The What Hello-Fi? Awards 2023 situation is now out (and obtainable in all good newsagents, people!). Which implies that the difficulty the journal crew are engaged on as this Again Points column hits the ether is, moderately soberingly for the “time flies” previous curmudgeons amongst us, the January 2024 version – within the outlets in good time for Christmas.
Normally, once I go into our archives to have a great previous reminisce, I head again to the sure volumes from the ’90s or ’80s. For me, that seems like a correct dive again into the times of yore. Then I realised (with a considerably heavy coronary heart) that actually, if I rely again from January 2024 an entire era of 20 years, I arrive effectively into the twenty first century; so I raised my sights a decade.
A very long time in residence cinema
And I’m moderately glad I did. For the January 2004 situation of What Hello-Fi? – as all the time appears to occur every time I do that analysis – sprung some surprises, some pangs of nostalgia, and, on the face of it, some plain previous forecasting errors.
Take the duvet itself. Majoring on the audio/visible aspect of issues, it highlights an necessary product that merely doesn’t actually exist any extra – the DVD recorder. The technological leaps which have bounded forth over the previous 20 years have been virtually unimaginable. And this situation of the journal gave only a trace of what may be to come back.
The extra issues change…
Two main issues leaped out at me so far as how TV and video recording tech has modified prior to now 20 years. The primary, and most blatant from that cowl, was how now we have now virtually fully transformed to digital recording with out bodily media in its diverse codecs. Certainly, some individuals now don’t really feel the necessity to retailer favorite programmes or films in any respect; streaming performs the job completely adequately for a lot of shoppers.
In 2004, although, the standfirst in our exceptional 13-strong(!) megatest of DVD recorders, begins: “With DVD recorders set to consign VHS to historical past…” So issues have been ever thus, in fact.
The King is lifeless; lengthy dwell the King
One of many first articles to seize my consideration when leafing by means of the January 2004 version was this information piece headlined “Loss of life of CRT tremendously exaggerated”. Er, no it wasn’t, was my first thought.
To be truthful to the What Hello-Fi? crew on the time, it wasn’t an announcement from them, extra a affirmation from producers that they’d be staying within the cathode ray tube marketplace for a while but. It didn’t take lengthy although, earlier than the new-fangled “flat-panel” tv would consign the previous tech to the scrapheaps of the world.
Early adopters take the hit
A look on the nine-strong 42-inch plasma tv Group Check did at the least give a touch as to why CRT wasn’t fairly lifeless but. The costs for these trail-blazing units have been eye-watering, to say the least. The most cost effective units, from Daiwoo and Hyundai, would have set you again £2500 – sufficient lately for a display virtually twice the dimensions. And the most costly units on check, from Pioneer, Sony and JVC got here in at between £4500 and £5000. For a 42-inch set. Reward be for the early adopter – these costs, as everyone knows, would come down quickly; now you’ll be able to choose up an excellent 65in set for not far more than £1000.
Goodness solely is aware of what’s subsequent for us when it comes to display, streaming and storing expertise. But when the previous (simply) 20 years is something to go by, we’ll be wanting again on OLED screens with a nostalgic sigh, shaking our heads at simply how fundamental all of it was again then.
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