I promise, I won't rant for long, but I guess my "Capt. Crossfeed" nickname just wouldn't let it go.
I'm writing this because I'm offended by the ongoing references to commercial interests being evil; that Chu's continued insistance that commercial interaction would somehow taint the nature of this community. Statements like:
thomas: Yes Chu is trying to keep his site non-commercial, to keep the integrity of the forums. I'm glad that someone in this audiophile community isn't just obsessed with making money.
ai0tron: But in this case it's Chus right to struggle against the odds.
And even Jude's politically correct (though I know his true sentiments don't lie here): Who in this community (other than Tyll and Jan because they make their livings at it) is obsessed with making money?
cause me to feel pushed out unfairly from something that I love.
I think Chu is entitled to do what ever he wants with his site. I don't know what the legalities are, but he pays for the URL and bandwidth and has busted his hump maintaining it. I may think he's wrong, but he's got every right to do what he feels is best. But I also think that he, and others here, often, and mostly not maliciously, blow off commercial interest as money grubbing, and see Chu and his philosophy as "Chu the stoic creature of light that he is"(ai0tron)
I'd like to remind us that on of the problem the Stoics faced was that when they saw the beauty of pure things of light without accepting the practical balances needed by an actual working community, they would decide that living life on earth just wasn't worthwhile and would commit suicide. Then they could go on to the next place where essential beuaty could be practiced without the struggle of the necessities of the physical world.
rickcr42: Let us not forget where this all began and who did the gruntwork !
Yes, let's not. Ben Bauer invented the poassive crossfeed circuit in the early '60s and made it a product. Stax built electrostatic headphones. George Bischoff from Melos Audio built the SHA1. Joe and John Grado built audiophile headphones. Cory Greenburg while writing for Stereophile published a number of articals on headphones. And I became the first serious headphone amp maker. It is in the context of the fertile ground created by all that commercial activity that Chu could plant and sustain a headphone community site. Commercial activity, I hasten to add, that was motivated in part by the promise of financial opportunity, but fundimentally fundimentally motivated by a passion for headphone listening. Not only that but these people were willing to get off their butts and DO something; they risked their livelyhoods on promoting this passion.
I frikkin' bled to make a great display at the Stereophile Show so that the Audiophiles couldn't ignore the importance of headphone listening. I spent maybe $2000 (and my birthday) to show up at deepriver's this last weekend for 4 members of this community!!!! Most companies would call that just plain stupid and a lousy investment. I think it's good for the community, and what's good for the community is good for me.
To blow-off the importance and latent possibilities of commercial interactions with this community as "greedy" is A) a gross and missguided oversimplification, and B) personally painful. I don't need a pat on the back, and I don't want to be separated out as some kind of example of how to do business, either. What I do need is an environment where people are willing to put aside an essentially bigoted notion that as soon as someone runs a business or makes a living at something that they are automatically "out to get suckers." Sure it happens, but to lump it all into a pile that says "commercialism sucks" is discriminatory.
I'm sorry if I have a different relationship to this community than most of you may be, but it feels like being called a ****** when everyone assumes that being a businessman is bad.
I'd appreciate a re-think on this issue.
I'm writing this because I'm offended by the ongoing references to commercial interests being evil; that Chu's continued insistance that commercial interaction would somehow taint the nature of this community. Statements like:
thomas: Yes Chu is trying to keep his site non-commercial, to keep the integrity of the forums. I'm glad that someone in this audiophile community isn't just obsessed with making money.
ai0tron: But in this case it's Chus right to struggle against the odds.
And even Jude's politically correct (though I know his true sentiments don't lie here): Who in this community (other than Tyll and Jan because they make their livings at it) is obsessed with making money?
cause me to feel pushed out unfairly from something that I love.
I think Chu is entitled to do what ever he wants with his site. I don't know what the legalities are, but he pays for the URL and bandwidth and has busted his hump maintaining it. I may think he's wrong, but he's got every right to do what he feels is best. But I also think that he, and others here, often, and mostly not maliciously, blow off commercial interest as money grubbing, and see Chu and his philosophy as "Chu the stoic creature of light that he is"(ai0tron)
I'd like to remind us that on of the problem the Stoics faced was that when they saw the beauty of pure things of light without accepting the practical balances needed by an actual working community, they would decide that living life on earth just wasn't worthwhile and would commit suicide. Then they could go on to the next place where essential beuaty could be practiced without the struggle of the necessities of the physical world.
rickcr42: Let us not forget where this all began and who did the gruntwork !
Yes, let's not. Ben Bauer invented the poassive crossfeed circuit in the early '60s and made it a product. Stax built electrostatic headphones. George Bischoff from Melos Audio built the SHA1. Joe and John Grado built audiophile headphones. Cory Greenburg while writing for Stereophile published a number of articals on headphones. And I became the first serious headphone amp maker. It is in the context of the fertile ground created by all that commercial activity that Chu could plant and sustain a headphone community site. Commercial activity, I hasten to add, that was motivated in part by the promise of financial opportunity, but fundimentally fundimentally motivated by a passion for headphone listening. Not only that but these people were willing to get off their butts and DO something; they risked their livelyhoods on promoting this passion.
I frikkin' bled to make a great display at the Stereophile Show so that the Audiophiles couldn't ignore the importance of headphone listening. I spent maybe $2000 (and my birthday) to show up at deepriver's this last weekend for 4 members of this community!!!! Most companies would call that just plain stupid and a lousy investment. I think it's good for the community, and what's good for the community is good for me.
To blow-off the importance and latent possibilities of commercial interactions with this community as "greedy" is A) a gross and missguided oversimplification, and B) personally painful. I don't need a pat on the back, and I don't want to be separated out as some kind of example of how to do business, either. What I do need is an environment where people are willing to put aside an essentially bigoted notion that as soon as someone runs a business or makes a living at something that they are automatically "out to get suckers." Sure it happens, but to lump it all into a pile that says "commercialism sucks" is discriminatory.
I'm sorry if I have a different relationship to this community than most of you may be, but it feels like being called a ****** when everyone assumes that being a businessman is bad.
I'd appreciate a re-think on this issue.
)
