History Main / WhatAreRecords

A subtrope of TechnologyMarchesOn, initially fueled by the novelty of the notion that a format of media could actually become obsolete. It bears mentioning that it started cropping up in fiction before 1990, and the characters unfamiliar with records were full-grown adults, meaning that in its earliest form the trope ran on shameless hyperbole. Even in the 21st century, though, [[RealityIsUnrealistic its realism is dubious]]. Most young people do indeed know what a vinyl record is (from more recent media depictions if nothing else), even if they never listened to or owned one themselves and don't know whether a "seven inch" was an album or a single, or whether 45 rpm came before or after 33 1/3. Modern [=DJs=] still use them, for instance, and their appearance in pop culture is almost ubiquitous. They've also been [[http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/commentary/listeningpost/2007/10/listeningpost_1029 undergoing a resurgence of popularity]] among audiophiles, hipsters and indie music fans (and even some teenagers), thanks to their retro appeal and their exemption from the abuses of the LoudnessWar. It remains to be seen if their recent semi-popularity will [[CyclicTrope show up on TV]] any time soon, but it's enough to make this a DiscreditedTrope.

This trope can also be used for 8-track tapes of course (arguably more understandable, since many people know ''of'' 8-track but don't know what the actual cartridge looks like). Expect it to be applied to audio cassettes any time now, VHS in about five years, and to [=CDs=] in 10-15 years or so, possibly taking the whole notion of going into a store and buying a physical object with recorded music on it into the history books (well, online files if books are also obsolete) with them.

* Played straight in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "Francine Frensky, Superstar". (Note: This was one of the earliest episodes of the show, the second season of a program that is in its fifteenth season as of 2012 and shows no sign of stopping.) The kids shot blank looks at Mr. Ratburn when he talked about Thomas Edison's invention, the phonograph, and prompted the following exhcange:

* ''[[WebAnimation/ButtonsAdventures]]'': Button's only reaction to trying out ''{{Pong}}'' is "I don't get it."

A subtrope of TechnologyMarchesOn, initially fueled by the novelty of the notion that a format of media could actually become obsolete. It bears mentioning that it started cropping up in fiction before 1990, and the characters unfamiliar with records were full-grown adults, meaning that in its earliest form the trope ran on shameless hyperbole. Even in the 21st century, though, [[RealityIsUnrealistic its realism is dubious]]. Most young people do indeed know what a vinyl record is, even if they never listened to or owned one themselves, and don't know whether a "seven inch" was an album or a single, or whether 45 rpm came before or after 33 1/3. Modern [=DJs=] still use them, for instance, and their appearance in pop culture is almost ubiquitous. They've also been [[http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/commentary/listeningpost/2007/10/listeningpost_1029 undergoing a resurgence of popularity]] among audiophiles, hipsters and indie music fans (and even some teenagers), thanks to their retro appeal and their exemption from the abuses of the LoudnessWar. It remains to be seen if their recent semi-popularity will [[CyclicTrope show up on TV]] any time soon, but it's enough to make this a DiscreditedTrope.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v75QpvISUs This video]] shows the children of a mother who grew up in the '80s attempt to use technology from that era. At one point, they're shown having trouble figuring out how to control games on the {{Atari 2600}} despite it only having a joystick and one button.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v75QpvISUs This video]] shows the children of a mother who grew up in the '80s attempt to use technology from that era.

* One of the earliest uses of this trope was an episode of ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends''. Jon was trying to impress a potential date with his record collection but lacked a record player to actually play them with (due to Garfield and Odie inadvertently breaking it). [[SerialEscalation She didn't know what records were; unfortunately, neither did the clerk at the electronics store. The antiques dealer needed a hint.]] Note: Said dealer was an old man who was a kid the last time he listened to a record and he only listened because his ''grandfather'' introduced him to them.

-->'''Donatello:'''These are phonograph records. They're what people used to listen to before they had [=CDs=].

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' has Cyborg tell the other Titans they couldn't program a VCR...and being the ''Teen'' Titans, none of them have any idea what a VCR is.

* {{Inverted}} in ''Fanfic/{{Anthropology}}''. When Lyra is shown some music CD's, she doesn't know what they are, as in Equestria they only have vinyl records. [[spoiler:Audrey's father]] points out how unusual it is for someone teenaged.

* In ''Webcomic/HeavenlyNostrils'', Marigold offers to take Phoebe to a record store. "What's a record?" Later on, Phoebe isn't sure what a "radio" is. Marigold's reaction: "I'm old."

* In ''Webcomic/HeavenlyNostrils'', Marigold offers to take Phoebe to a record store. "What's a record?"

-->'''Stephen:''' TedNugent has condemned your generation as lazy and apathetic. Your response?

* Not records, but in the same spirit of the trope: An episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' has Terry going to the home of a Science Fiction writer, and finding a typewriter. He pokes at it and asks, "What is this? Some kind of word processor?"
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' cartoon had the turtles take cover behind a stack of boxes. Raphael looks into the boxes and the following conversation takes place:

* Steve Albini, producer (or "recording engineer" as he prefers to be credited, if at all) of many, many obscure and semi-obscure albums, as well as better known albums by Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Bush and Cheap Trick, declared an inversion in the liner notes of the ''[=CD=] version'' of his own band Big Black's album ''Songs About Fucking'': "The future belongs to analog loyalists. Fuck digital". He later re-iterated his [[SarcasmMode vague, non-committal stance on the issue]], releasing two Big Black [=EPs=] on a single CD which he titled ''The Rich Man's 8-Track Tape''.
* "The Vinyl Countdown" by RelientK is a song lamenting how kids these days don't know what records are. Naturally, it was a vinyl-exclusive single.

