Julf wrote: > I think it is worse than that. When I was growing up, you could take > stuff apart, figure it out, and understand it. Modern stuff is all a > board with identical-looking SMD chips, and everything is done in > software that you have no access to. Clarke's Third Law at work - any > technology you can't understand is just magic to you, and that's how you > think about it.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." It's as true now as it was in the 50s. The big intervening variable then, as now, was the particular technological sophistication of the individual concerned. Sure, some of us could assemble a crystal radio or clock alarm or such from components, but how many of us actually knew what a "resistor" or a "transistor" did? Some, but not most. It was just all magic that you could string together following instructions and it would work and we had the illusion of building something from scratch. But not really. Most of the world back in the day just took the available technology (electricity, radio, tv) as an available resource, and had no real sense of what made it all work. Same now. I really like having my own collection of "owned" (or, let's be honest, in a few instances "stolen") music. I love using LMS, and enjoy tinkering. But if I were starting out on the music appreciation path now I'd probably be using streaming services almost exclusively, and discovering new music that way, taking in live music when I could, and discovering new music THAT way as well, and gleefully taking advantage of the all-you-can-hear buffet. And I wouldn't need to understand how the streaming services work and why they are so effective at finding new music I'll like. It's just magic. R. LMS on a dedicated server (FitPC3) Transporter (Ethernet) - main listening, Onkyo receiver, Paradigm speakers Touch (WiFi) - home theater 5.1, Sony receiver, Energy speakers Boom 1 (WiFi) - work-space Boom 2 (WiFi) - various (deck, garage, etc.) Radio (WiFi) - home office Control - Squeeze Control (Android mobile), 2 Controllers (seldom used), Squeeze Remote (on Surface Pro 4) Touch x 1 - spare UE Radio x 1 - spare Boom x 1 - spare Controller x 1 - Spare Duet Receiver (backup) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RonM's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=17029 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=107925 _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/discuss