What is this vogue ...?

Don't get me started on personalised number plates........identity indeed!

I don't mind relevant plates like the one on the red Golf above. Essentially, it's a normal plate format... just happens to have VW and RED in it. What bugs me is when people alter spaces, and put coloured grommets over strategically places screws to turn a 6 into a G etc. They're illegal, pointless... look crap and highly pretentious.
 
One of our salesmen pointed out something a while ago which I agreed with.

We were off visiting a customer and on the way we saw two almost identical, new Mercedes cars. One had a normal number plate and one had a personalised plate.

We agreed that the one with the ordinary number plate had more class.


Steve.
 
One of our salesmen pointed out something a while ago which I agreed with.

We were off visiting a customer and on the way we saw two almost identical, new Mercedes cars. One had a normal number plate and one had a personalised plate.

We agreed that the one with the ordinary number plate had more class.

Steve.

....Whether it has more 'class' or not depends entirely on the individual number plate. It goes without saying that only legally spaced plates are considered acceptable.

The first cars were owned by the landed gentry who of course could better afford them. Plates such as 'A 4' are *NOW considered very 'classy'.

*Edited following @Steve Smith post#125

Don't get me started on personalised number plates........identity indeed!

....If I have to explain, you wouldn't understand.
 
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The first cars were owned by the landed gentry who of course could better afford them. Plates such as 'A 4' are considered very 'classy'.

When number plates were introduced, the landed gentry were against them. It was suggested that a police officer could tell who owned the car from the chauffeur's uniform!


Steve.
 
Any conscious public display of status or wealth is fundamentally un-classy and makes you look like a desperate moron with self-esteem issues.
 
Don't get me started on personalised number plates........identity indeed!
Any conscious public display of status or wealth is fundamentally un-classy and makes you look like a desperate moron with self-esteem issues.

I have one. Age related layout but with my initials. It was a birthday present. Guess I'm a moron with low self-esteem, ho-hum!
Ghoti, does that extend to driving a nice/new car? Wearing nice clothes? Carrying an expensive camera around in public?
 
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Any conscious public display of status or wealth is fundamentally un-classy and makes you look like a desperate moron with self-esteem issues.

I would hardly call a personalised plate a conspicuous display of status or wealth.

By your standards that makes anyone who purchases a premium brand car falls into your category. Or a high end camera for that matter. Both examples of conspicuous public displays of a certain amount of wealth... where does it end?
 
When number plates go over to QR codes, this issue will all fall away. Oh! Wait a minute, you can customise those with patterns too. Doh!

Frankly, if anyone does something that makes other people think it looks stupid, unclassy, naff, showy, or whatever, then surely that is their just reward. As long as they don't deceive anyone, let 'em do what they want and we'll all have a good laugh at them.
 
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This discussion has meandered organically off the original topic but afterall that's what open conversations do in both the 'real' world and in hyperinterwebbynet space.

I prefer to buy whatever best suits how I want to use it and to hell with whatever anyone else thinks of it! - That's their problem not yours and all of us can find something to criticise about someone else.
 
Any conscious public display of status or wealth is fundamentally un-classy and makes you look like a desperate moron with self-esteem issues.
If by "conscious display" the intent is to imply "hey look at how rich I am" then I would could easily assume that person has problems. However that can be quite different from just wearing "nice" clothes or owning a new car. If you own an expensive camera, you could be an enthusiast of pro who will get use of it, or someone with too much money who thought they needed the "best" camera so their pictures are automatically better, or a saddo who wants to show off. You can't tell from the camera alone.
 
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If by "conscious display" the intent is to imply "hey look at how rich I am" then I would could easily assume that person has problems. However that can be quite different from just wearing "nice" clothes or owning a new car.
Well, exactly.
There's nothing wrong with walking around with an expensive camera if you're walking around with it for a practical reason. But if you're just making a statement about your status (as a photographer or as a general wealth indicator) you are a moron.
Same goes with cars or clothes.
A personalised number plate only exists as a "look at me! look at me!" object. It has no other use.
 
This discussion has meandered organically off the original topic but afterall that's what open conversations do in both the 'real' world and in hyperinterwebbynet space.

I prefer to buy whatever best suits how I want to use it and to hell with whatever anyone else thinks of it! - That's their problem not yours and all of us can find something to criticise about someone else.


Totally agree.

I'm not interested in owning a personalised numberplate, but it's your money and you are free to choose how to spend it so I would not criticise anyone spending a couple of hundred quid on one. I'm sure there are things I spend my money on that make sense to me but others would recoil at the thought.

