Vinyl records are very similar to wristwatches. It's an object that is used to provide a thing. The thing it provides is much better provided by other means, and most people who use the object don't even use it for the primary purpose for which is was made.
But it's a beautiful object. It is an implementation and perfection of a technology we don't really need these days, but its manifestation is something we all want to hang on to, because losing it would make the world a worse place.
I personally don't collect vinyl nor watches, but I can fully understand the reason why people want to. And to be honest, I do get tempted to buy the odd record once in a while, even though I don't even own a record player.
@loke - I find a wristwatch to be a more convenient way to check the time than a cell phone. I don't bother to have an expensive one; I just want one that's easy to read, looks okay and is more or less indestructible. I prefer a watch with hands to a digital watch because I grew up thinking of time as continuous and I perceive it more easily that way.
I used to have lots of records, now I have lots of CDs, but have copied almost all of them to mp3s, so my whole music collection is easy to transport. I find records nerve-racking because they're the opposite of indestructible: they get a bit worse each time you play them. The music matters to me more than the physical object.
@TheSecondVariation Technically, that's not true though. But my point is that this doesn't matter.
Just like a cup of tea tastes a lot better if someone tells me the story of how the leaves were grown, and the trials and tribulations of them until they arrived in my cup of hot water, being able to see the movement of the parts (both in the vinyl case, and the analogue watches) improves the experience, even if they don't actually contribute to the technical quality of the end result.
@loke I have to use a bedside digital alarm clock because the alarm app on my Android phone doesn't go off reliably (like it seems if the phone goes into deep sleep half the time it misses its own alarm!)
@sjb Oh for sure, there are definitely cases where the old thing works better than the new thing.
But the thing about both vinyl and wristwatches is that the reason people buy these things is because they are a beautiful work of art, as shown in this toot from earlier today: https://retro.social/@kelbot/111847994643074818
I'm not sure there are bedside alarm clocks that are perfections of the technology used to make them. But now that I think about it, I'm sure there are and now I want to buy one
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