Re:Home Studio Setup Costs Compared – 1980s And Now
by chiefalchemist on Friday September 11, 2020 @07:21AM
(#24441469)
In my previous professional life I owned a record store. We sold "dance music" vinyl records to mostly DJ's from 1990 to approx 2007. The creativity and quality degraded as time went on.
First, the lower barrier to entry meant more wannabes creating more "noise." Not aural / sonic noise, but noise in the shopping and buying experience. There were still needles of joy, but the haystack was getting larger and larger.
Put a different way, the higher barrier to entry meant only the determined stuck to it. And in sticking to it, pushed themselves and their gear harder. Amazing things happen when there's push.
On the other hand, the new and easy to use gear isn't as "inspiring". Good is too often good enough, and great takes too much work.
First, the lower barrier to entry meant more wannabes creating more "noise." Not aural / sonic noise, but noise in the shopping and buying experience. There were still needles of joy, but the haystack was getting larger and larger.
Put a different way, the higher barrier to entry meant only the determined stuck to it. And in sticking to it, pushed themselves and their gear harder. Amazing things happen when there's push.
On the other hand, the new and easy to use gear isn't as "inspiring". Good is too often good enough, and great takes too much work.
There's a dark side to cheap & easy.