The Most Overpriced Gadget (tMOG): Denon Ultra Premium Link Cable

Ah, what a pleasure! If I feel down one day because the weather is bad or because my novel didn’t sell as well as I thought, I just go to the nearest electronics store and laugh my behind off looking at the phony prices for accessories there. I mean, seriously, you expect me to pay $40 for the case to a phone that barely cost $100? That’s ludicrous!

Well, Slashdot had an article about HDMI cables and how even retailers are now starting to crack the scam barrier there. You must know that HDMI cables are digital cables and that quality is largely immaterial – as soon as you get a picture, you get a picture. There are some minor differences for very long cables, and some cables aren’t able to transfer a high-def picture, but they are cables: they should cost significantly less than $10. Anything you spend above that is like the $40 you pay for a faux-leather cell phone case: gravy for the manufacturer.

Well, there was a series of comments about technical merits and demerits, and one commenter posted a link to an incredible deal: The Denon Ultra Premium Link Cable. I would love to give you more than a link, quoting the description, but I’ll just have you go there and check for yourself.

Notice: the 59 inch cable is priced at a whopping $499 MSRP. This is for a cable that connects a DVD player to an A/V receiver. In case you hadn’t understood: it’s a $499 cable to connect a DVD player to a home theater. A DVD player. A home theater. Nobody has said BlueRay yet. DVD player. A/V receiver.

I would be speechless, but I feel the urge to repeat the same three things over and over: DVD player; A/V receiver; $499 cable…