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Instead or privacy terrors you have other terrors like wondering if the CD will even play, especially if you've listened to it a lot over 5+ years, even with go
by nickjj 7y ago
Instead or privacy terrors you have other terrors like wondering if the CD will even play, especially if you've listened to it a lot over 5+ years, even with good care.
I'm surprised the article doesn't cover a more relevant approach like just playing local mp3s from your computer. You get the same no ads, no privacy issues, no algorithms but you have the added benefit of not having to lug around a binder of CDs to play the songs you want.
This is how I've been listening to music for around 20 years and it works nicely. Been using foobar2000 since the beginning too (shortly after the Winamp rewrite that made it suck). It's a minimal mp3 player that uses about 5mb of RAM but has every feature I'd want for play back.
- timw4mail 7y agoMy experience is that bit-rot with CDs is excessively rare. Scratches and scuffs are rare "with good care". Even then, deep scratches are the real issue. Minor scratches are often irrelevant with the error correction. So how does one need to wonder if the CD will even play?
- PretzelFisch 7y agoI've had issues playing CDs on older players. I think newer models have better error correction.
- timw4mail 7y agoPlayback lasers can also weaken over time. Not so much a property of the CD as the playback device.
- avra 7y agoI'm curious why a CD would not work anymore after listening to it a lot? Is the laser powerful enough to damage it or is it the heat from the device itself which is degrading the material in the long term?
- ziari 7y agoThe polycarbonate substrate could degrade due to temperature, humidity, exposure to sunlight, and other environmental variables. These are concerns for institutions with large CD-based archives (e.g., Library of Congress). [1] In practice, though, it's far more likely that the the disc will get corrupted from small scratches. [1] https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2014/08/18/340716269/how-long-do-cds-last-it-depends-but-definitely-not-forever https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2014/08/18/34...
- tarcyanm 7y agoI have taken several CDs (mainly my Dad's, not my own) from unusably scratched to relatively pristine. The really bad cases need fine grit sandpaper (wet!) followed by plastic polishes. I generally start with Meguiar's plastic polish and work my way to Radtech Ice Creme. In my own collection I have CDs that are around 30 years old and are error-free. I'm not interested in formats or services that won't last at least as long or can't be backed up to my own NAS (nor am I interested in anything less than Red Book quality).
- npongratz 7y agoAnd don't forget about the fungus that eats CDs! https://www.nature.com/news/2001/010628/full/news010628-11.html https://www.nature.com/news/2001/010628/full/news010628-11.h...
- nickjj 7y ago> I'm curious why a CD would not work anymore after listening to it a lot? Is the laser powerful enough to damage it or is it the heat from the device itself which is degrading the material in the long term? If you handled everything with white gloves and carefully moved the CD around it would probably last forever under a realistic scenario (you left it in a closet, didn't move it around much, etc.). I have a bunch of original CDs from my first music collection that still work after ~20 years based on spot checking some of them 5+ years ago. Even with hundreds of playbacks. But, I do have a handful of CDs that I remember having issues. They skip in certain spots due to artifacts on the CD. The real world happens. I don't remember what happened exactly in each case, but I'm guessing they got scratched. Like maybe I didn't put it fully into the black binder that held 200 CDs and I hit a bump in my car which caused the binder to jump around and an edge of the CD got clipped by the zipper, who knows. Also burnt CDs seem to have a much worse shelf life. They are much more susceptible to being damaged. I don't know exactly why at a technical level but for sure I've had more burnt CDs fail over time. That becomes an issue when you want to back things up. With mp3s, I can just put thousands of songs on my computer and everything works all the time. I never had an mp3 not play or skip unless the file itself was corrupt initially. They are also a heck of a lot more portable. You can put your collection on your phone, throw in some earbuds and now you can go on a run, or a 6 hour plane trip. You ever try running with a discman[0]? I have. It doesn't really work too well haha. [0]: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41305EZ51FL._SX425_.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41305EZ51FL...
- aoeusnth1 7y agoLastly you’ll probably want cloud backups to make sure you don’t lose your ripped copies.
- jbarberu 7y agoI rip my CDs, store them on my NAS and then burn them back on a CD for playing in my car. The original stays in a closet in case my NAS ever dies and the burnt copy in my car lives as long as it lives, given the hot Florida sun.