Edge cases

Edge cases make news. The unusual, the extraordinary, the loudest voice, the most surprising answer, is what we read about and share with our compadres. The mundane, ordinary, everyday occurrences don't make news. Yet, they are the bulk of what happens day in and day out. Consider the letters to the editor section of Stereophile or the Absolute Sound Magazines. Editors typically choose which reader letters to publish based on new information, or a different take on a familiar problem. Edge cases. Obvious, right? What may not be so obvious is how these edge cases shape opinion. If all you read about is how this or that sounds or performs, you begin to form an opinion based on these edge cases. What's being ignored is how the majority of people feel about a certain subject. I can recall when we started pointing out that despite all the news and interest in high-resolution audio, the bulk of all music played on high-end audio systems was either CD or vinyl. The fringe news swayed our view of what's really happening. Edge case news is valuable. It helps us see where the market is going and find the latest trends in equipment and music. It is typically not what the real world has gone to.