The compact disc turns 26 today, but its future remains questioned
Sunday, August 17th, 2008Today is the birthday of the compact disc, the first of which was released in Germany on August 17th, 1982. The first CD ever for sale was a recording of Richard Strauss’s symphony “Eine Alpensinfonie” as conducted by the famed Herbert von Karajan, and was released on Deutsche Grammophon, the company established by Emile Berliner who invented the disc record gramophone 93 years prior. The history of music sure does have a lot of ties to Germany.
A generation after the CD was first introduced, its future is questioned on an almost daily basis. CD sales are dropping worldwide and MP3 players have all but wiped out portable CD players. Fortunately, there are still some people who really only feel good if they own a CD. They like holding a physical CD from their favorite band or looking at the artwork and reading the lyrics on the pages of the insert booklet. But will this idea last, or will everything eventually just turn into digital files? What do you think? Which type of person are you?
