OT rant- what is vintage?

[marc]

So I've been looking on ebay and other places for a speaker to replace one that's blown in my old Kustom cabinet. It seems laughable how loosely the word "vintage" gets used to describe anything that wasn't built in the last 5 years.
I'm also weary of the implication that if something is old, it must be good. Vintage doesn't mean anything to me anymore, at least when it's used to describe a musical instrument or accessory. The internet has proven to be a great resource for bartering, buying selling etc..., but it seems to bring out the worst kind of hucksterism- or at best a general degredation of language. Words don't mean what they mean and everybody just goes along with it.
Okay I feel better now- I didn't intend to offend anyone, just letting off steam.

[Mark Hammer]

A place near me deals in "recycled" computer parts and other things they buy off the many telecomm places in the region that went belly up or downsized.  I can buy Macs on a pallete at $7@ or 2 for $10 on a regular basis, fully functional sound cards for $5, and 6ft high rack assemblies on casters for $40.

This same place has a box of "NOS" Switchcraft phone plugs for $5 each.  Five bucks for a phone plug, just because it's old?

[Aharon]

Vintage was a word used only to decribe wine,now it's used to add "value" to anything.
Most people realize that is used as a gimmick and are able to separate the the myth form reality.
Frankly it annoys the hell out of me.
Aharon

[Paul Marossy]

I'm vintage. I'm 37 years old.  :lol:

Yeah, that word does get thrown around around a lot, don't it?

A lot of "vintage" things basically suck by today's standards, but on the same token, it can go the other way, too. Like for instance, a vintage transistor stereo would not be something I would be interested in, but new ones can be pretty decent. Then I compare the old Fender amps to the new ones, and I think the old ones sound a lot better. It's all subjective.