What is the world coming to? Vinyl outlives CDs at Best Buy.

[Irvrobinson]

On Sunday, July 1, Best Buy stopped selling CDs, but will continue to sell LPs.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cds-at-best-buy-are-going-the-way-of-the-dodo/

 

[2channel lover]

This has been brewing for a long time...vinyl has experienced a revival of sorts. It will continue to be a niche market, but it's a loyal market.

Talking to one the sales guys at Acoustic Sounds some time ago...he thinks vinyl and SACD buyers are among their most loyal customers in terms of supporting the medium whereas redbook CD buyers are moving to non-physical media at a growing pace.

 

[Bucknekked]

I think Best Buy is in the same category as the Walkman: disappearing and largely irrelevant. I haven't thought of Best Buy as a place I need to go to find something in so long I can't remember when. They simply don't sell anything I need anymore. At least, their not on my top 10 list. Not selling CD's is just one thing they don't do anymore. There's a laundry list.

 

[Swerd]

Once I started shopping online at Amazon & others, I never went back to Best Buy.

 

[panteragstk]

Once I started shopping online at Amazon & others, I never went back to Best Buy.

Only reason I went to BB is to see a TV in person before I bought it. I listened to some sound bars with my brother in law and came away unimpressed.

I will say that the BB next to my house is pretty great as far as customer service goes. I don't shop there unless I need to get something urgently. That pretty much never happens.

 

[MrBoat]

Tampa, is an overgrown cow town that wants to be a city. If I ever needed anything special (like classic car parts etc.), I would have to call the 'real' major cities up north or order, or call it out of the back of a magazine. This town has the most basic, strip mall, copycat offerings of anywhere. Even since the internet has connected us to our local stores inventory, I still often get the "Not at this store, get it by ___." This for things that are mainstream items everywhere else in the country.

To think BB would have a fraction of the selection of music (or equipment/hardware, for that matter) I am interested in, almost makes me laugh.

BB, is just another K or Wal mart or Target. Even the online experience tends to be another drop shipper that you have to drive to some days later.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Once I started shopping online at Amazon & others, I never went back to Best Buy.

I'm like that too. I was just fascinated by the vinyl-is-still-selling-but-CDs-are-dead aspect. What fascinates me more is that all of the LP buyers I know are young people. Having asked a few of them why they are fascinated by vinyl, it seems the "experience" is important, and that it's "vintage". I also suspect that young people have grown up with electronic miracles like computers and phones, but mechanical wonders like a phonograph seem more unusual and more like magic.

 

[2channel lover]

Tampa, is an overgrown cow town that wants to be a city. If I ever needed anything special (like classic car parts etc.), I would have to call the 'real' major cities up north or order, or call it out of the back of a magazine. This town has the most basic, strip mall, copycat offerings of anywhere. Even since the internet has connected us to our local stores inventory, I still often get the "Not at this store, get it by ___." This for things that are mainstream items everywhere else in the country.

To think BB would have a fraction of the selection of music (or equipment/hardware, for that matter) I am interested in, almost makes me laugh.

BB, is just another K or Wal mart or Target. Even the online experience tends to be another drop shipper that you have to drive to some days later.

I guess it depends on what I'm looking for...somethings I still like kicking the tires on before I buy it, but most audio related stuff would have limited interest. I bought both of my Sony 4k sets from BB...same price I could get from Amazon.

When I lived there, the Tampa and especially St. Pete area was mostly a place where old people that got property taxed out of So. FL went...population has gotten somewhat younger now. When my wife tired of the winter in the northeast, she wanted to move back to Tampa (I lived in Temple Terrace '84-'88)

I wasn't ready for that...there are some areas in FL I wouldn't mind living, still love Naples and we're getting to that age where nightlife, etc. matters little.

 

[Swerd]

I'm like that too. I was just fascinated by the vinyl-is-still-selling-but-CDs-are-dead aspect. What fascinates me more is that all of the LP buyers I know are young people. Having asked a few of them why they are fascinated by vinyl, it seems the "experience" is important, and that it's "vintage". I also suspect that young people have grown up with electronic miracles like computers and phones, but mechanical wonders like a phonograph seem more unusual and more like magic.

I've noticed the same thing, that all of the LP buyers are young people. I like how we both refuse to say "vinyl". The proper term is LP or record album.

I'm trying hard to avoid letting this become another "those millenials" rant, but how is it that they became so misinformed? Just try to have a simple conversation about microwave ovens, plastic food containers, or vaccines with them.

I'll give credit to one nephew. He knew I have an old turntable and records and asked me what I could recommend. I told him "Don't go there". He is a film maker and knows how the resolution & convenience of digital photography & film making makes going back to analog film unthinkable. I told him how its similar when comparing digital audio to analog audio. Better resolution rules. He got it right away, no further argument.

