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Comment by knollimar | Hacker News Reader

It seems like a silly cargo cult to me. It feels like ewaste compared to a poster

If it really is cargo culting, and the people buying the physical product are not keeping the manufacturers in check because they never play the vinyl, then I can see a potential situation where manufacturers ramp up to meet "demand" but at lower quality (improved profits).

The secondhand market becomes saturated with inferior pressings that are inevitably bound for landfills since they don't meet the quality/expectations of the people who actually play vinyl.

Hypothetically.

This doesn't make any sense; there's no craft here, where it's cheaper to press "bad" records vs "good" ones. You would literally need multiple production lines to intentionally execute this "strategy". Also a record cost next to nothing to make.

What's the *e*-waste from a record and sleeve?

PVC releases potentially harmful vapors and is difficult to properly dispose of.

records rarely end up in waste, and the relatively small amount of waste from production is not where we should be focusing our energies.

You're right it's probably not ewaste. I think the record is entirely wasted along with the energy to produce it. The sleeve is the only value if you don't play it

What cargo do the cultists think is coming?

A wonderful sonic experience from ritualistic handling of a vinyl disc in a paper envelope?

Little do they know, the true sonic experience comes from wetting the disc with a special felt pad and watching the stroboscopic markings on the edge of a turntable platter...

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