This is interesting. I too am about the same age and had the same experience. To me the touch of things like books, records or CD‘s is something I am ok with letting go and here are the reasons why.

1. There is only so much material and resources in the world. The US has consumed more than its fair share, so if that means that we move towards a more virtual and less material world, that seems helpful to me.
2. Our physical formats limits us. My parents had records and records are fun, but it is hard to keep up the systems for all those physical forms of entertainment. Yes you can buy new record players, but as time goes by it becomes increasingly harder to justify old technology. I knew people who believed in Betamax and bought tapes, and now what have they had to do? Rebuy them on DVD‘s. Physical Media only seems to have a lifetime of 15-20 years from the time it was developed. So are we going to continue to rebuy things or spend the time/energy (materials) to redo our collections?
3. There is a certain elitism in having material goods. When the majority of people are virtual, the fact of having material goods says that you can afford those costs of storage, cleaning, and maintenance. In fact insurance becomes even more important in this scheme, and how many people have lost their physical possessions like records or tapes in a fire or water damage and insurance doesn’t cover it? Physical things have a built-in obsolescent, why try to hang on to what isn’t possible?
4. It can be fun to think of the past and do things in the same ways as in the past, but the world changes and we can evolve with it, or get stuck in patterns that no longer are helpful to ourselves or society. I don’t see any harm in buying old goods if the cost of using them is equal to or less than the cost of using new goods. It’s hard to see however how a record player can be more efficient than an mp3 player no matter how new it is. More moving parts is obviously more resource intensive.

There is nothing wrong in having things. Everyone is free to do as they choose. However considering the current challenges we face now, we could consider the effect our choices have on others and the planet as well as ourselves.

With each passing generation of technology, I marvel at how easy I can go online from any device and buy whatever takes my interest; games, music, videos, photos, and books are all just a click or two away.  But what exactly is it that I am buying and what, pray tell, do I own? A few days ago, Apple Inc. debuted the new line of iPods (Touch, Nano, & Shuffle) that I knew my daughter would be interested in.  She’s been clinging to her old iPod … Read More

via Odyssey of the Second Son