Old vs New

Ah yes, the old argument. Which is better - old or new? Is it true that "they don't make 'em like they used to"? Or should we "move with the times, dude"? Well let's see shall we? This post is going to investigate this age-old question with several examples. Before we start I feel like I should let you know that I am pro-old. I'm like a 4o year old or more even though I'm not.

I shall cover three main areas:

1. Music
2. Art
3. Technology

Music
Without wanting to sound too...what's-the-word...I was listening to Mozart's Requiem the other day (you know the exciting bits like Dies Ira) and I was told that it was boring. Boring? BORING! Speaks the person who likes music that goes Thump Thump for hours and hours and hours and... You get the idea. A 3-year-old child could do the same, they'd just get bored quicker. (You're going to get a lot of '3-year-old child'-ing.) And people dance to this?
Let me give you something to compare to Dies Ira - Boten Anna. I only know this song because it's been forced upon me. With all the instruments ever invented, strings, brass, percussion, the human voice etc. this is what we get. I know I'm comparing one of the greatest classical composers to a song which will probably be forgotten in a year so it's bound to be a ridiculous comparison. But I know that some of you reading this will be thinking "...but Boten Anna's much better." You, my friend, are a philistine. Oh dear, this is turning into a rant already. Sorry.

Art
Right. Art. Let me give you two examples to compare:

http://www.lairweb.org.nz/leonardo/mona.html
http://blog.pennlive.com/iridescentartnews/2007/08/i_have_struggled_with_ellswort.html
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you 'Red on Canvas' by Ellsworth Kelly and 'Mona Lisa' by Leanardo da Vinci.
Now then. Who can tell me which took more time and talent to paint? Is it (a) the blank red canvas a three-year-old child could do or is it (b) the enigmatic smile of an unknown lady painted by one of the best geniuses the world has ever known. You are correct! It is (b)!
I once saw a TV program about Sotheby's which showed an egg-shaped frame with a gold fabric stretched over it with holes in it. Guess how much it sold for? About £7,000,000 - a number big enough to require commas. I would have bought it for 700 quid tops. So why do people spend so much on these 'artworks'? Because the 'artist' has somehow got famous and now people want their stuff.
And don't even get me started on half a dead cow...

And finally...
Technology
See now here's an area where pretty much all new stuff is better than almost all old stuff. You know the thing you're reading this blog on right now? 20 years ago, a similar thing could only just play Pong. Now you can browse the internet, write any number of different types of documents, listen to music, play games, talk to your friends etc. I could go on all day.
The bad thing about technology is engineered obsolescence, where they make something that is intended to break in 3 years or so so that you are forced to buy another one. For instance, my Mum's washing machine survived about 20 odd years including 2 moves of house. When it finally broke and she got a new one, none of them were intended to last more than 3 years. So now she weighs everything to make sure it doesn't exceed the weight limit in an attempt to make it last longer.
As Donavon Frankenreiter once sang: "It didn't even exist last year but now its what we need" which concludes it rather nicely.

Thanks for bearing with me and letting me rant like this. See you again sometime.