… and while we’re on the subject of overpriced cables, I might as well rant about their close cousins, overengineered cables.  I’ve seen all kinds of nonsense here.  One of the most egregious things I’ve seen recently is a six-foot HDMI cable with silver-coated wires inside.

Now, don’t get me wrong… silver is an excellent electrical conductor, make no mistake.  On a really long run (say, 100 feet), it could even be useful.  But, and this is important, on a short cable like that, it adds no value whatsoever. And, last I checked, silver was a kind of expensive metal, you know?  There have been plenty of independent tests out there that show that pretty much any standard copper-based cable will get the job done.

Bottom line: as with anything, there’s a law of diminishing returns.  Once a cable works perfectly, anything else you attempt to do to it to make it better than perfect is just hype, designed to get you, the consumer, to part with more money.