It seems that some things like personalised plates and tatoos divide opinion enormously and people who dont like them feel free to criticise in a way that they would not dream of doing for other purchases.

If you are happy with your purchases thats all that matters. Others' opinions dont matter.
 
I agree with Steve. Yet again we have a thread with people whinging about what others do, who cares? If people want a personalised plate or want to walk around with a posh camera they're not actually using then let them go ahead and do it.

Do some people have so little going on in their own lives that they feel the need to scrutinise other people's so much?
 
I agree with Steve. Yet again we have a thread with people whinging about what others do, who cares? If people want a personalised plate or want to walk around with a posh camera they're not actually using then let them go ahead and do it.

Do some people have so little going on in their own lives that they feel the need to scrutinise other people's so much?
Some people have so little going on in their lives that they're whinging about other people whinging.

Or, maybe, you, like me, are just making a frivolous comment on an online forum that's taken no more than two minutes of your time and impacts negligibly on the abundance of other things that are going on in your life.

It's one of the two.
 
My issue with personalised number plates is that they have no intrinsic value. Clothes keep you warm (and attract the opposite sex ;) ), a car gets you from A to B, an expensive camera (arguably) gives your access to features that you want (not necessarily need) to achieve particular results that may not be available on cheaper models. I am not saying that everything should be utilitarian, but a personalised number plate does nothing to improve the world.

It's a bit like people buying and selling stocks and shares a thousand times a day just to make money.
 
My issue with personalised number plates is that they have no intrinsic value. Clothes keep you warm (and attract the opposite sex ;) ), a car gets you from A to B, an expensive camera (arguably) gives your access to features that you want (not necessarily need) to achieve particular results that may not be available on cheaper models. I am not saying that everything should be utilitarian, but a personalised number plate does nothing to improve the world.

It's a bit like people buying and selling stocks and shares a thousand times a day just to make money.

....I don't understand your analogy with stocks and shares - For some people it's a very effective way of making money and the money then enables them to do whatever it is they like to do in their lives.

In my case, having a 'private plate' on my car has a definable value. I have owned the car with the plate from new and it has brought me a lot of free or heavily discounted performance modifications, given me free access to shows etc, and has even introduced me to strangers who are now friends. It has also brought pleasure to other car enthusiasts. But most of all, it adds to the feeling that my car has its own 'personality' and individuality. Finally, I can sell the plate at a profit, although I don't wish to.

If you love driving (as I do so very much) then a performance car does far more than just transport you from A to B. Every mile is a joy. 109,000 miles so far in 'RED' as she is known.

Anyway, it doesn't matter if we don't all agree about such things - Each to their own :)
 
....I don't understand your analogy with stocks and shares - For some people it's a very effective way of making money and the money then enables them to do whatever it is they like to do in their lives.

In my case, having a 'private plate' on my car has a definable value. I have owned the car with the plate from new and it has brought me a lot of free or heavily discounted performance modifications, given me free access to shows etc, and has even introduced me to strangers who are now friends. It has also brought pleasure to other car enthusiasts. But most of all, it adds to the feeling that my car has its own 'personality' and individuality. Finally, I can sell the plate at a profit, although I don't wish to.

If you love driving (as I do so very much) then a performance car does far more than just transport you from A to B. Every mile is a joy. 109,000 miles so far in 'RED' as she is known.

Anyway, it doesn't matter if we don't all agree about such things - Each to their own :)

Sorry, I should have added a caveat. I can sort of understand a famous or business person using their personalised number plate as part of their marketing strategy.

As for share dealing, I can get a system where people invest in a company that they believe in, but to buy and sell shares thousands of times a second just to make money (deprive someone else of money) - I am not sure how that does the world any good. :rage: (Hanging into to shares for six months when you buy them should be law!)
 
Well, exactly.
There's nothing wrong with walking around with an expensive camera if you're walking around with it for a practical reason. But if you're just making a statement about your status (as a photographer or as a general wealth indicator) you are a moron.
Same goes with cars or clothes.
A personalised number plate only exists as a "look at me! look at me!" object. It has no other use.

I disagree with cars. Some people just appreciate interesting vehicles. I personally hate driving around in boring cars. It's not a status thing though. Mustang's aren't exactly the preserve of the rich. They're a bit of a working class hero of a car. They're interesting though. People do stare, shout, take photos etc. and to be honest, it's massively embarrassing. When I do take it out, I head away from town for that reason. Not everyone's into nice cars to show off.


