4 ms·

Philips decided on it because it would make the case closer in size to cassette tapes, and they already had a factory capable of producing it. I guess 12 cm wo

by parsimo2010 6y ago

Philips decided on it because it would make the case closer in size to cassette tapes, and they already had a factory capable of producing it. I guess 12 cm would have required more retooling, which would cost them some of their advantage over Sony. Source: https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/why-is-a-cd-74-minutes/ https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/why-is-a-cd-74-minu... "Philips engineer Kees A. Schouhamer Immink writes that Philips were pushing for the CD to be close in size to the cassette tape, whereas Sony were pushing for a slightly larger 12cm disc, partially because they knew that Philips already had a factory capable of producing 11.5cm CDs and if they could decide on 12cm as the industry standard then they would erase Philips' head start in manufacturing."

marshmallow_12 6y ago
Interesting that the universal standard was created for such a petty reason. I was hoping to hear that there was some subtle but huge difference in 0.5cm. But no, it's just to screw Philips over, and we all have to play along.
- parsimo2010 6y ago
  It’s not like Sony and Philips are friends. They’re competitors. And the reason Philips wanted 11.5 cm is because it gave them an advantage, aka just to screw Sony over. This is normal business, not some moral failing.
  - rowanG077 6y ago
    Actually it is a moral failing. All that equipment had to be end of lifed earlier and much more work had to be put in. More garbage, more wasted energy. I can't see how that is anything but a moral failing.
    - rexpop 6y ago
      I agree, and am glad you recognize it as such. When Sony erased Philips' "head-start", they obsoleted an investment made with the finite endowment of global resources (not to mention time). It's an underhanded tactic which disadvantages everyone to advantage a few.
- aksss 6y ago
  I, for one, appreciate the additional 2MB of storage that gave us. /s
- TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
  I wonder how many more minutes of audio 0.5 cm gets us?
  - selcuka 6y ago
    If you ignore the hole in the middle and approximate the number of minutes to be proportional to the area of a circle then it's ~6 minutes.
ChuckMcM 6y ago
See also JVC's "VHS" vs Sony's "BetaMax". It is the way of standards warfare. It definitely annoyed me that media cabinets that held an even number of cassette tape drawers "across" would not fit an integral number of CD drawers.
- rexpop 6y ago
  > It is the way of standards warfare. Is it the way, or merely a way, and only the way so far in our brief history? I hate to see defeatism around gross inefficiencies like these.
stjohnswarts 6y ago
Philips engineers some good stuff, my last flat screen was 12 years old. The only reason I retired it was because instead of waiting for my friend to come over I decided to move it myself (it was pretty hefty). Lost my grip and boom no more flatscreen (to fix it was far more than it was worth with a cracked screen). I wonder if my TCL will last anywhere near as long, it still had a great picture and it didn't need a soundbar like my new much cheaper TCL :) .

marshmallow_12 6y ago

Interesting that the universal standard was created for such a petty reason. I was hoping to hear that there was some subtle but huge difference in 0.5cm. But no, it's just to screw Philips over, and we all have to play along.

parsimo2010 6y ago
It’s not like Sony and Philips are friends. They’re competitors. And the reason Philips wanted 11.5 cm is because it gave them an advantage, aka just to screw Sony over. This is normal business, not some moral failing.
- rowanG077 6y ago
  Actually it is a moral failing. All that equipment had to be end of lifed earlier and much more work had to be put in. More garbage, more wasted energy. I can't see how that is anything but a moral failing.
  - rexpop 6y ago
    I agree, and am glad you recognize it as such. When Sony erased Philips' "head-start", they obsoleted an investment made with the finite endowment of global resources (not to mention time). It's an underhanded tactic which disadvantages everyone to advantage a few.
aksss 6y ago
I, for one, appreciate the additional 2MB of storage that gave us. /s
TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
I wonder how many more minutes of audio 0.5 cm gets us?
- selcuka 6y ago
  If you ignore the hole in the middle and approximate the number of minutes to be proportional to the area of a circle then it's ~6 minutes.

ChuckMcM 6y ago

See also JVC's "VHS" vs Sony's "BetaMax". It is the way of standards warfare. It definitely annoyed me that media cabinets that held an even number of cassette tape drawers "across" would not fit an integral number of CD drawers.

rexpop 6y ago
> It is the way of standards warfare. Is it the way, or merely a way, and only the way so far in our brief history? I hate to see defeatism around gross inefficiencies like these.

stjohnswarts 6y ago

Philips engineers some good stuff, my last flat screen was 12 years old. The only reason I retired it was because instead of waiting for my friend to come over I decided to move it myself (it was pretty hefty). Lost my grip and boom no more flatscreen (to fix it was far more than it was worth with a cracked screen). I wonder if my TCL will last anywhere near as long, it still had a great picture and it didn't need a soundbar like my new much cheaper TCL :) .