Has streaming made old formats obsolete?
Posted by: Anonymous
26th Jun 2023 02:51pm
We asked Cafestudy members if they still used CDs and DVDs or if the old technology had become obsolete.
The majority of you have not parted with your nostalgic collections. Some are gathering dust, some have been used for craft projects, but many still provide listening and viewing pleasure.
"I still use my cassette player to listen to cassette tapes or past BBC radio shows and books. I am 78 years young and don't need all the tech gadgets. Let's go back to the old days."
"It's super important to me to own physical media, as you never know when a streaming service might go under or the licensing rights may be removed, and some older or niche series/movies can only be watched on DVD anyway, which is what most of mine are!"
"Obsolete? I maintain my cd's as the quality on streaming is abysmal. Also not everything is available online. At least 30% of my collection is not on any streaming site."
The results echo trends seen in Australia and the United States where there has been a resurgence of the vinyl format in particular.
Statistics from ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) show that vinyl sales jumped more than 20 per cent to $36.9 million in 2002 and there have been reports of a boom in vinyl stores in post-pandemic Australia.
"They are making a big come back, especially vinyl and CDs. I prefer to listen to CDs and vinyl analog records over digital mp3s."
"You also get a physical album cover with artwork and even song lyrics. With old record album covers you even get that nostalgic smell l, just like an old book."
"We have a large library of CD's and old vinyls we would not get rid of. Not everything has to be digitised and it's bice to listen to warts and all."
Meanwhile, some of you are curious about cashing in on the revival.
"My old collection has served me well. I do acrylic paint pouring on them, they look great!If they are in the original box and in good condition, they could be worth something one day. I wish I had looked after the vinyls I bought in my youth. They were scratched to hell!"
"I have hundreds of country music cds and I love to play them. Mine collect dust until they are played, but I like to hear what I want so I will keep my collection."
"It's very rare that I reach for a CD or DVD these days. I am looking to sell them all but i dont know who would buy them. I have put ads on gumtree but nobody seems interested?"
Another alternative to dust-gathering is finding creative ways to re-use your old formats.
"My old collection has served me well. I do acrylic paint pouring on them, they look great!"
"I am actually exploring for recycling CDs.. loads of creative ideas for making decorative stuff"
"I had a lot of cassettes and mix tapes and now they are just filling shelf space. I started giving the cassettes to my kids old primary school for the kids to use for craft project"
As one member noted, perhaps media formats are like fashion - rather than becoming dated, if you wait long enough they will come back in vogue.
Comments 11
TheFourRings
To say vintage audio is making a comeback is true, many artists are releasing on vinyl and just recently the band Yello released their latest recording on reel to reel.
I have a reasonable vinyl collection and a high end turntable (plus reel to reel, amps cd and cassette decks). I prefer to listen on reel media not the streaming variety.
I purchased new records, albums & many 12” singles in the 80s & 90s top prices for imports around the $25-$30 ranges nowadays up to $100 from jb hifi.
I think the new generation of music fans are more drawn on I have a record player and it’s cool.
becky131718
I don't think they will make a come back
Paul3258
Not bad one
ab
It could be argued that ever advancing technology, not streaming, has made older media formats obsolete. Having said that, how do we explain the resurgence of vinyl records? Audiofiles might say, because digital format, however clean and perfect, cannot match the tonal quality of a vinyl record.
One of my brothers in law got his son to transfer his CD collection to digital soft copy and then got rid of his CDs and here I am at the other end of the spectrum, playing CDs, records, tapes and MPEG format copies of my faves, accessible to me anywhere I am.
The answer to your question is, it's a case of horses for courses, some people have gone to soft media formats of everything and some of us simply enjoy media in all it's formats.
Video on DVD and Blu-ray may have suffered more by streaming, but there again, I have copies of movies that aren't that easy to find for streaming, and though they might not transfer very well on 4K or 8K... I still like watching them. :)
littleblackbird
I still love my old school stuff and will continue to use them all until unable. :) :)
chickenman
they are only becoming obsolete because the means the means of using "old" formats is becoming harder to obtain.
logilnk2
I moved from Sydney to Adelaide back in 2015. I had over 5000 physical media formats. There were CD’s, cassette tapes and vinyls records. I hired a removalist they were unable to fit any of my media. I had to make the decision to donate my records and CD’s to a charity store op shop. I actually donated at lot of other things over at least four loads. Sadly on one of those trips I say they dumped all my tapes into a rubbish skip. Hopefully, they still sold my records.
To get my records and some other stuff I hired a van and drove to Sydney over two days, filled the van in one day then drove back to Adelaide over two days.
I managed to keep the CD’s for another 6 years. I had no equipment to play them. Then I downsized to a one bedroom flat and needed to sell the CD’s. Cashies paid $1 for every 10 and I got over $200.
I still have a lot of digital music on my hard drives which I still don’t play.
ventnorgirl
i still listen to my cassette tapes recorded from bbc radio over 25years ago use a walkman
Bazz
"old technology" never becomes obsolete. There are many reasons audiophiles prefer Vinyls over anything else. This was the age before Dolby Digital Compression buggered everything up and did away with all the nuances and techniques musicians worked so hard to add. On a good system, well-preserved vinyls can sound better than anything. Not only are vinyls coming back, but so are newly-built record players, warm-glowing, soft-clipping valve amplifiers & pre-amps. My friends are into building their own.
jtmorri
Technology just keeps advancing.
Cathy K
My dream is to have the perfect sound system set up, where I can use all forms of media depending on what I'm in the mood for. I love me some old school, but also open to new systems. Determined to find an expert who can set this up for me.