New decade, end of the CD?

Never going to give up my ole vinyl  !!! ,
Vinyl  Rules !!! 

SaltyJon wrote: Plus, I seriously doubt that mp3s would sound quite as good on a high quality sound system as a CD or a vinyl would.  I can't speak from experience, though.

Sure they can, but it'll take much longer than just 10 years. In fact, at that point I doubt they'll be mp3s anymore, but some other format, and at that point those, who've published only in this lossy mp3 mofo of ours will sell no more. At least what's good about CDs is that they're worth buying even though there are mp3s. But you can't make an mp3 file sound better when the quality is already lost.

Imagine a band, who only recorde on C-tapes because they were 'the' new thing. There's nothing they can do to make their music sound better nowadays, it's basically lost :P

SaltyJon wrote: I'll be really upset when CDs and physical media disappears.  Sure, it's more convenient to just go and download mp3 copies of a band you like, but it's just missing something...plus, if your hard drive gets messed up you're kind of out of luck unless you've got everything backed up, which I'm sure a lot of people don't.

Edited by himtroy - October 06 2010 at 15:22

TheGazzardian wrote: I actually find vinyl pretty inconvenient, it's harder to transport, easier to damage, more likely to wear out over time / uses, harder to purchase used unless you really know what to look for. Higher learning curve, more to maintain. I like them for the album art but if I'm honest, I view them more as trophies of music I really like than as my primary source of music, which is still the CD.

This is basically why I'll never become a fan of vinyls.  I grew up on 45's and 33-1/3'rds.  CD's represented a big compromise to the artwork, but the sound really was better.  And the portability is really a good factor.  Some of the non-hardcopy digital formats will probably surpass CDs, but if you're really going to kill the CD and LP, you're going to have to transform the way artwork is delivered (I'm thinking it will be something holographic).  Then again, maybe all us old farts will die off and badly sounding tracks on extremely small devices will rule.


Edited by Slartibartfast - October 06 2010 at 20:47

himtroy wrote: I'm pretty sure the inconvenience of vinyl has been noted by all.  Thus the rapid evolution away from it.  However theres no reason some of us can't still use them.  I mean, it's not really any more inconvenient for me to walk across the room and put on a vinyl than it is to walk over there and put on a cd/input the Ipod.

himtroy wrote: TheGazzardian wrote: himtroy wrote: I'm pretty sure the inconvenience of vinyl has been noted by all.  Thus the rapid evolution away from it.  However theres no reason some of us can't still use them.  I mean, it's not really any more inconvenient for me to walk across the room and put on a vinyl than it is to walk over there and put on a cd/input the Ipod. Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that nobody should use them. I still use them, as I said I like collecting them for trophies and I listen to them every once in a while. XD I just find them more difficult to use.  It wasn't meant to be a shot back at you.  Just that some people kinda throw this "well CDs exist! Get rid of that stuff" attitude around.  But more so just that people in here we're saying things like "well vinyl is more inconvenient"  which seems kinda obvious.... I can't help but phrase things so that people think I'm attacking them....

You bitch!!   I kept all my vinyls even when they were supposed to be obsolete only to see most of them  wind up under water.   Some of the best survived though. 

Finnforest wrote: It's my last format.  When it goes, I start buying used CDs only.  When they're gone, I find a new hobby.  So NOT interested in downloading and Ipod etc.

thellama73 wrote: The T wrote: Finnforest wrote: It's my last format.  When it goes, I start buying used CDs only.  When they're gone, I find a new hobby.  So NOT interested in downloading and Ipod etc.  I have an iPhone.. use it for internet, mails, etc etc etc. Even as a camera. But I have ZERO music on it.  I have 1700 cds... The moment I can't buy them anymore, I'll have to live with what I already have. Having everything in a hard drive in one desk in a empty faceless computer is not for me. I need my collection.  Yeah, if physical media for music disappears, I honestly can't see myself collecting it any more.

There's something about the tactile sensation of handling an album (be it vinyl, CD, or heck, even 8-track) that simply can't be underestimated.  If all media eventually becomes purely digital, it will be a sadder, more superfluous world.  Personally, I do download the vast majority of my music (pure convenience), and I often have to force myself into a relationship with music that is initially problematic or difficult to grasp.  I somehow feel that, since I didn't undertake the endeavor to go to a music store and purchase a physical copy, that the media is somehow more disposable.  The abandonment of physical format encourages us to have shorter attention spans, and to regard even incredibly legitimate artistic output as disposable. 

That being said, I don't really think physical media is going anywhere terribly fast.  I remember about fifteen years back, when the Death of the Book was announced, and that certainly hasn't come to pass.  I'd be willing to live in a world where music was only accessible via download, but a world where I couldn't settle in with an actual book is a horror I can barely comprehend.

The T wrote: Finnforest wrote: It's my last format.  When it goes, I start buying used CDs only.  When they're gone, I find a new hobby.  So NOT interested in downloading and Ipod etc.  I have an iPhone.. use it for internet, mails, etc etc etc. Even as a camera. But I have ZERO music on it.  I have 1700 cds... The moment I can't buy them anymore, I'll have to live with what I already have. Having everything in a hard drive in one desk in a empty faceless computer is not for me. I need my collection.