While you are correct about MP3s being lower-fidelity than CDs (because of lossy compression), CDs are definitively higher-fidelity than vinyl. Yes, I know, CDs have a sample rate of 44.1 kHz, so you’re missing anything above the 22.05 kHz range. But no human (and I mean no human) can hear that anyway.

And I’m not so sure about the voice quality on today’s cell phones (I can say it’s much better than that of cell phones in the 90s!), but a good VoIP line (like what most corporations now use) has probably the best voice quality of any phone line I’ve heard.

When Ken mentioned “washing machines that ruin your clothes,” I actually laughed. I forgot that washing machines used to do that.

For example, CDs are “the best” and records (vinyls) are the good enough. You can talk till you’re blue in the face about the warmth of vinyl, but that warmth is lost parts of the music, like the “warmth” of talking through a wall.

And cars do have less fuel economy than they did in the 80s. That’s because they’re bigger, have better safety features, accelerate MUCH faster, and are generally just better.

And audio quality? Talk to my grandfather about the noise he would hear on a long distance call in the 60s. There was a rush to quality in the 80s and 90s with fiber optic cable, but $200 phone bills were also not uncommon. I’m sure if you’re willing to pay $1/minute to talk to someone, I can arrange for a VOIP provider that will be more than happy to give you a CD-quality (I’m sorry, vinyl-quality) stream. There are always trade-offs to be had.

But standards? No, standards haven’t fallen in consumer goods quality. There are just trade-offs to be had, and most of us are voting with our dollars and saying we want faster cars, digital quality music, and washing machines that side-load to make our (more expensive) clothes last longer. We’re willing to trade off the warmth of low-fidelity music, fuel economy, and washing machines that ruin your clothes for decades to come.

Thanks Danny – now I feel really old.
I CAN usually tell the difference between music on vinyl and on CD. The CD versions are missing so much ‘detail’ or background, or something I can’t quite put a finger on – but it’s NOT the same – great chunks of sound are missing.
And the cars – how quickly we forget. I laugh every time I see a car ad touting great gas mileage of 25 – 30 mpg. Great? Really? HA! Do the car companies REALLY believe that we don’t recall the 40 – 60 mpg we had in the 80′s? Puhleeeze! Gimme a break.

You’re not the only one who says that music sounded better on vinyl…however, that’s certainly not my experience.

What is vinyl?

Funny, my TV picture quality vastly improved in quality a couple of years back
That said, what you’re saying does resonate. I think my age has brought in some acute awareness of the incremental. At 18 I needed Super Hi Bias tape for the vinyl recording in order to blast The Joshua Tree out of my Audiovox with the best treble possible. Now I am spending a lot of time deciding between the environmental impact of in-dash MP3 cds vs. the danger of handling an Ipod while driving.

Yeah, believe me, I knew I was sounded old when I wrote it. I am, of course.
It’s not that I’m saying the old days were better, though. I want my MP3. I want my cell phone. Life rocks much better with them.
It’s just that I see compromises more these days in what happens when some things get better. We don’t get better sound quality and portability with music. We get portability. I’ve got a phone I can take everywhere, but I’m often having to say things twice. I want fewer compromises. But maybe that’s part of what you accept.

Danny,
You are showing your age man. The older you get the more the old days look like the good old days. As we all move faster faster faster to keep up with technology – can anyone drive or grocery shop without a cell phone? – the finer things in life often drop by the wayside.
So it is not so much that the world is going to hell in a handbasket as that you are getting older and your perspective is changing. Someday you too will be a geezer. Get used to it.