The same nephew actually explained the fascination with "vintage" things to me. As he grew up, very few things were built well enough to last a long time. Most stuff was cheap and designed to fail early. Older things, that still survive now, are different, and have some appeal. That actually made sense to me.

So there's hope for those millenials! He even promised to get his kids vaccinated, admitting that he had, until recently, been against vaccinations too. So I won that point as well. Don't ask about microwave ovens – he still thinks they are EVIL. He refuses to drink tea or coffee made from water boiled by microwave .

 

[lovinthehd]

Last time I was in a BB they had no vinyl. When did they bring it back and was that just in certain stores catering to the millenials or ?

 

[panteragstk]

I've noticed the same thing, that all of the LP buyers are young people. I like how we both refuse to say "vinyl". The proper term is LP or record album.

I'm trying hard to avoid letting this become another "those millenials" rant, but how is it that they became so misinformed? Just try to have a simple conversation about microwave ovens, plastic food containers, or vaccines with them.

I'll give credit to one nephew. He knew I have an old turntable and records and asked me what I could recommend. I told him "Don't go there". He is a film maker and knows how the resolution & convenience of digital photography & film making makes going back to analog film unthinkable. I told him how its similar when comparing digital audio to analog audio. Better resolution rules. He got it right away, no further argument.

The same nephew actually explained the fascination with "vintage" things to me. As he grew up, very few things were built well enough to last a long time. Most stuff was cheap and designed to fail early. Older things, that still survive now, are different, and have some appeal. That actually made sense to me.

So there's hope for those millenials! He even promised to get his kids vaccinated, admitting that he had, until recently, been against vaccinations too. So I won that point as well. Don't ask about microwave ovens – he still thinks they are EVIL. He refuses to drink tea or coffee made from water boiled by microwave .

Yeah, even though I refuse the millennial title I'm supposed to be one. I will say I got all my kids vaccinated because I'm not going to put an unnecessary risk on them or anyone else. Just dumb. I'll stop there because that topic is a hot one that bugs me.

Plastic containers, I got rid of mine because I got tired of replacing them. The microwave melts/distorts them and I'm not keen on plastic tasting food. I use a microwave cause...why the hell wouldn't I?

I always called them albums or records so the term vinyl bugs me too because it reminds me of how pretentious some people that are young, but "getting into" it are. Not all of course, but the few douches ruin it for the bunch. I really need to show you guys my 55 yo console player...Gotta clean the garage first.

 

[lovinthehd]

Record album includes media such as cd....LP record isn't a 45 or EP particularly. I do use the term vinyl more in fora than the way I think about my collection, tho. Funny how we get accustomed to terminology....

 

[Irvrobinson]

I've noticed the same thing, that all of the LP buyers are young people. I like how we both refuse to say "vinyl". The proper term is LP or record album.

I'm trying hard to avoid letting this become another "those millenials" rant, but how is it that they became so misinformed? Just try to have a simple conversation about microwave ovens, plastic food containers, or vaccines with them.

I'll give credit to one nephew. He knew I have an old turntable and records and asked me what I could recommend. I told him "Don't go there". He is a film maker and knows how the resolution & convenience of digital photography & film making makes going back to analog film unthinkable. I told him how its similar when comparing digital audio to analog audio. Better resolution rules. He got it right away, no further argument.

The same nephew actually explained the fascination with "vintage" things to me. As he grew up, very few things were built well enough to last a long time. Most stuff was cheap and designed to fail early. Older things, that still survive now, are different, and have some appeal. That actually made sense to me.

So there's hope for those millenials! He even promised to get his kids vaccinated, admitting that he had, until recently, been against vaccinations too. So I won that point as well. Don't ask about microwave ovens – he still thinks they are EVIL. He refuses to drink tea or coffee made from water boiled by microwave .

All four of our kids are millennials, and all of them are pretty level-headed, at least lately. My daughter's fiancee is a millennial who has dipped his toe into LPs, along with an inexpensive vintage-looking portable phonograph, but I really like him otherwise. They all believe in vaccines. Frankly, I don't understand this anti-vaccination nonsense at all. In mankind's top ten inventions in history, vaccinations have to be on that list. Not getting vaccinated is just plain stupid. I lived in Oregon for awhile, where a lot of people refuse to vaccinate their kids, and all I can say is that the folks I ran into who wouldn't vaccinate were also the sort of people I tended to have little respect for. I mostly felt sorry for their kids. Since I'm about to get the new shingles vaccine (I got the older, less effective one a couple of years ago), I wish there had been a chicken pox vaccination when I was growing up. And one for measles. And one for HPV.