* Invoked in ''CarTalk: The Musical,'' in the form of a joke designed to fly right by anyone under 40. A man is lamenting that, at age 45, he's too young to have a heart attack. His boss tells him, "Hey, 45 is the new 78." Anyone in the audience who laughs has gray hair.

* One of the earliest uses of this trope was an episode of ''{{Garfield and Friends}}''. Jon was trying to impress a potential date with his record collection but lacked a record player to actually play them with (due to Garfield and Odie inadvertently breaking it). [[SerialEscalation She didn't know what records were; unfortunately, neither did the clerk at the electronics store. The antiques dealer needed a hint.]] Note: Said dealer was an old man who was a kid the last time he listened to a record and he only listened because his ''grandfather'' introduced him to them.

* Used in ''AllGrownUp'', with Suzie Carmichael.

* One episode of the original ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' cartoon had the turtles take cover behind a stack of boxes. Raphael looks into the boxes and the following conversation takes place:

* FamilyGuy: Brian tries to impress a girl in a club.

* FrankZappa was once the victim of an [[InvertedTrope inversion]] of this trope. During a legal battle for payment for some music he composed and conducted in Britain, the judge had absolutely no knowledge of what a "record" was. As noted in our article on BritishCourts, however, this might have been intentional on the part of the judge. British judges -- particularly old-school ones -- generally presume ignorance on the part of everyone in court, and ask questions like "what is a record?" [[ViewersAreMorons just in case a member of the jury or someone reading the court transcripts decades later has been living under a rock for seventy years]]. The judge most likely knew ''exactly'' what a record was and probably had a collection of them at home.

A subtrope of TechnologyMarchesOn, initially fueled by the novelty of the notion that a format of media could actually become obsolete. It bears mentioning that it started cropping up in fiction before 1990, and the characters unfamiliar with records were full-grown adults, meaning that in its earliest form the trope ran on shameless hyperbole. Even in the 21st century, though, [[RealityIsUnrealistic its realism is dubious]]. Most young people do indeed know what a vinyl record is, even if they never listened to or owned one themselves. Modern [=DJs=] still use them, for instance, and their appearance in pop culture is almost ubiquitous. They've also been [[http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/commentary/listeningpost/2007/10/listeningpost_1029 undergoing a resurgence of popularity]] among audiophiles, hipsters and indie music fans (and even some teenagers), thanks to their retro appeal and their exemption from the abuses of the LoudnessWar. It remains to be seen if their recent semi-popularity will [[CyclicTrope show up on TV]] any time soon, but it's enough to make this a DiscreditedTrope.

A subtrope of TechnologyMarchesOn, initially fueled by the novelty of the notion that a format of media could actually become obsolete. It bears mentioning that it started cropping up in fiction before 1990, and the characters unfamiliar with records were full-grown adults, meaning that in its earliest form the trope ran on shameless hyperbole. Even in the 21st century, though, [[RealityIsUnrealistic its realism is dubious]]. Most young people do indeed know what a vinyl record is, even if they never listened to or owned one themselves. Modern [=DJs=] still use them, for instance. They've also been [[http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/commentary/listeningpost/2007/10/listeningpost_1029 undergoing a resurgence of popularity]] among audiophiles, hipsters and indie music fans (and even some teenagers), thanks to their retro appeal and their exemption from the abuses of the LoudnessWar. It remains to be seen if their recent semi-popularity will [[CyclicTrope show up on TV]] any time soon, but it's enough to make this a DiscreditedTrope.

* Steve Albini, producer (or "recording engineer" as he prefers to be credited, if at all) of many, many obscure and semi-obscure albums, as well as better known albums by Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Bush and Cheap Trick, declared an inversion in the liner notes of the ''[=CD=] version'' of his own band Big Black's album ''Songs About Fucking'': "The future belongs to analog loyalists. Fuck digital". He later re-iterated his [[SarcasmMode vague, non-committal stance on the issue]], releasing two Big Black EPs on a single CD which he titled ''The Rich Man's 8-Track Tape''.

** A similar situation occurred when Jon went to buy a new wastebasket and tried to pay with cash. The clerk had no idea what ''paper money'' was because apparently everyone uses credit cards now.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' pulls it quite often in the new series, as most people born sometime in the '80s or later have little to no frame of reference for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_call_box Police Boxes]] (other than from the cultural impact of ''Doctor Who''); improved communications technology, such as personal radios for police officers and the wider availability of home telephones -they were already on their way out when cellphones were still the size of bricks and cost several grand each- and the shift away from foot patrols made them largely redundant.

* Played straight in an episode of "The Marshmallow Money Show" (a now-defunct online Flash series that was on the old CartoonNetwork website), when one character notes that record stores nowadays only sell CDs and tapes, yet are still called "''record'' stores", to which another character quickly responds "What's a record?"

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' pulls it quite often in the new series, as most born sometime in the '80s or later have little to no frame of reference for Police Boxes (other than from the cultural impact of ''Doctor Who'') -- improved communications technology (cell phones and walkie-talkies among them) have rendered the whole point of a police box completely irrelevant.