Audio/Video Component ArchivePOSTED MAR 8, 2017A
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I never walk away from it for long, do I? :D

For those new to egrabow.com, my Audio/Video Component Archive (AVCA) used to be a big part of the site. The AVCA was my first online "resource" at a time when I was still deciding what direction to take egrabow.com in. Basically it's a catalog of old electronics, VCRs or CD players from whatever brands and years, meant to highlight how they evolved over time. ("Catalog" doesn't mean I was selling anything, but I was certainly gleaning the information from store catalogs.)

When it first launched in 1999 the model numbers I focused on were only a few years old, yet information on them was already absent from manufacturer's sites or elsewhere on the internet. It was a great way to use the HTML I was learning and the old Crutchfield catalogs I'd collected, with the bonus of knowing I was contributing to the still-young internet. There was a resurgence in 2006, so I could practice building an SQL database, and in 2011, so I could boost egrabow.com's search ranking in time for Caffeine's paperback release . But by 2013 my attention was elsewhere and I decided I wouldn't be finishing the massive project.

Notably, the nature of home electionics had changed a lot by then. Streaming had eclipsed CDs and other physical formats. There were no longer "lines" of receivers or Blu-Ray players being released each year. Stores had closed or scaled back their stock dramatically. And in 2012 even the great Crutchfield catalog fell... today it's a shadow of its former self meant to direct customers to their website. No wonder I couldn't keep up enthusiasm; that whole world had faded out of existence, and I like to stay busy in the present.

Nevertheless I'm in my 30's now and the tug of nostalgia is getting stronger. I just miss having the dang thing on my website, so what the heck... it's back up .

The information it holds isn't as scarce as it once was, but no one else presents it in the way the AVCA had. Will I start adding to it again? Sorta. Growth will be slower, only when the interest catches me. But I'll be glad to use the info/pics people e-mail to me, as before. I will be pushing it past 2008... probably just a bunch of smartphones that look the same and do the same things. Meh. We'll see.

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