Ya know, there are some things I do miss, as Mapman said, just being younger would top my list. Prices are higher, but that $50 Dyna 70 in 1980 is almost $150 in 2015 $. I bet you can buy an unrestored Dyna 70 for that, or less, so it's a wash. The one difference is a lot of the stuff from our youth is now collectible, so prices have gone up, but only for the desirable stuff. That restored Dyna 70 goes for hundreds, but it was restored after all. As for browsing ads, I did that too, and there would be a handful of components locally. But then came Audiomart and hundreds were available nationally, now we have Audiogon, eBay, and other sites where there are thousands of components available. In that respect, screw the old days, we're in the golden age!
I miss the Audio classified ads of the 70's and 80's in the newspaper
I remember getting my Sunday paper and looking at all the ads in the audio classified section. They would have private party listings along with dealer listings and ads for new gear. Obviously this is before the Internet ever existed. Call me old fashioned but I really enjoyed those days.