[MD1032]

Great article:

FORTUNE: Techland Neil Young takes on the iPod «

 

[mbriant]

I think I remember reading once that Neil prefers vinyl to CD, so this makes perfect sense.

 

[EyeAmEye]

If I had to listen to Neil Young's singing, I'd rather it be compressed

I get what he's saying, but I really think he's overstating it a bit.

 

[Kirosia]

He looks like a mad hobo in that picture.

 

[soozieq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbriant /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think I remember reading once that Neil prefers vinyl to CD, so this makes perfect sense.

Yeah, he's always complained that digital music is cold and uninvolving.

And I saw him a couple of weeks ago. He still ROCKS!!

 

[scott_d_m]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirosia /img/forum/go_quote.gif He looks like a mad hobo in that picture.

When doesn't he look like a mad hobo?

 

[mrdeadfolx]

I didn't even click on it. I know there will be a picture of him and Im trying to eat.

 

[nick_charles]

This Neil Young who is so concerned about the quality of modern Music and Music technology is the same one who believes that analog is fundamentally technologically better than digital because it has hiss and noise and crosstalk ?

 

[ronnielee54]

Be carefull about the comments on Neil people. Some of you are bordering on sacrilege here.

 

[FalconP]

Neil Young has always been vehemently anti-digital, until fairly recently.

 

[inthecup]

I love his music, but if he's against it so much why is his music available for download from iTunes?

 

[Uncle Erik]

It is possible to enjoy digital while loving vinyl.

 

[Kirosia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif It is possible to enjoy digital while loving vinyl.

Whore

 

[BigEat]

God bless him. Fundamentally he is right. Apple, MP3 etc. has reduced music and audio quality to a"lower common denominator". That isn't to say that there aren't still high quality alternatives, but overall, the bar has been lowered.

 

[synaesthetic]

The bar has been lowered because the average person values convenience over absolute quality. "Good enough" is good enough. The average iPod-wielding hipster looks at people like us and considers us insane. The average person may love music, but for different reasons. They may adore their favorite artist, but they don't love the sound the way audiophiles do.

When I was in high school, music was not a hobby; it was a social classifier, a method of dividing the kids up into different cliques. One of the criteria that inevitably determined where you fit in the high-school hierarchy, was what kind of music you listened to.

Enthusiasts in any hobby will fiercely pursue the best of the best, but when something doesn't interest them terribly much, they are far more apathetic about it. I am into computers, but it's not my primary interest; I don't have top-of-the-line equipment, and given the choice between spending a few grand on a brand-new high end computer or something like an L3000, I'd go for the L3000 any day of the week.

Others I know cheerfully listen to their iPods on the stock buds or cheap Wal-Mart headphones while they spend thousands upon thousands on ridiculous and over-engineered computer systems that provide far more power than they'd ever need.

It's all subjective, and when you're beating around the subject of the pursuit of excellence... the enthusiast is always the niche market. For most people, good enough is good enough. I don't think it's going to change any time soon.