Prior to 1925 records were acoustically recorded. That is the artists voice cut the master disk directly. After that date the technology of electric recording became popular. I discovered this information as I was sorting out a pile of about fifty 78 rpm records. Heavy and brittle they were once the only way to own music. Great British names like; Brunswick, Colombia, Decca, HMV and Parlophone dominated the business.
Its stunning to me that in one person’s lifetime we have gone from shouting down a big horn to my now dated iPod loaded with 13,975 songs. Predicting the future is mind bogglingly difficult. Occasionally, almost by chance science fiction predicts a development that does end up as an everyday object. To a degree that’s true of the humble mobile phone. The idea of having a personal communication device, like in the early Star Trek communicator has been around for a while.
So, the notion that any confident politician can tell you that this or that is bound to happen in the next decade is a bit far-fetched. However, this is what the Vote Leave people have been doing. The certainly with which they speak of impending disaster because of an event that may or may not happen is dumbfounding. The future of Europe is unwritten. It is for us to write that future.
That’s not to say that no one can make predictions. Forecasts are made particularly when it comes to subjects that lend themselves to numerical methods. We are accustomed to watching the weather forecast and taking actions based on the information provided. Huge and complex computer models are used to guess what the economy will do next. For example, the Bank of England and other central banks will take actions based upon the output of forecasts. They are not perfect but on the balance of probabilities they are miles better than the word of a dogmatic politician.
I think those advocating that we stay in the European Union have got it about right. Use the available facts carefully to support the argument to REMAIN in the EU. Correct those arguments when new information becomes available. Don’t mislead giving the impression that your crystal ball is way better than any that has been discovered throughout the whole of history.
If I now jump to 2025, which is only 9 years away and a prediction from me. Whatever international standard we will be using to distribute music, I am certain Europe would have had a major impact on its design and development. Harmonised European standards are the way forward.
John Vincent 