Leyden jars became capacitors...
Piles became batteries...
Glow Tubes became Geissler Tubes which became rectifiers and CRTs and modern valves/tubes and even light bulbs... before they got (at least partially/sometimes) replaced with transistors, followed by integrated circuits.
OK, I'm simplifying slightly, but you get the idea. Things develop, change and evolve, albeit often in sloppy and irregular fashion. Most of the time, we hope things improve, and in many ways, things do improve and have improved. Today's digital BPC can be produced more cheaply and in greater quantities than anything sonically equivalent from earlier times could have been (let alone the better-sounding higher-end stuff), despite the fact that many of us are not wholly satisfied with the sound of them. Television pictures have better resolution and larger screens and smaller side-profiles/footprints than ever before.
Along the path of all this "improvement", however, there is some loss. No longer are cases made of beautiful solid hardwoods like walnut or mahogany. [Then again, if they were, these endangered trees would have been extinct years ago.] First the hardwood cases were replaced with wood-veneered cases, both cheaper and more resistant to splitting. Then the real wood veneers were replaced with vinyl faux-wood veneers. Now it's painted plastic stuff. Progress? For the industry, yes; for the consumer, well, yes and no, maybe mostly "no".
"Planned obsolescence" means that nothing is designed to last, and many of us regret that, feeling that there is value, if only psychological and emotional, in things that have some stability and longevity. Where once only wealthy families would have a radio or television in their living room, today people have them in many rooms, and teenagers can carry thousands of songs around in their pockets. Progress in many respects, but progress with some regressive aspects.
The computer industry has a lot to do with the changes that have occurred in recent years. People today assume when they buy a computer, that in a few years the computers will be both much faster and somewhat cheaper, and so far that has always been true. That mentality carries over to other areas, including TVs and audio gear, especially since those things now have many "computer chips" inside them. The "MTV generation" or "Generation X" (or is it GenY or GenZ or neo-retro-GenX this week?) expects things NOT to last, and would rather stay trendy than seek quality that lasts.
Then there is the issue of nostalgia and memory, both individual and collective: the TVs (and other gear) from the past remind us of our past, the past of our parents and grandparents; of where we came from and where we have been. It reminds us of simpler times, of more elemental times, often with the "rose-colored glasses" of nostalgic hindsight. When the gear itself is gone, we feel that those times, with all their warmth and values, will also be lost, gone, forgotten... and we regret that. Therefore, we wish to preserve what we can of those times, and hope that others who come later will share some glimmering, some memory, of where we and they came from...
We cannot stop the passage of time. We cannot stop evolution, change, or progress... but perhaps by slowing down the disappearance of certain segments and bits from the passage of time, we may help preserve some memories and some values. That isn't a bad thing. In centuries past, village storytellers kept the "collective memory" of the community in their heads, and passed it along by telling stories around the campfires. Today, in our expanded-yet-shrunk and connected-yet-fractured world, perhaps we serve a purpose that isn't entirely different, although not remotely as central to the greater community.
On a more practical level, we gain pleasure from our hobby, a valuable benefit in itself. If we are lucky, our acquisitions will increase in market value. Most of us hope that our children will share our appreciation of these things, but recognize that they may not. At least we can hope that if they don't, they will be able to gain economically when they pass the things on to someone who does/will appreciate them. We can't take our gear with us when we depart this world, but perhaps we can be good custodians of it for future generations, while it is in our possession.
A waste of time? Perhaps.... but that can be said about most vocations and avocations, depending on the perspective one adopts. With that in mind, I'll shut up now... waffled on long enough, already!
