I've always liked having music playing in the background while engaged in my various indoor activities. Seems like I've always had stereo receivers, floor speakers, tape decks, turntables and CD players. With our downsizing, I've disposed of most of that stuff (the last items, including my remaining vinyl records went to Goodwill this morning!) I still have a "boom box" that plays CDs. A little sad to part with the past but it's time to move on.

How do you all listen to music? What do you think of the Alexa-type speakers for providing background music? I'd love to hear about your experiences and suggestions.

Thanks!

Since there was a discussion earlier today about a new Window's OS required a member here to purchase a new video card, so I felt compelled to my fellow members to share some thoughts about ... maybe we don't have to toss our hardware into a landfill if it, and its software, serves us well.

Let me share more 'food for thought', coming from my own students, and from my regularly listening to a radio station from London. Here it is:

Remember how, who, sales people? marketing departments? All those people?? Remember how we were "told" to toss all our vinyl records into the trash? DVD and BluRay movies? Compact Discs? And along with those pieces of 'software' (e.g. LP records, movie discs, and CDs), also toss CD players into the landfills, along with DVD/BluRay players, turntables/cartridges, etc. We were ""told"" toss all this into the trash and join the "new era of media"?? Remember that over the past 10 or 20 years?

In all fairness, I must say there are some advantages of being able to access a movie or digital book, literally, anywhere. But, all that stuff we were "told" to toss in the landfill?

Well, here is a reality update. My college students are purchasing LP records every day of the week, and turntables too. They've been doing this for more than the past ten years I've been teaching. Audiophile magazine shows ads for dozens and dozens of turntables and cartridges, some with shocking prices. Turntables and LP records are not gone or even going away ... they are on their way back, and doing quite well. As I listen to my favorite radio station from London, I'm hearing the artist there are insisting that their new music recordings must be delivered not only on the (1)Internet as downloads, but are insisting they they are also made available as (2) CDs and (3)LP records. I'm even hearing the there is a market for cassette recordings. I'm shocked to hear that, but apparently in middle European cities, they are available there.

So, my fellow members, don't be pushed so easily with the philosophy of "toss away everything you own, and replace it with what sales people say we should be purchasing".

I thought you'd like to know, I thought you 'should know' about how LP records and turntables are very much alive. And after studying this typic of Dynamic Range, for anyone who would like to experience Concert Hall Realism in their own home, the only media to deliver that is a compact disc.

I thought you would like to know all this.