winsleydale wrote:
I know I should probably already have at least some of those... but alas, all my money goes to the machines and the records! Such is the life of a college student (because priorities, lol)
Well, it
IS Christmastime...!
Philosophically, it's curious that you evidently recognize the value of education as far as spending funds on tuition now, even though you could be out working and earning money rather than spending it on tuition. You recognize that the funds spent on your education are an investment. Depending upon your major, this should prove wise. (I earned more in 6 months
of retirement than my entire undergraduate and graduate studies cost!)
The same is true of any other endeavor involving the expenditure of funds. If you educate yourself first, then you will be equipped to spend (further invest) wisely. Many of us on this forum have sad stories of what our our lack of knowledge cost us before we knew better...
In January 1973 (I was a college freshman) I bought Frow's first book on Edison Cylinder Phonographs. I immediately discovered that the phonograph I had left in Pennsylvania for $175 was an Amberola 1B (full of records). Six months later I read
From Tinfoil To Stereo for the first time, and discovered that the machine I had traded for a Q Graphophone and a Standard X was an early Berliner Improved Gramophone. I soon added Gellatt's
The Fabulous Phonograph to my little library, and learned more about the historical context of the machines in my collection 9and those I would soon encounter). These books were all we had at the time. If only all the books we have available today had been available back then!
As the bumper sticker says, "If You Think Education is Expensive, Try Ignorance." I can think of several opportunities in my collecting where the entire cost of every phonograph/record resource book I own would have been recouped if only I had been better informed at the time. You really don't want to encounter something like a Toy Graphophone in a shop or a sale priced at, say, $200 and wonder what it is, or if it's a good deal. Likewise, you don't want to sell such an item to someone who offers to double your money!
Conversely, there have been dozens and dozens of times when I've seen something in somebody's hand at Union, Wayne, or the other shows I've attended over the past 35 years. My heart has skipped a beat, and I've thought "Does he realize what that is?" Then he puts it down and walks away... At times like that, I'm thankful that some people DON'T value an education. Good for me, but bad for them.
My advice is to be as self-sufficient and as knowledgeable as possible. (Here endeth the sermon...!)
George P.