If only I knew the age of the people on this forum. I suspect many are younger than I, and yes I am aware that there is ethnocentrism abroad and yes I have lived abroad, but I wholeheartedly DISAGREE that the degree of ethnocentrism displayed outside of the USA is as bad with some tiny exceptions, and often they involved ethnic feelings of superiority and biases, and not the systemic consensus that WE ARE #1 IN YOUR FACE 356/24/7 as in US of A. We can agree to disagree, and to those who think downloading of music and h/d storage is the future (already is in many quarters) of music sales - I AGREE but still buy hard media anyway because I'm a dinosaur.
To big to fail? What road are we headed down?
Anyone else irritated about the way CD's are packaged? For the longest time I have expressed my dissatisfaction to record companies about the way CD discs are sealed for the American market. It's a hassle unwrapping the damn things, and never mind the stickers with impossible to remove glue stuck to many jewel cases. Back twenty plus years ago in Europe I saw the better way CD's were being packaged, and the disparity of common sense in CD packaging between overseas CD packaging and American CD packaging has not changed. It reminds me of so many things in America - that things are done for the convenience of the manufacturer, not for the consumer. I'll extend my grievances with buying CD's in America further by mentioning the way CD's are often shipped here domestically: they are shipped in various packaging, but usually in something that does little to discover that yet another of the CD cases is cracked. I know over many years of CD buying that this has actually got worse in America, not better. With declining sales of music CD's you'd think manufacturers and sellers would do their best to help the buyer - not ostracize them further from buying CD's. I know of the CD's I receive, between 30 and 35% arrive with damage to the jewel case, and I buy from many sellers. Interesting that CD/SACD/etc. discs I buy from Japan (and Hong Kong) rarely arrive with any damage, and they travel much further to reach me. It may sound unfair to some of you, but I find a general lackadaisical, laziness in many aspects of the supplier to their fellow American consumer in many areas - and the aforementioned problems with CD purchasing is but one small area of a much larger problem in this country. I always shake my head at the ethnocentrism I encounter daily in our country, because frankly in many areas in this country we have no reason to be so feeling so superior to others who try harder to please others.