A very insightful observation. That wasn't intentional. Upon reflection I think that everything I own outside of a small collection of half a dozen pieces of art could be classified as some kind of tool. That makes me feel somewhat better about the amount of "stuff" I have.

The line between tool and stuff is quite often blurred.

Lots of tools exist only to facilitate a very specific task and can be replaced by a less specialized one. Its not always as efficient but most of the time its enough. A knife can peel, mince, cut, etc. It can easily replace lots of 'stuff' in the kitchen.

The average guy who owns a toolbox will never use 80% of the stuff in that box. He owns the tools "just in case."

That doesn't match my experience at all. I can't recall ever seeing a big box of unused tools. I mean who goes out and spends a bunch of money on tools for no reason?

99% of the time, people buy tools when they have a need for them.

Really? Never in my life have I ever bought a tool except when I had a specific need to use it. I can say with 100% confidence that I have used every single tool I own at least one time.

Or more likely, they needed it once. And they remember that time they got rid of something they thought they'd never need again...

My tv is a tool. I use it to watch Netflix.