A Love Song to Alvin Toffler
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| "The Throwaway Society?" Not if you are an Audiophile |
The Throwaway Society is a section of the book Future Shock by Alvin Toffler. Widely read, the whole book was by and large correct - the rate of change was so fast that everyone is in a continuous upgrade cycle, tossing out the old and obsolete, and living in a sort of culture shock since mentally people cannot adapt quickly enough to the change we ourselves instigate. So much isn't designed to be repaired or last to keep the costs low, that not only can you afford to throw it away in a few years, you must throw it away. And what you replace it with, is usually better and more capable by a significant margin.
I know I feel it. I am pretty sure everyone feels it. But ... in audiophilia, with a few exceptions, has escaped largely immune from this churn.
As people are throwing away their 2 year old cellphones for new ones with better performance and better features, and every 3-6 years their computer for similar reasons, audiophiles don't throw away their audio gear. Most audio gear is as relevant as the day it was bought even decades later. And with a little repair work, decades longer.
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| State of the art, 1948 and still embraced by audiophiles everywhere |
Consider that while on average some new format comes along every 2-4 years, the ones that have had sticking power, the LP and CD, are 57 years old and 32 years old respectively. Even the growing popularity of FLAC, and high rez audio, are based upon standards that are over 15 years old, and it has only been over the last few years that it seems to be here to stay (though this is still in a state of churn you can see by glancing over magazines).
Don't get me started about tubes and tube electronics - some designs are about 60 years old and used and refined today. All new Quad speakers are based upon the old ESL-63 which was conceived of in the year in it's name, and released in 1980. I could go on ... but honestly, audio electronics is a bit of an anomaly in the throwaway culture.
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| Released in 1974, Refined for decades, but basically the same beast as when it was released and still a very very good turntable! Can't say that about very much at all. It's not cheap but when you consider you'll have it for decades if you want, there are far more expensive things in your life that you must churn. |
I keep thinking that some of the complaints people have about the "high cost" of audiophile electronics is driven by a mentality with an underlying "but I am going to have to replace this in 5 years, I couldn't possibly spend $5k on that Phonostage." Once you get past the assumption you are throwing something away, you realize that you could live with much of the kit you acquire for decades (so you better get a good whatever-it-is). When you factor that in, the prices pale by comparison to the ongoing costs of computers and cellphones that are designed to break in 3-5 years, and not be repaired. If you choose carefully, and wisely, your stack will last for a significant chunk of your life(*). You change cars every 5-10 years, Cellphones every 2, computers 3-5 years - your audio gear and music collection might just stay with you the longest.
It's as if we preserve what is obsolete and make it beautiful and long lasting.
So as our society plows further into a land where software is constantly failing and being "improved" over time, and throws away nearly everything they own with technology baked in every few years, realize that Audiophilia is not buying into that culture, at least not very far into it.
Next time you fire up your tube amp (c 1935), and spin a LP (c1957) and play through your dynamic speakers (c1931) or Electrostatic ones (c1957) you can think about what we throw away and what we keep.
(*) - I will say there is a digital caveat ... most CD players have weak transports, and while they are designed to be repaired in most cases, if you want something to last, you are best off buying something from a company that makes and sells their own transports (Esoteric comes to mind, but there are others). DAC's and computer based audio - the jury is still out on the longevity of the formats and standards.
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