One Mans Trash?
The following comment was submitted to this column regarding the prior post titled ‘The Liner Notes’ on 01.07.04
“…I could really care less whether somebody buys online or in the store. I don't think there is a lot of saving the environment by buying online. Why? Computers have a usable life-span of about 3 years and then they are trashed. Where do they go? Eventually they all end up in the dump as well.” – Thomas R.
Thomas,
Your apathy only exceeds your ignorance on the matter being discussed.
First of all, if you are only getting three years out of your PC then YOU are the problem: Buying into the idea that PC’s ‘Wear Out’ after 3 years is absurd. It will give Dell and Gateway sales executives great pleasure knowing that there is still a cross-section of our society that takes their technical knowledge from the Sunday comics…
Secondly, thanks for enlightening us with your methods of old PC disposal. It only takes 400 or more chemicals to make the monitor, which will leak into our water once it hits the city dump, my friend. So, saying that ‘I could really care less’ and not understanding the benefits of the Internet and high-speed networking defies logic itself. There are several companies nationwide who can safely recycle any computer, free of charge, and if you are too cheap to take this route why not donate your PC that hit the ‘Expiration Date’ to a school or church that would appreciate a usable machine?
It’s all about Solutions, folks.
S. Remington – Editor
PhreshWater.com
Submit Editorials, Questions,
or Comments to : editor@phreshwater.com
1.07.2004
The Liner Notes
The following comment was submitted yesterday to this column regarding a prior editorial on the Digital Downloading of albums in their entirety:
“…..there was mention of the great advantages to purchasing and downloading an album online. While I am, personally, split on the issue for reasons I will momentarily explain, I have to question one of your listed "Advantages". It was said that (in addition to saving gas and money, both things that I love about the downloading system) you saved on wasted packaging.
As a fan, regardless of musical type, this immediately struck a chord. At first I just assumed that I disagreed. After all, the packaging is part of the relic, it is part of the complete offering associated with an album. As with most rabid music fans, I associate the first listening of an album with a deep read of the liner notes. Where and when the album was recorded, lyrics, and original artwork from the musicians themselves even, the information that makes an album complete.
Then I began to think, "Is all of this part of the album?". With so much music and so many personalities out there, it is impossible to say that all packaging and liner notes are compliments to the album or are even thought of heavily by the artists themselves. But it is also impossible to say that all are not. I was wondering your thoughts as this is an issue I guess I had taken for granted for years and years…” – Joel A.
Joel,
I don’t want to appear as if I am tossing the baby out with the bathwater when I mention the excessive problems of packaging that are plaguing this world and the beloved liner notes of any album. Just as I have said before, in agreement with Thom Yorke of Radiohead and others, that the way we are experiencing music is constantly evolving and we should be aware of those changes, especially if the impact on the environment is negative.
I’m not suggesting the elimination of liner notes and art that a musician feels necessary to send to its fans. Maybe we can offer a solution to the packaging issue by making the liner notes and art an optional download with the digital music files: Something that I’m not aware of any digital vendor offering at this time.
Bands like Radiohead and Phish are going far beyond the liner notes and offering web casts, streaming audio, live performance recordings and anything else they can think of to push the envelope. I think these forms of interactive media can be equally and sometimes much more powerful than the several sheets of liner notes, print art, and plastic to wrap them.
Like you, I still sit down with the liner notes for a long read and I suppose I always will. Evolving our musical experiences should never include the elimination of nostalgia and artifacts from music past. My vinyl collection will sleep well tonight knowing I feel this way.
S. Remington – Editor
PhreshWater.com
Submit Editorials, Questions,
or Comments to : editor@phreshwater.com
The following comment was submitted yesterday to this column regarding a prior editorial on the Digital Downloading of albums in their entirety:
“…..there was mention of the great advantages to purchasing and downloading an album online. While I am, personally, split on the issue for reasons I will momentarily explain, I have to question one of your listed "Advantages". It was said that (in addition to saving gas and money, both things that I love about the downloading system) you saved on wasted packaging.
As a fan, regardless of musical type, this immediately struck a chord. At first I just assumed that I disagreed. After all, the packaging is part of the relic, it is part of the complete offering associated with an album. As with most rabid music fans, I associate the first listening of an album with a deep read of the liner notes. Where and when the album was recorded, lyrics, and original artwork from the musicians themselves even, the information that makes an album complete.
