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I used to find these things funny, but now I wonder if the woo-tier audiophile brands aren't taking advantage of mental illness. There's a certain ingrained as
by mortenjorck 5y ago
I used to find these things funny, but now I wonder if the woo-tier audiophile brands aren't taking advantage of mental illness.
There's a certain ingrained assumption that the customers for these products are all "rich idiots," and many of them may well fit that archetype, but even so, the line between "can hear the difference between ethernet switches" and "affected by proximity to batteries" feels uncomfortably fuzzy to me.
- cf100clunk 5y agoThe P.T. Barnum approach will always be with us. There's a speaker born every minute.
- spookthesunset 5y ago> rich idiots I don't think that is their market. Their market is elderly retired people who don't really know any better. They'll use credit cards to pay for all this and it really messes with family dynamics. At least this is my experience.
- iso1210 5y ago> really messes with family dynamics Spending the inheritance?
- spookthesunset 5y agoSpending their fixed retirement income and racking up debt. Folks who are teetering on the edge of needing their kids to get financial power of attorney.
- lostcolony 5y agoLet's say it actually worked though. I.e., it was just production level audio equipment, rather than woo. Does that make it okay for them to sell it to those on a fixed income? Not defending it, just seems weird to decry it for taking money away from people who can't afford it, when the whole positioning is "makes audio sound better". Decry it simply for the fact it doesn't work, not that people who can't afford it spend money on it.
- iso1210 5y agoI'd love to know who isn't on a fixed income. I get pay £X a month, its fixed, I can't just say "Ahh this month I'm going to take twice as much income" Meanwhile pensioners see their pensions shooting up above earnings all the time.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- pjc50 5y agoLike all the crypto stuff, I've started to think of this as "memtic pandemic"; the idea that it's worth spending absurd amounts of money on audio improvements / pictures of apes is spread over the internet and infects certain vulnerable people with adverse results.
- bonestamp2 5y ago> pictures of apes is spread over the internet and infects certain vulnerable people with adverse results Are you aware of any articles or research that documents these adverse results?
- pjc50 5y agoThe adverse result is "spent $2,500 on an ethernet switch for no improvement in audio quality".
- phs318u 5y agoAural dysmorphia?