[drpfenderson]

This is probably the main reason I tend to purchase my favorite music as vinyl. It is one of the few formats that is unencumbered by major patents, hardware requirements for the most basic listening, and roadblocks on the decryption/decoding side. If I want to hear a record in the most dire of circumstances, I can manually spin it with my hands and use a needle and paper sheet shaped into a cone. The record is, itself, a visual waveform representation of the music in one of its most straightforward forms.

The power can be out, no batteries around, no computer in sight, and I can still handcrank my music on a portable set. And I own it, DRM-free.

And, as mentioned above, most records now come with a code for a digital copy of the album. Best of both worlds.

[KennyBlanken]

"I could listen to it with a needle and paper sheet taped into a cone while spinning the record with my hands" has to be about the dumbest justification for buying vinyl I've ever heard.

The chances of society deteriorating to the point where an mp3 player running off a rechargeable AA battery isn't achievable are slim to none, and even if they do get to that point, I think you're going to be far more concerned about the basic business of staying alive.

[drpfenderson]

Well, the main reason, as I stated, is ideological. That it is not encumbered by patents, like mp3 is/was. The "paper cone" example was the most extreme hyperbole that came to mind. I just think it's neat that I would still have tunes, even in that extreme, unlikely situation.

However, in response to that: This past winter my apartment went without power for over 3 days, thanks to frost damage taking out major parts of our grid. UPC ran out of power in a couple hours, phones near the end of the day, any rechargables near mid-second-day. It was really nice to have the hand-crank player with built-in speaker while huddled up under a heavy blanket and reading. The same experience even more recently while staying at a fairly remote cabin, without streaming, signal, or convenient power. Had board games, a handful of records, and a nice lantern. Good times.

[bombcar]

Yeah, there’s a great big chasm between “listening to Spotify” and “the world has descended to caveman days” and multiple options are nice. We’ve been without power for a night and the M18 equipment was nice to have. We’ve been without internet for days and local storage was nice to have.