What the hell happened to cds....

[DrFaroohk]

Why are CDs so friggin weak and fragile? Even putting them away in the case seems to do little to deter the inevitable scratches. Skip all over the place. Sons of bitches. Even DVDs too.

Remembering what I learned from the whole napster thing a decade ago, when we buy a CD we're not paying for the plastic that the disk is made out of, rather we're paying for the content of the CD. That being the case, it should be standard policy that if you bring in your old scratched up copy of Thriller, you get a brand new, untarnished copy of Thriller.

[insertNameHere]

This is why many people rip cds to their harddrive, of course if your the type that doesn't want clutter and toss the cd whne your done they could try and say you pirated it. Of course if you go to one of the places like itunes, you end up getting DRMs that kind of make it not so easy to transport to another computer because well I'm sorry I'm a nerd I have plenty of computers and I like to do various things with each one. Including using an old one with a huge harddrive as a media server.

[Ginger Tea]

I just spent a week back oop norf visiting my brother and took a couple of dozzen cd's back with me in those plastic wallets you get cover mounted discs in, i left the jewel cases in a box in my storage unit and just took the booklet and disc.
im ripping em over a prolonged period as it takes too bloody long.

im still pro cd as depending on digital retail, I can still buy an album cheaper physically than digitally. eg "100 Hit's:" currently 60+ compilations out each around a tenner (£) yet last I looked iTunes was £1 a track or there abouts, so that £10 compilation would cost an arm and a leg, granted I don't listen to all of the songs, so the ones I do go up in price, but all are ripped and boxed down.

way back when, CD's used to be stronger and made of more durable material, but once they found they could make em cheaper, they did.

I don't torrent often, normally just to find a hard to find or no longer listed CD, If I find it after downloading it, I buy it.
Another reason why I don't download music, iTunes, other digital store or torrents, is that I used to be on 3gb per month for £15 Via a 3 mobile dongle, the speed wasn't fast, better than dial up granted, and anything over 3gb would cost me alot more.

currently iTunes lists my collection at just over 40 days of music and 150+ gb, that would take forever to download

[HYHYBT]

currently iTunes lists my collection at just over 40 days of music and 150+ gb, that would take forever to download

Well, yeah, if you tried to do it all at once! If you're just adding a song or two here and an album there, it doesn't take that long... depending on your connection, of course.

As for pricing, it may be different over there, but albums are generally less than the price of all the tracks individually. Sometimes a lot less, and very often exactly 9.99. Even when there are fewer than ten tracks on the album, so you have to watch for that... but still.

I love being able to get just a song or two and not have to buy the whole CD, most of which I may not want. For example, one of the first I ever got through the iTunes store was "Baby Got Back," because it's funny, and I have no interest in even finding out what other songs would have come with the album.

Of course if you go to one of the places like itunes, you end up getting DRMs that kind of make it not so easy to transport to another computer because well I'm sorry I'm a nerd I have plenty of computers and I like to do various things with each one.

They don't do that anymore. The files are unprotected AAC format; at least, everything I've gotten in the last several years has been. Which also means that, if you *really* want, say, mp3s, you can covert them easily.