Streaming software can be a steep learning curve, probably why some won't embrace streaming. I went diy route with the hardware, custom nearly everything, loved the challenge. Plug n play route also available on hardware side, can't avoid the software issue. Still, I'd rate the smartphone as a far more feature laden appliance vs the streamer. And modern cars, menus and sub menus on screens to control all manner of useless features, did we really ask for this?
Is the microwave the perfect model for audio marketting?
I remember the first time my mother got interested in a microwave oven. They were brand new, full of promises of fast, convenient cooking and baking. She ended up with a Toshiba with a built in magnetic card reader. You could put in a recipe card and automatically program it, or you could get additional cards and program your own "recipes." This was decades before the Internet, home routers or anything like Wifi.
Last week installers took away my 19 year old Maytag and replaced it with a brand new LG. Full of "features" where it automatically guesses the power and time based on buttons such as "potato" or "popcorn." These are not even very smart features. They don’t weigh the potato or take the temperature of the item you are heating or listen for the popcorn to stop popping. They just look up settings from a table and away you go.
Honestly of the hundreds of features in this microwave I need the light and fan the most. Then the power and time. The first two features are never very good in any microwave. The latter two are the only one’s most of us end up using out of sheer frustration with the automated features.
Is this a model or metaphor for modern audio marketting? Are we constantly being sold a list of features which in the end don’t really matter so long as the light turns on and the frozen Tandori chicken meal is safe to eat?
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Agreed! Just turned 60 and find that my 13-year-old daughter is infinitely more adept at using smart phones, computers, steaming TV services, etc. than I am. What a shock, and here I thought I was young and with it. With audio, however, she hasn’t a clue. Still likes Spotify on her phone and won’t touch the stereo, though invited to play her music. I like a lot of the new features in cars, etc. but use very few of them. My favorites so far are automatic high beams, and being able to soup up a car with a custom program installed over the OBDII in the car. |
@larsman You are right. The revolving platter is now such a ubiquitous feature I completely ignored it, but it's essential. |
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