A very well written commentary in today's Washington Post about the CD situation and it's destiny. I am posting this in the Motown Forum as hopefully more people will be interested in reading the writers opinion. I agree wholeheartedly. It makes a lot of good sense in my opinion.
Extolling the virtues of music on compact discs,
with their accompanying informative printed liner
notes, Richard Juhnke suggested in his July 28 letter,
“A bit extra with your music,” that consumers “see if
you can find it on CD.” We agree with the sentiment
but are mindful of its implications and challenges.
Once one has the CD in hand, good luck finding a
player in a newer-model car or even the roomiest
laptop or desktop computer. This illustrates a
particular kind of planned obsolescence, in which
progress is assumed to demand elimination of
earlier approaches. We still go to the movies despite
the growing ease of watching films in our own living
rooms, and we appreciate scenic road trips or train
rides even when faster jet travel is available. Streaming is a remarkable advance, but sometimes listening without the need for an internet connection
makes more sense.
The Montgomery County Public Library has some
8,000 audiobooks on CD. For example, at present, all
six multi-disc copies of Prince Harry’s memoir,
“Spare,” are checked out, with dozens of names on
the waiting list. Why should it be so difficult to listen
to CDs while driving, when the now-missing technology had been working fine in automobile infotainment systems for years?
We are advocating not the halting of progress but
rather the embracing of options, enabling some who
applauded the original letter we cited to keep
walking right past the CD section and leave with a
record on vinyl.
Matthew V. Rudorfer, Potomac
Lowell J. Rudorfer, Silver Spring
C
