Vinyl Records, No-Computer Tractors, and the Return of Forbidden Tech
A Tome of Forbidden Technologies
In a world obsessed with progress, John Michael Greer explores the growing movement of 'retrovation'—reviving older technologies that outperform their modern replacements. From the booming vinyl record industry and Ursa Ag's computer-free tractors to the potential of electroculture, he argues that many discarded innovations are more practical, affordable, and resilient. Greer also critiques the regulatory and corporate forces that suppress these alternatives, suggesting that a return to simpler designs could revitalize industries and better serve consumers.
It’s progress that is expected to grant us an ever-increasing cornucopia of blessings, banish all the evils from which our ancestors suffered, and eventually lift up true believers out of their earthly lives and usher us into a heaven decked out with all the features of Tomorrowland.
- IsTom
> Record companies accordingly used sampling rates just dense enough to keep most listeners from complaining, and called it good. It was good for their profits, sure, but it made the music sound flat and tinny.
Were there CDs with lower sampling rates than the standard 44.1kHz? I could understand complaining about low quality DACs or something, but if 44kHz is not enough for you then you're either a child or a bat.
- glimshe
I hate when people say that vynils are better than CDs. Sure, some people feel this way for the "vintage" sound of vynils. But that's a personal and niche opinion that isn't objective or widely seen as better by listeners.
I was there when the switch happened. I can't express how happy I was to get rid of vynils and cassette tapes and trade the whole thing for CDs.
I'm a "musicphile" and always disliked vynils for the noise, slowly degrading sound, pain the ass handling and care and, yes, audio quality. I always loved CD's pristine quality and everything else really.
- curtisblaine
The discourse is nuanced, but isn't CD standard sampling rate greater than anything that's obtainable in practice with vynil?