TL;DR - there is simply no need for audio-components anymore
I think its more of a “technically obsolete” thingy for component audio than just $$$ (people still spend a lot of $$$ on all kinds of other crap).
Remember the SOURCES we had on those audio component systems?
Tuner
Cassette
Reel-to-reel
Turntable
DAT
CD-player
all of those sources are now superseeded and made obsolete by a $99,- DAC, the size of a pack of cigarettes that does everything those sources did in a way better shape and form, plus you stream music today wirelessly from what in the 80ies would have been seen as remote control.
I have a grand total of 1628 albums, many in Hi-Res on a SD card the size of my pinky-nail in my phone that’d blow your 1980ies mind in terms of sound quality (and convenience).
.
Of course, bullshitting your clientele, like putting a $300 BR-player in a new chassis and charging now $3,500 for it, did not do that “hey, more components” cause any good.
And you would get the whole Bose marketing team agreeing with you. And then they would go home and listen to their $10,000 component system.
But the question is are the not cool anymore. I think the average consumer thinks of them like Ferrari’s and Lamborghini’s, cool to have if you were rich enough to afford them. And interesting to read about, but not worth the extra money for performance you would rarely if ever use
Heh, my dad had a drawer full of handkerchiefs. I never saw him carry one, though.
I carried a pocket knife until about five or so years ago. By then places such as concerts and sporting events having metal detectors and forbidding pocket knives became pretty common. So I stopped carrying it after having to go back to the car to stow it a couple of times.
I often carry a handkerchief but have never (well, maybe once or twice but not that I can recall and it would have been in some heavy hay fever attack) used it to blow my nose. Wipe up spills, gather up small stuff to carry, make a small ice pack, improvise a bandage (once for a dog), rappel down a building to escape captors or steal crown jewels, sure, but never as a “snot rag.”
I always carry a handkerchief. My nose runs when I go from cold > hot or vice versa. If something soils it, well, don’t use it again until it’s been through the wash.
Now that you mention it, I do recall seeing my father-in-law using a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his bald head, but never to wipe or blow his nose.
ETA: My father-in-law is not and has never been ‘cool’. Even his father said he was a dork as a kid.
Similar to some other responses to this: my 92-year-old father has always carried a pocket handkerchief, and that’s what he uses to blow his nose when he’s out in public.
He tried to instill the habit in me when I was a teenager; he even bought me a set of handkerchiefs for that purpose. To which, my reaction was, “yuck.”
I haven’t known anyone who wasn’t a contemporary of my father’s who regularly used handkerchiefs, and certainly no one in my circle of friends and colleagues who are my age or younger.
They are totally wrong. In fact, older people need cargo pants more, as we have more and more “stuff” we gotta carry around.
I always carry a bandanna and a Swiss Army knife. (airports and courthouses, etc aside)
Since I stopped going to either many decades ago, not an issue for me. But I have set aside a set of “Disney pants and shorts” which have been “disarmed” .
But most people just carry some tissues now, I carry both.
What’s more gross? Using then reusing a handkerchief or having trees cut down so you can blow you nose once then increase the landfill? So, both are disgusting but so is snot, so i use tissues (and leftover paper napkins).
Altho I almost never use my bandanna to blow my nose, it has dozens of uses, most commonly to dry my hands after cheapass bathrooms with no paper towels.
I tell a tale about Walt Disney world, on a hot day (most of them). i was sitting in the sun with a fellow follicle challenged gentleman. we got chatting and I mentioned he should get a hat- he said he just lost his. I offered him my clean bandanna - which he accepted- then with some quick motions tied little knots in the corners and made a nifty little hat. He was impressed I carried a bandanna, and I was impressed with his instant hat making. (I had another back at the hotel).
I carry a sweat rag when i dance, and sometimes at other times. Its primary use is mopping my forehead. But i suppose i could use it as a napkin in a pinch. I don’t think i ever have, though.
I’m pretty sure it was never cool. I didn’t think it’s especially geezerly, either.
Yeah, I don’t use a bandana, I use a long thin rectangle. I got a few as tourist giveaways the last time I visited Japan, and realized they are way more convenient than bandanas, and also, the cloth is more absorbent. I can hang one around my neck, wipe my forehead, shove it easily in my pocket, I could even tie it around my forehead if I wanted to. They’ve head up well, but I picked up a few more on my recent visit to Japan. (Kyoto and Tokyo know how to handle hot humid weather.)
I remember when most women carried purses. Mainly for practical purposes, I assume, though I supposed there may have been a “cool” component to it if a woman carried a designer purse. At any rate, I don’t see them much anymore.
