Dear Richard,
those are exactely the reasons why I´ve been doing this blog for the past five years and will continue to do. I still enjoy putting material from the real world into the digital world. If I´m the first one to do it, it feels like exploring new territory. It´s only a small territory on a tiny island, but at least I put it on the map. The map is the Internet and Google is the travel agency. And through that travel agency any visitor can now come to my little blog. But… suddenly these visitors create problems:
1. I´m helping to create a fantasy market. It bugs me when I see a flexi-disc that is worth 50 cents and that I posted on the Internet for the very first time, is now being offered on Ebay for 20 euros. Just because I put it on this blog, some sellers found it here and now they think there must be a market. Luckily they mostly don´t sell. I still buy interesting records for 50 cents every week.
2. I´m helping to create laziness. My intention with Berlin Beatet Bestes has always been to communicate that anybody can dig for records. It´s not rocket science. It´s very easy. You go into a thrift store and buy a record. I´ve found records in thrift stores all over the world. And you don´t have to go to the Congo to find interesting records either. They´re right there in your local neighborhood, whether you live in Berlin or Bagdad. But instead of incouraging people to go out and find something themselves, they come here! My blog is their thrift store!
But I guess in the end, that´s the fate of the explorer. You never know, if that stone you turned was better to be left alone.