one which feeds into the status symbol loop ('you want this'). Good news! They can do that, virtually, with a fraction of the cost. They buy the experience, not the thing. I am not sure what the point of this entire write-up is, I just found it a terrible example. Because almost everyone who owns one car, owns it primarily as a tool, not an experience. Yes, it provides an experience, but its mostly a tool. A tool has a lowest common denominator. It has to work reasonably well, well enough, for its purpose. If you're rich, you may have higher standards and might get annoyed about your Tesla's entertainment system instead of the conventional car of a poor person leaking oil.
As for kayak, I can resonate with your example. I went to Venice as child, with my father (who has since passed away). My father was in a wheelchair back then, he had MS and could barely walk. Every bridge, we needed help to get him across. People helped. We didn't see the cathedral (too much effort), but we did end up in a gondola. Though it took effort to get him in, and it was 'on our own risk', this was very special for us as a family, including me. Before my father became ill (he was a photography nerd among other things) he made a picture of a man with a gondola in the 70s and won a national competition with it which hung in our house. And now I, his son, was able to experience the same with him. I have no idea how much my mom paid in Italian Lira for the experience, but I know for sure I wouldn't have wanted to buy the boat or the man. Because the experience is a memory which only old age can take away from me, no amount of money can describe it. Remember how I mentioned people helped? They'll never know it, but I am grateful.
That depends on whether you bought it for yourself or to show off. A lot of people buy/wear/own expensive tools to show off, as a status symbol. Especially those who can afford a Lamborghini are seen as such (whether appropriate or not I don't know). At the same time, many people who cannot afford a Lamborghini would love to drive around in one which feeds into the status symbol loop ('you want this'). Good news! They can do that, virtually, with a fraction of the cost. They buy the experience, not the thing. I am not sure what the point of this entire write-up is, I just found it a terrible example. Because almost everyone who owns one car, owns it primarily as a tool, not an experience. Yes, it provides an experience, but its mostly a tool. A tool has a lowest common denominator. It has to work reasonably well, well enough, for its purpose. If you're rich, you may have higher standards and might get annoyed about your Tesla's entertainment system instead of the conventional car of a poor person leaking oil.
As for kayak, I can resonate with your example. I went to Venice as child, with my father (who has since passed away). My father was in a wheelchair back then, he had MS and could barely walk. Every bridge, we needed help to get him across. People helped. We didn't see the cathedral (too much effort), but we did end up in a gondola. Though it took effort to get him in, and it was 'on our own risk', this was very special for us as a family, including me. Before my father became ill (he was a photography nerd among other things) he made a picture of a man with a gondola in the 70s and won a national competition with it which hung in our house. And now I, his son, was able to experience the same with him. I have no idea how much my mom paid in Italian Lira for the experience, but I know for sure I wouldn't have wanted to buy the boat or the man. Because the experience is a memory which only old age can take away from me, no amount of money can describe it. Remember how I mentioned people helped? They'll never know it, but I am grateful.