I really do think the mechanical aspect of LPs are attractive to a generation that grew up on cell phones and computers, and there's also the ritual aspect of the process. If only these same folks were technical enough to understand what mathematical and technical miracles PCM audio is, especially CDs. I admit feeling sorry for those who have no clue of how the products work that they can't live their modern lives without.

 

[Swerd]

Yeah, even though I refuse the millennial title I'm supposed to be one. I will say I got all my kids vaccinated because I'm not going to put an unnecessary risk on them or anyone else. Just dumb. I'll stop there because that topic is a hot one that bugs me.

That particular hot topic makes me see RED! I'm glad to hear not all of your age suffer from that particular delusion.

A few years ago, when there was that measles outbreak in Disneyland and Southern California, I went into total RANT MODE on the subject. I can drop a truck load and a half of data on vaccine deniers that demonstrates how life-saving vaccines, especially the MMR vaccine have been. Unfortunately, these people are often also science deniers.

Frankly, I don't understand this anti-vaccination nonsense at all. In mankind's top ten inventions in history, vaccinations have to be on that list. Not getting vaccinated is just plain stupid. I lived in Oregon for awhile, where a lot of people refuse to vaccinate their kids, and all I can say is that the folks I ran into who wouldn't vaccinate were also the sort of people I tended to have little respect for. I mostly felt sorry for their kids. Since I'm about to get the new shingles vaccine (I got the older, less effective one a couple of years ago),I wish there had been a chicken pox vaccination when I was growing up. And one for measles. And one for HPV.

I've had chicken pox a long time ago, shingles (a mild case) and more recently the shingles vaccine.

The HPV story is going to be interesting. In the cancer research world a debate has raged for as long as I can remember. Do viruses cause cancer in humans? In mice, there is no question. Inject a suspected cancer causing virus in a group of mice and watch what happens. The answer is clearly YES. You can't do that experiment in humans, so we have to rely on indirect evidence. HPV definitely causes nearly all of cervical cancers. An anti-HPV vaccine should make the number of cervical cancers drop to nearly zero. It will take another 10-15 years for the data to mature. It would help greatly if all young people female and male were vaccinated. But even without that the results may be very clear.

What is less known to the public is the question whether HPV also causes other types of cancer. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests HPV can cause some forms of throat cancer, anal cancer, and penile cancer, as well as cervical cancer. (Those of you with your minds hopelessly wallowing in the gutter will easily imagine the connections here .)

Is HPV involved in other cancers as well? We don't know. What types of cancer might disappear if an entire population, male and female, received the HPV vaccine? That experiment is now under way in a limited way. When I hear political or moral arguments against kids receiving the HPV vaccine, I get mad and I see RED . An estimated 13,240 women will be diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer this year, and 4,170 women will die of cervical cancer this year. It would be immoral if we didn't vaccinate people against HPV.

 

[snakeeyes]

Gen X says “get off my lawn!” LOL
But seriously, I always hated how the dust and dog hairs got on my records and the flipping them over. Annoying... CDs I’ll miss though. I might be the last person buying them but mostly used SACD and DTS audio and DVDA discs. We still have Blu-ray Audio.

 

[MrBoat]

It doesn't matter how clean and careful one was. Dust, was/is inevitable.

If they hadn't moved the classics to CD, I would still be into the vinyl.

The one plus that I could get behind is, when having doubts about remastered classics. Seems that some went through what amounts to irreversible changes with the from then to now.

 

[panteragstk]

It doesn't matter how clean and careful one was. Dust, was/is inevitable.

If they hadn't moved the classics to CD, I would still be into the vinyl.

The one plus that I could get behind is, when having doubts about remastered classics. Seems that some went through what amounts to irreversible changes with the from then to now.

That's what I worry about too. My mom heard my copy of Led Zeppelin IV and when stairway to heaven ended she says "it's not supposed to fade out like that". Interesting. She then get her 8 track player and her original 8 track and proceeds to play it. She was right. On that original copy there was no fade out. I was ruined on remastered after that. Always doubting.

 

[snakeeyes]

Great album! Actually all of the Led Zepplin albums are! I would never sell my Zepplin cds. They play great all the way through. There really aren’t any bad songs.

 

[Alex2507]

I like how we both refuse to say "vinyl".

"Vinyl is Finyl" ...

 

[snakeeyes]

I ordered the INXS Kick deluxe set with the Blu-ray audio atmos surround of the full album off Amazon. I’m curious to experience this. I know Gene had mentioned using DSU for music but this is full Atmos without any upmix needed. Maybe this will be a popular way to experience discs again.