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Revitalizing AK

After @Mr.Jim ’s post, i recalled a time when i was in New Orleans and there was a guy standing outside of a local bar with a sign that said “Txts and Whiskey”. It was brilliant in its simplicity.

But I digress…

The longevity of interest and passion in the topics for the current AKer’s are based (in large part) on actuarial tables;).

That said, the present AK’ers can do only so much to try and pass on the interest and passion on these topics to future generations in the hopes that these parts of audio history will somehow live on pass our respective expectation dates!;)
 
I think a lot of things can be found by searching the existing threads. I've fixed many things just by searches alone, and have posted my fixes when not found previously. That said, between this forum and an other one, I sometimes find less help than hoped and end up resolving my issue and posting it. Might be because there is less knowledge on less known gear? I've had great help for Yamaha and Pioneer gear here, other stuff has felt more 'on your own'
Not sure how to revitalize AK. Do people spend time looking and reading old threads for issues or just pop in with new questions without researching? I'd be less inclined to answer something I know has been discussed in multiple threads. Just thinking out loud.
 
Aging of the hobbyist base. Quite a while back an AKer posted a chart showing how internet social media participation drops with age. IIRC there's a significant drop at 60 and an even greater drop at 70. The is partly due to waning interest, and then there's life expectancy. In addition, the hobby ain't what it use to be. My visit to the Southwest Audio Show last Friday is a case in point.
 
I dunno, I've only been on here since around 2010 I think.
Ya, its changed. There seems to me more new members popping in just to get help with something they've just acquired and nothing else. Either they find the help or don't, and you don't tend to see them again. That may be due to sooo many links to what they are looking for on the interwebs that lead here now. Those links seem to pop up a lot more to me now than before.
I still find more helpful information here on a daily basis.
I think AK will be doing ok for the foreseeable future.
 
I would say it’s just evolution and the times. Our culture is hyper focused on instant gratification. Spending time on research and conversations is not the forte of the up and coming generations. Other formats have become far more popular and the old style internet forum is a thing of the past no matter the content. That said, I love it here and hope the community continues to thrive. This coming from a relatively younger and much less experienced member so take it as you will.
 
I experienced the same waning interest phenomenon in 2 other groups I've been involved with. amateur ham radio, and plastic model car building. both groups are losing members due to youngsters not interested in the things their daddy did for a hobby. I blame most of it on cell phone computers. I swear, I don't know how we old timers ever got along without 24/7 handheld communications.
 
nailer said:
Aging of the hobbyist base. Quite a while back an AKer posted a chart showing how internet social media participation drops with age. IIRC there's a significant drop at 60 and an even greater drop at 70. The is partly due to waning interest, and then there's life expectancy. In addition, the hobby ain't what it use to be. My visit to the Southwest Audio Show last Friday is a case in point.
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This goes to my previous post on the example of “actuarial tables”.

We are all moving on in our respective lives and what was important to us then is not now and visa versa
 
Social media. Used to be that internet-based forums WERE the social media platform for all of us. As smartphones got better/faster and Facebook/Twitter grew in popularity because they afforded like-minded people to form groups about every little thing that's when forums started to die. The forums that are TOO focused, like ones I joined for specific car or motorcycle models, those went downhill even faster.
 
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I've been over at AVS Forum for a few years.

Sadly frequent carry ons. A few members hot headed and rude. Defended myself and got banned for a month. Not going to participate there again.

My only suggestion is the look and feel of AVS Forum with the black background is a bit more user friendly with a handheld device.
 
As far as audio maybe. I post on reddit and the record hobby is very alive! Most posts are Crosley and AT-LP60 but these folks are just starting.

It's what they know, can afford, and are comfortable with. Some folks have some pretty kick ass collections over there. Some
have nice set ups and some have something very basic.

There is a lot of interest in the hobby as far as records.

One of the things that stops folks especially younger is they have no idea where to start.

I've honestly been thinking of starting a Youtube channel.
Not to make money but to show and help others this hobby doesn't need to be expensive and complicated. Like that there is an alternative to Crosley or AT-LP60 and pair of Edifier. Yeah they do the job but not everyone wants that!

I've been mulling the idea around for a while. I don't know. Also it would give me an excuse to talk about the weird and unpopular music I like in a segment called Records In The Kitchen.

But there are a lot of things I want to talk about that don't get talked about.
 
I'm a relatively new member (almost 4 years) and 4200 posts.

I also see new users every few days.

I'm admittedly both "specific" and "eclectic" with varied, not necessarily connected interests.

...but there are several areas here for me to enjoy and I'm sure some I haven't discovered yet.
 
I agree with the OP. It sure does seem like activity on AK is down, at least on the forums I regularly follow. Yes, there's a good chance you can find the answers you're looking for without posting the question, and that's getting even better with time. However, I don't mind reading ones that we know have been answered elsewhere as long as the poster says they've put some effort into looking beforehand. Often there's some angle to the problem that hasn't been covered, and it's encouraging to hear the success stories that result. I follow along on some of the other sites out there like Reddit and facebook but I find there's way too much 'noise' in those if you know what I mean. AK is the absolute best place for helpful info and respectful discourse IMO.
 
Want to spice it up? Start a cable thread. Start a grass roots effort to Make Audio Great Again. You could use just the acronym…oh, that’s already taken. You could just give up and send me a list of your gear that I can offer you pennies on the dollar for.
 
BradV said:
I had a good look for it and it eluded me. Will give it another go.
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Yes. Found it. Much better. Shades of Grey. Who would have thought !

I think the site is good but topics that are relevant to need are always appreciated.

Having just done an install in a new home there's been some changes for me.

Just sharing a bit of it.

. Anything HDMI also got an optical or Coaxial digital cable as well where possible. Advantage was switching over time lag eliminated and I'm keeping a preference there for audio only.
. Made use of all available digital outputs on AVR's so all AVR's are interconnected.
. Maintained optic disc transports instead of buying in to the streaming services because I don't like the loss of assets getting rid of discs and the overall quality is often better.
 
nailer said:
Aging of the hobbyist base. Quite a while back an AKer posted a chart showing how internet social media participation drops with age. IIRC there's a significant drop at 60 and an even greater drop at 70. The is partly due to waning interest, and then there's life expectancy. In addition, the hobby ain't what it use to be. My visit to the Southwest Audio Show last Friday is a case in point.
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In another thread, I'd like to hear more about that Southwest Audio Show - One of the bigwigs with the Capital Audio Fest did a lot of promotion of the Southwest Audio fest, and I wondered how that went. I'm DC Metro based, and was kinda busy so I didn't do the Cap Audiofest last fall - kinda happy with all the gear I've got now.

But - its kinda like The Auto Show every year - I used to go in my late teens, but we went maybe 6-8 years back and it was just meh! Waste of my time.
 
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