The Decline of the MP3CAR community

[SuperMatty]

I want to know what you folks think. But to me, seeing something like a Xenarc display, or G1 PC hit the market is thrilling in some respects, but disappointing in others. What I mean is that up until recently, if you wanted an MP3Car in your system, it took somethings called planning, technical skill, motivation, persistance, and lots of patience and hard work. As we see more and more manufacturers begin to cater to the MP3car market, and thereby making the overall 'project' more plug and play, and easier to setup, I think we'll see a decline in the intelligence of the community. Maybe I'm just being optimistic but I consider this forum to be some *very* motivated, technically skilled individuals.

I shudder to think of the day when I'll see some kid in his riced out Honda civic pull up aside of me and hear 'Welcome to Co-Pilot, please enter your destination..." with his Xenarc screen with a retail car-mount, with his mini MP3-car PC in the glovebox, and though I won't see it, he'll have a 'Crutchfield MP3CAR wiring harness" adapter so he doesn't even have to know what any of the wires he plugged in do.
Yep, it's scary to think that even those wealthy individuals who spend $10,000 on a cd-based stereo car system will be able to have what we all consider to be a unique accomplisment, with its development paved by this forum. I *ENJOY* driving next to a Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, knowing that my audio/visual system is far more superior and unique than anything they could lay down their Benjamins to get. But this may not always be the case.

[ShinkunoNamida]

It's really only a matter of time before the concept of building a computer to put in your car is pointless. We can think of ourselves as pioneers though.. look at steve jobs and bill gates 20 years ago hacking things together in their garages.. That's basically what we are doing today.

Speaking of which, has anyone made a car pc using an altair?

It's the same way in the anime community.. it used to be that you would get never heard of video.. some nut job with an amiga and a genlock with a working knowledge of japanese and english to subtitle it and a fansub distrobution where you would get an 80th generation dupe you can hardly watch.

These days you get a nice DVD .. but the mystique is gone. I appreciate the advancements but at times you have to sit back and think about way back when.

case 2: Punk rock.. when I was younger I was in a punk band I had a few friends from around the state that were also in bands and we thought of ourselves as a community of people in an outcast genre... Now "punk" has become commercially viable and you can buy it at the mall. The romantic nature of the outcast rebel punk rock spirit has been replaced with $100 punk pants o match your $50 made to look used work shirt and $80 punk shoes when it used to be you bought some crap at the salvation army because it was cheap and you had no money.


mp3Car is different though i think. sure there will be car mp3 players.. dvd, gps the works.. but it will all cost money and it will be some mass produced lump of crap.

What we have is a beautiful artform. a melding of science, art, and function. You have a totally custom unit designed to fit your purpose in the way which you want.

You can look over at the guy next to you in his bimma that his mom bought him with the dash nav,dvd,mp3 unit and smile knowing that you built something better, you did it yourself with your own hand and hard work, and you have exactly what you want, how you want it.

[Gutter]

In your rice example, how is that a decline in the MP3Car community? He was never apart of it.

Most of the people here are hobbiests at heart who enjoy the planning, building, and pride of creating their own systems. People are still building their own computers even though they can go to Walmart and order an $300 machine. HAM radio operators of the 30's, 40's, and 50's (maybe even to present day) built their own radios even though companies like RCA and Zenith were producing thousands of affordable models each year. Cars are still being built by hand even though they can go out and get a new Civic for $12k.

Your argument is flawed simply because the people that you're talking about who go out and buy the shiny new system from some large corporation were never apart of the community to begin with. If I buy a radio, or buy a complete computer system, or buy a new car, am I a reason for the decline of those communities?

[Skippman]

I consider myself to be a renaisance man. I love to work on anything that catches my interest. I've built Jeeps from the ground up. I've built homes, wired home theater systems, made furniture, you name it.

I hope the community isn't dying. I'm a car audio nut, have been for about 7 years. Theres been alot of talk in the car audio communities lately that the "art" of it all is dead. Thanks to companies like Audio Express and Best Buy any idiot can have a good sounding system.

That may be true, but he still has no place at IASCA or USAC. Places like that are where your skill shows. There you have a sense of acomplishment. I'm proud to be a part of the MP3Car community and I don't consider it dead at all. Hell, I'm just getting warmed up!


