Yeah, give me scratched vinyl or my 8-Track over a CD any day… :rolleyes:
Come to think of it, those wax cylinders, now,* that* was music!
2 small stereo speakers or one larger mono one in the given design space. Which set up would give a better sound?
Yes, anyone and everyone. Way to over-generalize.
Most younger people don’t share your concept of a “stereo system”. They may have a surround speaker system for the big-screen TV, and an iPod dock or Bluetooth speaker for use in other places (study, bedroom, office, etc). That’s about it.
I understand that, which is kind of my point. All you really want for any device is an amplifier and speakers (and the expense and wattage you go to for those is a question of personal choice). You don’t have to dedicate a separate amplifier and speakers to each specific device (“This is for the iPod, this for the TV, this is for the computer,” etc.). You can put as many devices as you want into any one amplifier. But by marketing an amplifier as an “iPod dock” they’re creating the impression (deliberately, I think) that you need a different amp and set of speakers for each device. Especially for the lower-end docks that can take a signal ONLY from an iPod, because of how they’re designed. People think, “How can I listen my iPod out loud? Well, at the Apple store they sell 'docks for that, so I guess that’s what I have to get.” All along, however, they could have just plugged it into some other thing with an amp and speakers.
I don’t have a “stereo system” either–just various amplifiers and speakers (built into various things) for each location that needs audio–not one for each device. Whatever device is in use in any location goes into that amp.
I think you missed my point. I’m saying many people don’t have “some other thing with an amp and speakers” anymore. Except maybe the speaker system for the TV, which doesn’t help if you want to listen to music in other places.
ETA: The other point is, many people don’t have any other audio source that they want to listen to, other than their iPod and/or their phone.
Except for a number of people, the ONLY source is an Apple something. If all I have is Apple, and all I expect to have is Apple, why bother with equipment that will play from multiple sources, especially when all of my Apple stuff just slides into the cradle.
This is one of Apple’s strong points: I have an Apple, therefore, I should get an Apple docking station/speakers/charger/etc. I have Apple docking stations, therefore I should get an iPad/iPod/iPhone next time.
It just strikes me as strange that this same rant could have been used with the Edison brand over a hundred years ago. Who needs those damn RCA Victrola’s; my Edison Gramophone is “real” music!
Now get off my lawn! 
+1 on this.
Even before I had an iPod, I was using iTunes to burn every CD I owned onto my computer. Today, those CDs are in storage and would take some serious digging to find. I have no intention of ever using them again except as a backup in case of some catastrophic hard drive failure.
I’m referring mainly to TVs, with game consoles, which, from the factory, have comparatively low-quality speakers built-in. Also, some people still use regular radio receivers, because it’s still easier to navigate multiple local broadcast by air transmissions rather than online. And some people still use CDs.
I realize completely, though, that both Apple and Google are looking ahead toward the day when everything you see or hear will arrive to your senses by way of one product, and one product only, which their respective company provides, so that their respective company alone will be the one to profit from your attention.
This isn’t that much different from the pre-MP3 days, when casual-to-serious audiophiles had stereo systems, while other people just listened to CDs or cassettes on their boom boxes.
I know this is a hijack, but come on.
Comparing the difference of fidelity/timbre between vinyl and CDs to the difference between home stereos playing said vinyl or CD and listening to massively compressed audio through .5cm ear buds is so far off track it’s laughable.
Actually some of them have an earphone style jack in the back where you can play older cd players through the portable Sound Dock system.(bought one yesterday) The model I bought was a Bose SoundDock 2 so it might be different on other models.