The oldest thing I own (and use!)
It was just a random thought: What is the oldest thing I own? I'm sure everyone has some old things stored away somewhere. Then I saw 82mhz's post on the same subject so it feels like the perfect time to share!
I'm going to answer a slighty variation on this question, though I think the answer is basically the same: What is the oldest thing I own that I actually use or appreciate somewhat regularly, as opposed to just having it in storage?
It turns out the oldest thing I own and use is something my dad bought more than 10 years before I was born: A 1980 Pioneer PL-300 turntable, alongside the Pioneer SA-508 amplifier and TX-608 tuner.
He told me this was the first big purchase he made around 1980, with the money from his first job. Ever since my parents switched to CD's however it's been gathering dust in storage. When we expressed interest in it they generously gifted it to us, and told us we could also take as many of their records as we liked.
It was pretty easy to set up, we just had to replace the needle on the turntable and make sure the arm was properly balanced. The speakers are not the best quality, but it works and we're happy with it. We occasionally use the tuner as well to listen to radio. Though we do have a small issue with that, because the radio signal is briefly interrupted whenever the local electric bus drives past our house! Interestingly, it only seems to happen with the bus, not with any other vehicles.
Over the last 5 years my girlfriend and I have both built up a small collection of records. I'm slowly filling a single Kallax square with mine. I tend to be somewhat picky in what I buy (it can be quite expensive). It's usually either an album I really loved, or from a smaller artist I want to support.
Sometimes people say vinyl is the thing that got them to listen to music more intently, or got them to listen to full albums. Personally, that's never been an issue for me with digital music. I frequently listen to full albums on Bandcamp or Spotify, and I don't rely on Spotify's recommendations and auto generated playlists. Similarly to Youtube I always have the autoplay feature turned off. So it's still me deciding what I'm listening to, and how. These services are tools that can be used in an intentional way, if you choose to. The main issue I have with Spotify is how little money artists make on it.
I do think there's something special about taking the time to put on a vinyl record and sit down with it. It's also interesting to see at what point in the album you reach the halfway point, where there's a brief interruption as you need to flip the record. Maybe most artists don't take this into account anymore when they decide how to order the songs on their album, but I assume some still do?
I also like vinyl for its large artwork, and as a way to support the artists I like (especially the smaller ones, who need it the most). Sometimes an album I have on vinyl is not on streaming services at all, though I find that's pretty rare. And in general, it's nice having a physical reminder of my favourite records inside the house! Sometimes I'll buy a record at a concert and I'm able to get it signed by the artist too. One of the many benefits of seeing smaller artists live!
At some point I'll write about the second oldest thing I own (not including those old records). That thing was also originally purchased by my dad, but it sees far more use than the music system. If you want to guess what it is, here's a hint: I'm Dutch!
What is the oldest thing you own?