2. analog
  3. 1418633270

Would vinyl even be invented today?

Records, cartridges and tonearms seem like such an unlikely method to play music--a bit of Rube Goldberg. Would anyone even dream of this today? It's like the typewriter keyboard--the version we have may not be the best, but it stays due to the path dependence effect. If vinyl evolved from some crude wax cylinder to a piece of rock careening off walls of vinyl, hasn't it reached the limits of the approach? Not trying to be critical--just trying to get my head around it.
128x128jafreeman
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
With $100K turntables and $15K cartridges you sure as shootin' better have vinyl. Besides digital still can't get their act together. Sounds like dead people playing.
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
Would the wheel be invented today?
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"Records, cartridges and tonearms seem like such an unlikely method to play music--a bit of Rube Goldberg. Would anyone even dream of this today?"

Is taking an analog signal, converting it into a bunch of 1's and 0's that can only exist in cyperspace, and then reassemble the digital bits in an attempt to restore the analog signal as close to the original as possible, so we can then use it to listen to music, any more plausible?
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,428 posts
 
Works for HDTV
lewm
13,010 posts
 
Jafreeman, It's all about evolution. These technologies come and go (and come) in a natural order based on perceived need and science, and lately, nostalgia.
More to discover