Maybe we can chalk it up to the author being fashionably obtuse. Or perhaps expressing a viewpoint which is the ultimate realization of the disposable consumer society, which I guess is the same thing, or at least a very similar thing.
I think the author of this piece probably is just cynically harvesting income by playing to the shallow, vapid masses. At least further evidence to the contrary, I'll give him credit for as much.
Nothing is to be gained by trying to explain why some people enjoy, or are driven to try a wide variety of pursuits, or God forbid, be self sufficient, to the intended audience of this piece, because as they say, "you can't fix stupid", or "I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you".