The thing with books is that you can reread your books for decades. Most people don’t want, or at least don’t show off about, their decades old sound system. People get sniffy and say “how can you listen to that? You couldn’t really appreciate music if you don’t have a good sound system”. And for a lot of people a good sound system is a new(er) one.
Secondhand books and, (if you're lucky enough to have a decent library), libraries, mean that you don’t have to buy brand new books to read a lot. There’s no one-upmanship on how new your books are.
I would say most people, even fairly green living people, like their gadgets to be new when they buy them. I know that isn’t true of everyone, but ime most people do.
I think it’s something people don’t consider to have an environmental impact in the way they view things like plastic bags and single use coffee cups. But there is an impact.
So, if you get into a pissing competition about who has the most and the best electronics, I think that’s a damaging message.
I have electric gadgets at home myself. Not loads, but a few. So I’m certainly in no position to judge people for having a few gadgets.
But it’s definitely nothing to be proud of if you have loads of them and it’s nothing to be sneered at if people, (like the play date host), don’t. They are to be applauded imo. Well done for not falling for this bullshit that we NEED all the gadgets to make us a bona fide connoisseur of music.
www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/the-impact-of-gadgets-on-people-and-the-planet/