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Today is exactly 40th anniversary of CD in EU/US. Is that a reason to celebrate? How many have you collected? And how do you store your treasures?

UltraNearFieldJock

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From Wikipedia:
OD Compact disc.svg
The readable surface of a compact disc includes a spiral track wound tightly enough to cause light to diffract into a full visible spectrum.
Media typeOptical disc
EncodingVarious
CapacityTypically up to 700 MiB (up to 80 minutes audio)
Read mechanism780 nm wavelength (infrared and red edge) semiconductor laser (early players used helium–neon lasers),[1] 1,200 Kbit/s (1×)
Write mechanism780 nm wavelength (infrared and red edge) semiconductor laser in recordable formats CD-R and CD-RW, pressed mold (stamper) in read only formats
StandardRainbow Books
Developed byPhilips, Sony
DimensionsDiameter: 120 mm (4.7 in)
Thickness: 1.2 mm (0.047 in)
UsageAudio and data storage
Extended to
Released
  • October 1982; 40 years ago (Japan)
  • 2 March 1983; 40 years ago (Europe and North America)
 

restorer-john

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You're too late. ;)

I threw my giant CD party on October 1st last year on the 40th anniversary of the actual release in Japan. Had a pinata filled with old LPs to smash up, a inflatable bouncy castle and a CDP-101 cake with forty candles on it.

It was a blast. Played Thriller and a bunch of incredibly rare 1st generation demonstration discs into the wee hours.
 

jensgk

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I don't have a CD player anymore, and all my old original CD's are stored in the garage.
But in 2020 during the epidemic, I started to collect CD's again, because I began to rip my old collection to flac-files. After I had ripped all the old CD's, I started to buy used CD's from thrift shops. That was the start of my flac-collection. They are still stored in the garage after ripping. I started with 200 CD's, now I have 523, - all are registered on my Discogs.

I am now considering buying a cheap CD-player with digital output :)
 

Timcognito

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Open Mind Audio

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I've got about 1,000, including 200 target discs. Still collect a few and always looking for interesting early pressings - but it's a lukewarm hobby (for me) these days. I get interested and then wonder, really, do I want all this junk? But I still enjoy haunting Goodwills now and then.

There does seem to be a small uptick in CD collecting among millennials. That 20-30 year nostalgia cycle thing is real.
 

sarumbear

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From Wikipedia:
OD Compact disc.svg
The readable surface of a compact disc includes a spiral track wound tightly enough to cause light to diffract into a full visible spectrum.
Media typeOptical disc
EncodingVarious
CapacityTypically up to 700 MiB (up to 80 minutes audio)
Read mechanism780 nm wavelength (infrared and red edge) semiconductor laser (early players used helium–neon lasers),[1] 1,200 Kbit/s (1×)
Write mechanism780 nm wavelength (infrared and red edge) semiconductor laser in recordable formats CD-R and CD-RW, pressed mold (stamper) in read only formats
StandardRainbow Books
Developed byPhilips, Sony
DimensionsDiameter: 120 mm (4.7 in)
Thickness: 1.2 mm (0.047 in)
UsageAudio and data storage
Extended to
Released
  • October 1982; 40 years ago (Japan)
  • 2 March 1983; 40 years ago (Europe and North America)
Donated all 1600+ to my local library. As I did my 2000+ LPs to the library of my Alma Mater.
 

Timcognito

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Mart68

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I don't know about celebrating but I would say CD must count as one of the many great leaps forward in technology in the 20th century.

Still use mine, none of this 'ripping' business. Stored in bookshelves, drawers and a couple of racks. Been buying them since about 1995.

Don't have a massive amount, maybe 350 to 400. Recently replaced all the damaged cases with new ones. IMO the only bad thing about CD is the flimsy cases.
 

Open Mind Audio

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There's also some nostalgia building for desktop CD players that let you see the disc spinning. People like to post their equipment finds alongside discs on the Reddit CD_collectors thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Cd_collectors/

qqp5gmx9tdla1.jpg
 

Timcognito

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I don't know about celebrating but I would say CD must count as one of the many great leaps forward in technology in the 20th century.
OMG remember cassettes
1677794575471.jpeg
 
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