New rigs

So the time is 6.30am and I am up and actually awake....what is that all about???

So Im sitting in the shack (where my laptop is) and Tony is searching the internet and looking at (guess what?)  ....different rigs.  Apparantly he would loooovvvveeeeee all the ones he hasnt got, because they are apparantly so brilliant and their functions are (you guessed it) the same.  One in particular that Ive noticed is the Yaesu FT 1000 Mk5.  Now he currently has the FT 1000MP and I really cant tell the difference between the two, apart from a few minor face differences.  The Mk5 obviously must have more functions to warrant its existance but why is it that hams always needs "the latest rig", even if it does cost thousands?

I am more than happy to work with anything really that does the job, including a battery with a coat wire antenna (McGyver style lol) but are these upgraded rigs really justified in some cases, when the only changes seem to be a different colour light on the display?  Now as I said, I am not technically minded so maybe the performance difference is where the big bucks come into play, but if a woman went in for surgery and came out with only different colour eyes, how many of us would notice?  And would it be worth the thousands?

Now I can understand a major upgrade by a ham, from say an Icom IC718 to an Icom 7600, and the major performance and facelift differences but Im not sure if a different display colour and an extra button could justify spending major bucks.  Are the Yaesu's, Kenwoods and Icoms of this world raking it in by advertising the same rig in a different box?  And why is it that hams fall in love with all models?  Maybe its an obsession thing, or "keeping up with the Jones" element, but Im not sure if paying the equivilent of a mortgage downpayment can equal the "beauty" of the newest, most advanced rig yet (and most expensive) for example "The Masterpiece" Icom IC7800 MkII at €10,000 approx, can be justified.  Apparantly 40 years of design have developed this, have they done nothing else for that time or was it a progression?  Then surely that proves the point, they hardly just came up with that idea, it was progressive and maybe all it consists of is a few extra antenna sockets and a quad core processor that has been added to a previous rig, that and a good advertising company with fancy words.

Now dont get me wrong, if you have that kind of money, then by all means I dont see why ppl shouldnt indulge their hobbies and interests, but when ppl are trying to scrimp and save to get this type of rig, maybe to find out it does the exact same as the "old" rig they had...mmmmmm food for thought!

73, Lisa