You know guys, as I read some of the threads on this site I notice that for some reason there are people out there that refuse to see the arguments from both sides and I think that it is these conflicts that keep things in this business from progressing. People here hide behind their screen names and sense of experience to dictate what they think should happen in this market. There is way to much tension between those who are intimately involved in this business and those who purchase equipment or would wish (like myself) to be more involved.
You have to think at this point that most every serious audiophile in the United States has heard about this site and visited it at least once. Maybe they purchased something, perhaps they wrote in a thread...but this is a great place for ideas to be expressed by those who are interested in seeing the business continue for generations like mine.
I look out of my window and see a lot of pretty bad things happening out there that make me think there are some even worse times on the near horizon. I fell that this could destroy a lot of the things that we hold dear. If we don't be careful we could see this whole business slip away, and then when I am really ready to drop some money on some items there will be no one around to provide anything for me. :-) But seriously, there is another thread right now "why is the industry so lame" in which there are some great points made about what may be some of the problems in this industry right now. But then again arguing about it will not make things any better.
When I was in school, I was a Resident Assistant and one of the things we did was try and solve problems. Perhaps the industry has lost site of the ability to provide for people this problem solving ability. Maybe what we should do is have some concentration groups that could develop some new products that would have much more marketability and appeal to the new generation of people...then we could use these new products to draw people into the hifi shops, where we could show them what is really possible in the realm of audio.
One of the things that upset me about my local dealer was that he was not willing to discuss the possibilities that exist in the realm of computer audio, while he had the Slim Devices products on display in his shop. Tell me, why would you display items like this if you felt they were inferior to other items in your shop. If anything he should use items like this to draw new young people who are interested in audio into his shop and try and sell them something in addition to the new item in which they are interested...Just my thoughts though.
Ben