Shin
As an otaku I have to wonder what you mean by Anime is dead? My friend just got 4 fan subs on VHS the other day at a local showing. I'm trying to get more active in the anime scene we have here in St. Louis. Now, thank's to the net, I can get access to series I never new existed. I'm trying to fine some Pilot Candidate right now. Caught a few episodes on Toonami, but it looks like they've stopped showing it.

[ShinkunoNamida]

Originally posted by Skippman
Shin
As an otaku I have to wonder what you mean by Anime is dead? My friend just got 4 fan subs on VHS the other day at a local showing. I'm trying to get more active in the anime scene we have here in St. Louis. Now, thank's to the net, I can get access to series I never new existed. I'm trying to fine some Pilot Candidate right now. Caught a few episodes on Toonami, but it looks like they've stopped showing it.

Candidate for Goddess was never finished. There is only 12 episodes, I have no idea why they would release a series that is never going to be finished here when we know it that it isn't going to be complete.

I'm not saying it's dead, I'm saying the mystique is gone. It's no longer this thing nobody ever heard of. People don't even think that the only cartoons coming out of japan is porn any more.

I appreciate what we have now, but that feeling of the "good old days" is just a nice memory now. I love being able to order DVDs from HK and Signapore I know just enough japanese to be able to fill in where the subtitles drop out usually.

I recently got my wrench head friend in love with Inital D. While we were watching it I roughly translated when the subs dropped out, he was amazed Watch enough anime and you are bound to learn at least a little bit.. You'd be surprised how much you subconciously understand.

Anyway enough straying from the point.

It will never die. It will always be there for those who are dedicated. We just have to stay strong and when we see this commercially produced crap we have to look at it and instead of being jealous, or angry, realize that it has it's place. Simple people need simple things. They are just consumers with a nice toy. We are among the elite.. those who dared, those who tried and failed and tried again. We bleed for our love of this wonderful art form and create master pieces that can not come from a box. You can buy wall paintings at any walmart, kmart or any other bargin super store, but you can only get a beautiful one of a kind masterpiece from the hands of a real artist.

[Skippman]

I'd like to have a forum get together one of these days. I'd be willing to spend a weekend out of town to hang out with some of the forum regulars. You know, a kind of show and tell session. Just a thought.

[ShinkunoNamida]

I don't know if you noticed the thread, but I was trying to get a gathering together at otakon in baltimore next weekend. There didn't seem to be much interest.

I'm pretty much all for a forum meet. The only problem is that for the most part we are fairly spread out. It seems the highest concentration in the UK and midwest US.

There's a few of us here in the New York Metro area too but not as much as you other cats

[SuperMatty]

I'm in PA which is kind of in the middle of the east coast. I'd be up for an annual mp3car show And Gutter, what I meant was that once more and more commercial mp3car hardware becomes available, those rice boys *will* be a part of the mp3car'ing community because they will walk into Best Buy and purchase the stuff...and we will have those individuals in this forum amongst us because they will want to know how to mount their GPS unit atop of their 24" spoiler. That is, unless you consider those who have commercially available mp3car hardware to *not* be a part of this community.

[PoBoy]

I tried a meet in the MD/VA area...no action. Im all about a gathering though. We should do a National meet next Spring/Summer. Meet somewhere on the US/Canada border. Just a thought that wont go anywhere, but there's always hope.

MO/IL seem to be becoming greatly mp3car populated. Why no party yet??!! There are a ton of forest parks to meet at. Barbecue and show and tell...Im in!

PoBoy

[Skippman]

Well, I'm finally starting to get into this whole "Group Organization" thing. I would be willing to organize a group meet for those interested. I'd like to wait a few months until I actually have a working setup.

St. Louis or Chicago would be the best choice for a meet, due to their central location. Other locations could be considered. But this is really a topic for a new thread. And who say's the community is dead?


BTW, Shin how is Otakon? I wanted to co but I couldn't get the vacation time this year. I even missed A-Kon this year. But I'll invite you down for Archon here in St. Louis. It's more a gamers Con than anime but they do showings and such. A co-workers sister when as one of the Sailor Scouts. (Uranius) She was looking pretty good to.