Why buy that?

The good news is that purchasing is making moves to procure some of my equipment. The bad news is that it means more paperwork.

Some of the specialized recording equipment I want is available only from the manufacturer. That means I have to fill in another form justifying the purchase, because there's only one source for the equipment.

This would seem to be useful for keeping costs down when you're buying standard consumer goods. You don't want someone saying, "You must buy this DVD player at Circuit City, and not Wal-Mart, K-Mart, or Radio Shack, regardless of the price."

But when you're talking about high-end, specialized scientific equipment, is it really worth it? For one thing, who's going to argue with my justification? If I wrote, "I want this equipment because it allows me to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow," is anyone in purchasing going to know that I'm quoting Doctor Who rather than giving a serious scientific reason?

I could go on, but I'll save it for later.