The Trailing Edge

I’m going to give this a shot to see if there are any other old curmudgeons out there who think the same way I do and might find it interesting. What's "interesting"…..that might be the question that you are asking? Well, the concept is; as much as I love technology, I often feel like it’s so driven by profit making and “innovation” that very good, if not better performing technologies are push out of the marketplace by things that are newer and/or better marketed items. So I’m going to try and do this blog about those things. The “trailing edge”, quite literally are things are not only, NOT leading/bleeding edge, but are about to or maybe even having fallen off of the “wing” all together! Of course, I’ll be drawing from my own interest and experiences, but I’m really going to need help in a participatory way from others of you who have experience in area that I’m not well versed in. An example would be my friend Eric who was a big Amiga believer/user and knows far more about it than my miniscule puddle of knowledge in that department. So, yes, I would love to have “guest” bloggers on here as well as my misc. ramblings!

So, my first and maybe most emotionally attached topic? The vinyl record of course! Yes; I’m the proud owner of 2 turntables, as well as an accumulation of some parts (read- non-working turntables). And yes, I have actually bought some vinyl records in the last 6 months since we have that favorite of old geeks like me; Half Price Books. I could happily go down there and spend all or most of an entire day in their flagship store on Northwest Highway, off of 75 (Dallas). They not only have old stuff (like records), but books about the old stuff as well! My ideal day would be to spend the morning of a Saturday at the computer flea market downtown, eat lunch at some random diner or dive, then the afternoon at Half Price Books! That is of course, after securing royal blessing from “the boss” and I don’t mean Springsteen!

The fact of the matter is that I think “Vinyl” is a victim of a culture change and not supplanted by a superior medium. It represents a conscious decision to “listen to music” (meaning, by definition, you are serious) in order to devote the time to that activity. Let me break down the steps:

1. Turn on your rig so that it has time to “warm up” while you look for the album(s) that you intend on listening to.

2. Peruse you collection of albums until you find just the right one(s) for that time. Oh, did I forget that you should have already opened your bottle of wine so that it can breathe while this is going on?

3. Put the first album on the turntable, and go through your cleaning ritual. This is of course an important part of the process since it all helps you get into “the mood”, builds the anticipation, foreplay…whatever you want to call it. Let the platter spin and cue up the track, but don’t drop that needle so that the belt gets nice and warmed up on the idler/spindle, while you go and pour the wine, and cut the cheese (maybe I should have gone with “slice” the cheese).

4. Come back with your wine/beer/Coke, whatever, drop (not really “drop” but you know what I mean), and enjoy the bliss for 20 minutes or so….until it’s time to flip sides.

5. Start the process all over again until the stress in your life has been removed by the magic.

Today’s digital medium has no ability to do these things for you. You spin the dial of your iPod, select the track and punch the button, or more likely, you find a previously created “playlist” and click on it, then walk around the house doing various chores until you run out of time. There’s no comittment to devote the time and energy to relaxation and entertainment. Its like, when you go see a comedian; why do you laugh at the same jokes that you see on forwarded emails which are merely amusing? Because you are invested and EXPECT to laugh! Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPod and its ability to hold my entire library of music in the box the size of a shaver, but its not only the impersonal delivery of the music, but the lack of investment in the process that leave it uninvolving. Yes, yes, I fully understand that it’s really not that good in terms of delivery and fidelity, but I really think it’s all the other “stuff” around it that makes it seem cold.