I agree with clothes though. So long as you can't see my genitals... job done so far as I'm concerned.
 
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I put my name on my images purely because It was me who took them, I am in no way a pro and never will be.

I have Chef qualifications but if someone told me they made the dinner I wouldn't say "Oh so you think you're a Chef now then!?!" :p
 
Clothes may to some extent allow us to express who we (think we) are. To think the same of a car is taking the argument a bit further off-pitch. You can choose a car for fun, if you've got enough spare loot, but if you feel it expresses your identity you're a chav.

Within its range of processes, photography has many cultural guises, from the prosaic to the artistic. Some of what's claimed to be artistic is just a sham. Some of what's prosaic is just inept.
 
I put my name on my images purely because It was me who took them, I am in no way a pro and never will be.

I have Chef qualifications but if someone told me they made the dinner I wouldn't say "Oh so you think you're a Chef now then!?!" :p

If they put everything they cooked on a website and called it "My name, Cuisine" though, would you have an opinion?
 
Good point Pookeyhead - but not me personally as I gave the Chef game up a while ago and I'm now a Nurse :D but yeah, I have definitely seen a few out there who think running a restaurant is just a case of make a plate of food appear; much as the same as some believe pushing a button on a camera makes a photographer, in both cases, It's the quality of the product that determines its worth, and the buyer can decide whether it's good quality or not. My food is probably better than a lot of unqualified cooks, but at the same time, there's nothing to say that there aren't many people who simply enjoy cooking and are just as good, if not better than I am. This also doesn't stop any of these people promoting themselves as Chefs or Restaurateurs (and many do). Whether their food is good enough to be advertised and buy can only really be determined by the public.
This evening I saw someone with ******"photography" on their signature; I still consider myself a beginner and even I thought "You must be joking, these are SO amateur" but that's just my opinion I guess, for all I know they could be very successful.

I can only say why I put my name on my images and it is simply because they're mine and if someone likes them I'd like them to know that I took it. As for the other amateurs who like to 'think they're pro's', some of their work is shocking, other's are amazing, it's a matter of preference. I definitely can see how the whole thing might frustrate the OP or other pro's, but watermarks and qualifications don't determine good pictures or photgraphers, much the same as it doesn't in many other professions (IMO of course! :)).
 
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Clothes may to some extent allow us to express who we (think we) are. To think the same of a car is taking the argument a bit further off-pitch. You can choose a car for fun, if you've got enough spare loot, but if you feel it expresses your identity you're a chav.

I think you'll find there's hundreds of members of car clubs that will disagree with you. At that point of meeting, with others with similar interests, you're identifying with that make of vehicle.

There's plenty of research into consumers expressing their identity through the products they buy, even Marx wrote about it in "Fetishism of commodities”. Cars are an obvious example of this. There's enough stereotypes around, BMW, Chelsea tractors, modified cars, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Ferrari? I wouldn't call them chavs but actually expressing their identity or beliefs through their vehicles.
 
Look at it this way:
It's probably not a good idea to try to prevent people doing things that you think looks stupid.
In which case, they are free to do those stupid things.
Additionally we are free to laugh or mock them. Like on this thread.
And others are also free to defend the stupid things. And so on.

We are then left to decide what is stupid or not. You will land either side of a fence. And maybe disagree.
 
My photos, my car, my number plate, my business... People that make judgements about me based on what notation I put on my photos, what number plate is on my car need to take a long look in the mirror.
 
We all make judgements and presumptions based on the visual appearance of things. "...People who do this, are probably like that!"
With a lack of information about someone we will use our "experiences" to fill in the blanks. Sometimes we are wrong. "...It turned out he was a nice guy after all."
None of us is immune from the need to look in the mirror. But be curious when you do it. For the mirror can tell you a lot,... if you want it to.
 
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None of us is immune from the need to look in the mirror. But be curious when you do it. For the mirror can tell you a lot,... if you want it to.
I look into the mirror at erratic intervals and often end up reaching for an implement that'll help me crop some new wild whiskers sprouting from (insert your own chosen part of your anatomy here on your own behalf) my nose.
 
My photos, my car, my number plate, my business... People that make judgements about me based on what notation I put on my photos, what number plate is on my car need to take a long look in the mirror.


Go out of your way to get attention, and people will let you know what they think about you. Some feedback will be positive, some will not

Can't take it... don't do it. Simple.
 
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