Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Bye bye CD

I have just read a newspaper column that says CDs are thing of the past.  They will soon be useless as eight track stereos or LP players.  Ipod, MP3 players, satellite radio, and internet radio will take their place.

A bit before my time, music was available on Edison cylinders. Caruso recorded on cylinders and his remarkable voice was preseved for the ages so that future generations, we, could hear him. But Berliner invented flat "records" that spun along at 80 RPM.  But the industry replaced those records with recordings at 78 rpm. 

   Gramophones were replaced my 78s, but at least they were compatible.  Playing an eighty at seventy-eight even made it a bit mellower.  Seventy eights, 10 and 12 inch, lasted a long time, but were replaced 45's.  What an improvement that was. Records went from ten to cute little 7 inch discs.  But they provided just a few minutes of recording per disc.  So...

   Along came LPs, turning at a leisurely 33 and a third rpm.  Nice long works of music, whole concerts, on one disc, now expanded to 12 inches again.  But that didn't last.  Inventors put stereo recordings on the same disk.  At least they were compatible. Your New stereo player could play your stockpile of LPs. LP incidentally stood for Long Play.

   But your tape recorder, with seven inch reels of tape could not play stereo discs.  And your eight track cassettes could not play your tapes. And your cassette recorders could not play your eight track cartridges. And then the cassette recorders could not play your compact disk, the CD.

   And now, soon, the CD will be a Dodo, like cylinders, 80s, 78s, 45s, LPs, Stereos, tapes, cartidges, cassettes.

   Should I get an Ipod, MP3, player or wait for the next inovation? Won't be long, whatever it is.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

How true lol

Deb

Anonymous said...

GOSH you've lived through lots of changes!!!  Well done!  Kate

Anonymous said...

I have some 78's and 45's and nothing to play them on. I had Elvis Presley's first two records by Sun Records. Wish I still had them. When I finished high school I went to work at a large insurance company and with my first pay check I bought a portable record player and the two records at Sears. I am so old fashioned I didn't know what an i-pod is so I ask my daughter. I still play my music on cassettes. Maybe I will wait for the next invention. Paula

Anonymous said...

Oh my.  I don't even know what an Ipod, MP3, or those other things are.  I have everything stored on CDs!  Music and other stuff.

Krissy
http://journals.aol.com/fisherkristina/SometimesIThink

Anonymous said...

I remember the 8 track cassettes from when I was a child around the age of 10.  Then in my teen years I had a HUGE collection of 45s, and a few albums too, which I think are the 33s you mentioned.  Then as my teen years drew to a close, cassettes became the newest thing.  I collected them like some save their pennies.  It took a LONG time for me to give the CD a try.  I was very leary of trying such a new fangled thing.  I guess nearing my late 20s I finally gave the CDs a chance.  I only have a couple dozen at the most, I've never been a huge fan of CDs.  Next came the MP3s which I still don't know what that is, and the Ipods are more recent (no clue!  no clue at all what an Ipod is)  I have a feeling that rolling with the times is NOT going to be so easy for me.  Is progress really necessary sometimes?  It makes you wonder.  I mean if something works, then why replace it?  It's suppose to be better, but honestly I don't see much difference in the long run.