Which would you keep?

[griffo104]

Well, this is just a thought experiment - I'm not really in the process of loading up my car with all my music to go and junk it!

Does the idea of starting afresh and discovering new things beyond your current musical horizons not appeal at all?



Well, by the sound of it, you need to dig yourself out of the "staples or standards" mainstream rut, Chris.

Only joking .... but I do find myself listening to and enjoying things way beyond the "classical music core" that dominated my early years. And I have to say I am enjoying the journey hugely. Each week brings something new and previously unexplored - some of it good, some of it not to my taste, but all of it is interesting.

I feel sure that would be true for any musical genre.

Maybe it's an age-related thing - I've just passed my 56th birthday and with much of the "staples and standards" I feel more than just a touch of 'been there, done that, time for something new'.

Jerry, have you thought of adding a computer to your listening habits ?

Since having my PS3 hooked up to my hifi with the Music Unlimited service I've found so much new music - all at my finger tips and as you only pay the tenner a month it doesn't really cost you unless you feel like buying the actual product itself.

It's really helped transform my listening habits since doing all this at Xmas.

Nothing better than finding new music you've never heard before and getting that excited feeling of a new discovery.

[Marco]

My music collection has grown with me during my life, it maps every major event since I was about 16.

How could I get rid of the record my Dad bought me just before he died ? I can't rip that to a computer the object has immense meaning to me, just like the dark, miserable music I listen to at 17, stuck in my dark room going through a (very) acne driven teenage mess.

Or the Lucinda Williams album my other half bought me not long after we met or the Lou Donaldson she bought me for our first Xmas together.

hifi is just an object, your music collection is your life.

+1 Top man, Griffo!

I think that books also come into the same category, which is why a bloody Kindle will never cut it!

I think that anyone who feels differently about music quite simply hasn't made an emotional connection with it to the same degree, and so those people will never truly 'get' what our favourite albums mean to us. And it's that emotional connection with our favourite music, which makes the experience of listening to it so special.

In that respect, for me, accessing a 'faceless file' from a computer will never evoke the same emotional response as playing a treasured (and often rare) vinyl record; especially when it has major personal significance, thus the enjoyment of the overall listening experience, and what makes it so special, is devalued.

I've found the responses to this thread fascinating, as it has provided an intriguing insight into who people are (i.e. what makes them 'tick') which may not have otherwise surfaced....

Marco.

[griffo104]

I think that books also come into the same category, which is why a bloody Kindle will never cut it!

Hmmmm this is one of my biggest conflicts. I love my books - love them. I love the feel, the smell, the fact the books age with you. I love everything about them.

And then my other half bought me a Kobo for Xmas (WH Smiths version of the the Kindle)

there's no doubt that having one is of great benefit, especially if you travel around a lot, but it does lack that tactile nature of the book. I have to say though that it's won me round and I'll be taking some of by paperbacks down to the charity shop for a clear out but it simply can't replace the great reference books or books with great photos in them.

As a replacement for my Michael Connelly or Ian Rankin then it's fine but replace my big books of the Villa, or the watch books or my art books ? Never gonna happen.

[Haselsh1]

Easy... my vinyl collection a lot of which is no longer available.

[Marco]

Hmmmm this is one of my biggest conflicts. I love my books - love them. I love the feel, the smell, the fact the books age with you. I love everything about them.

You've just described the emotional connection with our prized possessions that, we as humans, love - and which can NEVER be achieved when one attempts to experience a version of those things, through using a computer. The experience can only ever be 'virtual'; never real.

Whilst I accept that in modern times people's lives have changed, it is *precisely* the dehumanising effect you have just described which I hate (and refuse to embrace) about today's computer-driven, technology obsessed, world.

It's so easy getting sucked into living a life driven by insidious marketing (and in the process technology subconsciously dictating how we live, rather than us using it moderation), to the extent that most folk don't even realise that it's happening to them!

In effect, we've become a nation of technology tarts. And as such, more robot-like by the day, to the detriment of our ability to function properly as human beings.... One only has to observe the world around us now to see ample evidence of this unfortunate behaviour

Long may I own the physical and tactile personal possessions which define me as a human being; and most importantly, as an individual. And my treasured physical music collection is one of them.

Marco.

[chelsea]

If i had my original vinyl collection from the 70's 80s it would be the hi fi getting lobbed.
As i have only got back into vinyl recently it doesn't hold the same emotional pull as before.
I'am sure it will in 20 years.

I've had to put in a lot of time into searching the web to be able to get a decent setup on a budget of hardly anything.

I could go to a few car boots and buy a job lot of vinyl but to get my system cheap again would be very unlikely.

I can totally understand anyone with an original music collection spanning there lifetime would ditch the hi fi.

Nearly every album i used to have could connect me with a person place and time in my life.

Can't see a download doing that.

[griffo104]

You've just described the emotional connection with our treasured possessions that, we as humans, love - and which can NEVER be achieved when one attempts to experience a version of the same things, through using a computer.

Whilst I accept that in modern times people's lives have changed, it is *precisely* the dehumanising effect you have just described which I hate (and refuse to embrace) about today's computer-driven, technology obsessed, world.

It's so easy getting sucked into living a life driven by insidious marketing (and in the process technology dictating how we live), to the extent that most folk don't even know that it's happening!

Long may I own the physical and tactile personal things which make me the human being I am; and most importantly, an individual.

Marco.

Well I've been working in IT since I was 16 (now 41) and I refuse to have a computer in the house. I only have an old one used to sort out the wifi for things such as the BBC iplayer and stuff which my other half likes but it's all done through the PS3 which also doubles up as my bluray player.

So bearing that in mind I think we are on the same page (to a degree)

Computers are fine and there's no doubt it's helped bring stuff such as serious photography to the masses but somethings should never really be a 'file'.

[Marco]

Computers are fine and there's no doubt it's helped bring stuff such as serious photography to the masses but somethings should never really be a 'file'.

We are most definitely on the same page, amigo!

Marco.

[Marco]

Hi Stuart,

I can totally understand anyone with an original music collection spanning there lifetime would ditch the hi fi.

Nearly every album i used to have could connect me with a person place and time in my life.

That's it in a nutshell. Perhaps it's something that the likes of Jerry should consider - how much of his current music collection has been with him during his 56 years on this earth?

Maybe not much, which is why he appears so ready to dispose of it and start again - and perhaps this time round, foster that all-important emotional connection (as referred to above in bold) with his favourite music, which currently seems a little lacking...

Can't see a download doing that.

NEVER!!

Marco.

[Haselsh1]

My first girlfriend... 10cc 'I'm Not In Love' from The Original Soundtrack on vinyl.

My first motorbike... Honda CG125 'More Than A Feeling' Boston from the album of the same name on vinyl half speed mastered.

Playing bass in my first band... 'Sweet Home Alabama' again on vinyl.

This is what a posession brings to me. A download... you can keep it thanks, it means sod all.