Being Obsolete

I like to see the current state of consumer technology, especially electronics and music systems. That's not to say I follow it obsessively or even more than casually. I just like to see what's there and where it's going. But as we know and see more quickly the progress in technology comes at a price, obsolescene, not just what you have and use, but what and who you are. Yes, we become and are obsolete.

That's not new in our culture and society. It's as old a bosses decided to fire or retire older employees, not so much to save money but they found younger ones better, or at least in their mind, neglecting the experience and wisdom of older employees. We're just not progress anymore when new is the operative word.

And it's as old as family shuffled the elderly family members into corners of their life. And it's as old as some who just wandered away from the mainstream to find themselves living in isolation from the world. We've seen the many stories and we know the many people, and most of all we fear our own obsolescence, real and inevitable.

And it's not new it's a progression through one's life. The young generally want the new and the older cherish the old. We go with what we know and what new we can learn and master. Everything else just isn't important, even people. But what's important isn't what you keep personally important as you get older, it's how you see it relative to you, your life and the world.

It's about meaning. Meaning in a person's life, to them, to their world and the world itself. What the young don't realize and know is what older people already have experienced and know. We are all obsolete, it's only relative to when and how much, and at the rate of progress of technology, it's only going quicker and faster. The young will see in their 30's what we, the older generations (in my 60's), saw in 40's and beyond.

I collected vinyl records from the early 1960's, mostly my brother's but some mine, but not seriously until I was in the service and bought my first stereo. Vinyl lasted well into the 1990's when CD's became mainstream replacing vinyl. In the years of vinyl records, tapes of all sorts of size, speed, format came and went, but only really studio master tapes survived along with Digital Audio Tapes (DAT's) for copying and distribution.

This meant the standard audio stereo system was basically intact from the 1950's through the 1990's and even into the first decade of the 21st century. The improvements in technology was still around the basic idea of a stereo system, only the technology and quality of the components changed. My stereo is still intact but pretty much little used anymore outside the amplifiers to power the speaker system.

I say little used because now almost everything is run through my Mac computer. My turntable, an AR-X, yes, an audio antique but a great one, is still used as I'm putting my 700 vinyl records into iTunes via Vinyl Studio application . The two studio DAT decks and two CD (one CD-RW and one CD-R) aren't used except to keep them working as all my CD's are in iTunes

I added an Apple Airport express to connect the Mac to the stereo's amplifiers and added a Internet radio application (Radium), replacing the tuner, to stream any FM radio station to the Mac and the stereo which controls the speakers through the home. And while I haven't decided what to do with the little used components, as there is no market for them anymore, it only shows how obsolete really great audio equipment can become in the face of progress and technology.

And it goes to show how easily we can and do become obsolete by just being who we are. We can't stand still anymore, because if you do, you'll be obsolete real fast, and it doesn't matter anymore how old you are. Something the younger generations are learning. Feeling old isn't about being old. Not anymore. And being obsolete isn't either.