Then I began to think, "Is all of this part of the album?". With so much music and so many personalities out there, it is impossible to say that all packaging and liner notes are compliments to the album or are even thought of heavily by the artists themselves. But it is also impossible to say that all are not. I was wondering your thoughts as this is an issue I guess I had taken for granted for years and years…” – Joel A.
Joel,
I don’t want to appear as if I am tossing the baby out with the bathwater when I mention the excessive problems of packaging that are plaguing this world and the beloved liner notes of any album. Just as I have said before, in agreement with Thom Yorke of Radiohead and others, that the way we are experiencing music is constantly evolving and we should be aware of those changes, especially if the impact on the environment is negative.
I’m not suggesting the elimination of liner notes and art that a musician feels necessary to send to its fans. Maybe we can offer a solution to the packaging issue by making the liner notes and art an optional download with the digital music files: Something that I’m not aware of any digital vendor offering at this time.
Bands like Radiohead and Phish are going far beyond the liner notes and offering web casts, streaming audio, live performance recordings and anything else they can think of to push the envelope. I think these forms of interactive media can be equally and sometimes much more powerful than the several sheets of liner notes, print art, and plastic to wrap them.
Like you, I still sit down with the liner notes for a long read and I suppose I always will. Evolving our musical experiences should never include the elimination of nostalgia and artifacts from music past. My vinyl collection will sleep well tonight knowing I feel this way.
S. Remington – Editor
PhreshWater.com
Submit Editorials, Questions,
or Comments to : editor@phreshwater.com
1.01.2004
Happy New Year!
Hello regular readers and guests, we’re all back in the saddle at PhreshWater.com from all the holiday hoopla. Expect to see me here frequently in the days ahead in 2004…
Last night on PBS they aired the U2 – Live at Red Rocks concert right at the turn of the new year. As I sat and watched this explosive concert I was turned back in time to high school when U2 was one of my favorite bands of that time in my life. They knew exactly what was in my heart and how I felt about the state of the world that we live. And while I watched Bono and The Edge ignite the stage at Red Rocks Ampitheater with the crowd going mad I realized that I haven’t changed much at all since then. The world I see around me hasn’t changed much either and there is a lot that troubles me. Just as these thoughts happened The Edge belted out his memorable piano and guitar reverie on New Years Day and I felt that my concerns were not going unnoticed…
This year I want to do the best I can to unite my brothers and sisters around the globe. I feel this is my duty this year seeing how we in the USA are facing one of the most important Presidential elections in our history and the world is watching to see who the REAL inhabitants of this country are. Are we going to blindly let GW Gump and his radical right-wing Gestapo mislead us again and again or are we going to stand up and not take this shit anymore?
I want a world of peace and I’m going to do my part to bring it about this year. If all I have left is this pen and keyboard that is my mission along side of bringing truth and honesty into the music media, a shared goal of all of us at PhreshWater.com
Peace on Earth in 2004!
S. Remington – Editor
PhreshWater.com
Submit Editorials, Questions,
or Comments to : editor@phreshwater.com
Hello regular readers and guests, we’re all back in the saddle at PhreshWater.com from all the holiday hoopla. Expect to see me here frequently in the days ahead in 2004…
Last night on PBS they aired the U2 – Live at Red Rocks concert right at the turn of the new year. As I sat and watched this explosive concert I was turned back in time to high school when U2 was one of my favorite bands of that time in my life. They knew exactly what was in my heart and how I felt about the state of the world that we live. And while I watched Bono and The Edge ignite the stage at Red Rocks Ampitheater with the crowd going mad I realized that I haven’t changed much at all since then. The world I see around me hasn’t changed much either and there is a lot that troubles me. Just as these thoughts happened The Edge belted out his memorable piano and guitar reverie on New Years Day and I felt that my concerns were not going unnoticed…
This year I want to do the best I can to unite my brothers and sisters around the globe. I feel this is my duty this year seeing how we in the USA are facing one of the most important Presidential elections in our history and the world is watching to see who the REAL inhabitants of this country are. Are we going to blindly let GW Gump and his radical right-wing Gestapo mislead us again and again or are we going to stand up and not take this shit anymore?
I want a world of peace and I’m going to do my part to bring it about this year. If all I have left is this pen and keyboard that is my mission along side of bringing truth and honesty into the music media, a shared goal of all of us at PhreshWater.com
Peace on Earth in 2004!
S. Remington – Editor
PhreshWater.com
Submit Editorials, Questions,
or Comments to : editor@phreshwater.com
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