This may be a little bit off the beaten path, however, bear with me. I kind of equate your analogy to the plight of our once elegant, beautiful, and now often sparse, ghost town shopping malls. So many Shopping Malls all across the nation, over the past 20 years or so, have fallen pray to on-line shopping (computer technology). Shopping Malls were upscale, classy places where the common man/woman, regardless of their social status, could go and be exposed to high-end boutiques, chandeliers, marble, well dressed people in an up-scale environment. Most people would never otherwise normally be exposed to such an elegant environment as in a Shopping Mall. Just walking through the Malls made you feel so good and upscale. No matter what your socioeconomic status was, the opulence of the Mall was there for all to enjoy. That was the American way, big, bold and beautiful (and better, IMHO). When I visit my local Mall today, I get a totally different feeling about them, because, on the ground, almost everything has declined, or has been downgraded in quality. I mean almost everything that you could once touch and feel. Due to AI, hi-tech, etc., yeah, you get more convenience, but you sacrifice, what I call "Humanity." Due to AI and hi-tech, I feel that more and more, as a society, we are losing the human element, the human touch and feel. We're losing more of our human emotion and human interaction. IMHO, we're becoming more faceless and deliberately indifferent as a society. We can now do most all of our shopping, etc., from home causing us to become more isolated from each other, and also causing more and more brick-and-mortars stores to shut down. It's the same way in high-end audio. We can now totally avoid visiting our local high-end audio dealers because we can now do just about all our buying and purchasing on-line. On-line shopping has certainly put a dent in the number of dealers which have folded in the past 20 years. So even the human interaction between the audiophile and his/her local dealers has dramatically declined. The high-end audio industry as a whole has certainly declined over the last couple decades. If I had my way, I'd get rid of all computers, AI, cell phones, on-line shopping, streaming music etc., and go back to the old ways of phone booths, more brick and mortar stores and Malls Lol!!! We all somehow got along just fine before AI and personal computers came along Lol!!! Although I do currently stream my music exclusively, I can most certainly appreciate those who keep all the old school high-end audio tech alive, and also the spirit of all the old school alive as well. Happy listening.
I miss scarcity
This is not a complaint. Or, if it is a complaint, it's half-aimed at me. Mostly this is a reflection.
In the old days, I got to know music really well -- in great detail, sonically, musically, reading all the credits, the liner notes, etc. A friend would have an album I didn't, so I'd go to his house to listen. We'd talk about the music. We'd talk about how album sides hung together or didn't. We were thrilled by double albums.
Now, a torrent of information is everywhere. I listen alone, often to a single song, often not listening to anything over and over again.
You will tell me, "That's your choice." I'd half agree. It's like agreeing that "It's my choice not to live off the electrical grid."
As I read and teach about AI, I am learning that our tools often prioritize speed and information glut. It seems, initially, like a cornucopia but it becomes a wash of "content." I must admit, I'm losing my talent for managing all this content, and I'm losing my love for it. And it's making me into a different person, somewhat, and I am not so sure I want to be that person. End of reflection.
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@onhwy61 "...a technology that could download the physical, mental and emotional experiences of listening to a piece of music directly into your brain. ..." That could have some applications in other sensuous pursuits.
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