@jmcgrogan2
I would concede your points that some dealers use Audiogon today as a fully inflated classifieds listing rather than the clearinghouse for gear we all once experienced here. Much like the starting price in an auto negotiation rather than a congenial swap meet style pricing seen at audio clubs back in the day.
Sometimes I wish I wasn't so analytical. I deal with data. My entire career has been trying to separate real facts from human perceptions in order to accurately predict consumer behavior. When I hear a group of 60 year olds discussing the gradual demise of Howard Johnsons, Steak & Ale and today the decline of Applebees or TGI Fridays I just chuckle. I close my eyes and think of an industry that once sold convenience and time rather than food and nourishment like the consumer base believed at the time. Home meal replacement was a long trend that has reversed radically in that space. The same goes for the IT industry. Anyone remember Compaq, Sperry, DEC? Every kid in a Starbucks carries more computing power in their smartphone than utilized to put a man on the moon. In electronics...the list goes forever, Fisher, Marantz, Bozak, McIntosh, Klipsch and GE all were dominant players is audio making well though of products.....only McIntosh and Klipsch have remained relevant and they have done so quite differently.
So, please forgive me when I hear that an industry is dying or suffering that I immediately go into analysis mode. Is the industry dying, changing or being displaced. The answer is absolutely, all three apply and apply every day to every industry. The energy business isn't dying because out of work coal miners say it is, manufacturing isn't dying because someone in one part of the world can manufacture steel more efficiently. Commerce always dictates change, it always has and always will. Technological change has been happening since the the beginning of time, its happening right now.
Does music exist to serve audio equipment or is audio equipment there to serve the music?
