What a sad world we now live in.......


What a sad world.....

Had to go to our local Wal-Mart for something for the wife and thought would check out CD,s while here.

Could not find them so asked where to be told they had decided to stop selling them in-store.

In fact the whole electronics section looked bare and desolate.

Pretty sure a sign of the buy online times we now live in.
uberwaltz
bdp24,

I think that all you mentioned together is the reason for CD sales decline. Probably with another thing or two. Times have evolved and, regardless of what anyone (hinting at your mention of Michael Fremer) feels and thinks, CDs and records do not fit into an iPhone. That is the dealbreaker. Those who grew up with some physical media may feel it is important to actually have it, but newer generations do not have that feeling.They do not have emotional attachment to these things. Similar approach is slowly getting into car ownership these days.

"Michael Fremer regularly talks about how those who get their music via streaming, owning no physical media, will end up with nothing."

Well, very "wise" statement that is slightly out of touch with reality. Even a physical one. What happens when there is fire, earthquake, burglary, basically anything that disturbs perfection of the environment, in "physically-inclined" home? Owner is easily left with, depending on the luck, nothing. 17-year-old who streams hip-hop on her phone is left with exactly same music as the day before.

Ok, burglary is probably fine. What would a burglar do with heavy load of objects of close-to-no-value to majority of potential customers? Records, and CDs, are not even worth stealing these days, no matter how much a small group of people may cherish them.

As far as Walmart goes, I put those few things out, and mentioned Garth Brooks, as a response to implied statement that Walmart never mattered in music (sales) and that people shopping there were not interested in music. Apparently, they were. It is just that they are not anymore.
My 30-40 year old adult children and step children all love listening to music. Two are pretty fair musicians. But their entire peer group doesn't own a decent piece of audio gear at all. They download individual songs and maybe most of an album once in a while to their phones and tablets but spend far more on concert tickets, video games and alcohol than on any physical media.

As a result, no cds in Best Buy, Walmart, etc and even Amazon tells you that many of their cds for sale are burned upon demand/purchase. When entire generations don't need a category of merchandise, only fools would persist in stocking it... 
You do realise Wally Mart is one of the biggest reasons for the closing of specialty and smaller stores.
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While out of town for 3 weeks, I had a new experience

After using Soundmagic 11 earphone with Dell Laptop for 1 week, I found that they are quite listenable with internet streaming music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tctk3Uy1w5s


Violin sounds natural without too much overtone.

Orchestra sound also balanced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSFIHTjc74I

With this kind of highend demo music, this one work well with natural details.


Now I can understand why most young people including my adult children are happy with low end sound.

Actually they do not sound bad unless I pay too much attention to details and soundstage.

You do not need high end audio system to enjoy music.


High End audio is already doomed.

If you go to high end show, it is difficult to find people below 40 years old.


Thomas