4 ms·

I've been buying CDs and LPs for a while, based on what media the music was recorded for, and I've really been enjoying the things that other commenters have en

I've been buying CDs and LPs for a while, based on what media the music was recorded for, and I've really been enjoying the things that other commenters have enjoyed about those formats. However, the one thing that this article doesn't mention - in my experience CDs scratch / degrade too, and when they do they become almost entirely unplayable because sometimes it's impossible to skip past the scratch / defect depending on the player. The one huge advantage of digital media is that it doesn't degrade in any meaningful way (aside from random tracks being accidentally deleted, which Apple iTunes Match decided to do to my library a few years ago, after which I never really trusted it again).

dualboot 2y ago
| The one huge advantage of digital media is that it doesn't degrade in any meaningful way (aside from random tracks being accidentally deleted That assumes you're using a storage platform that routinely validates the integrity of the data at rest.
bregma 2y ago
"Nice collection. It would be a shame if something accidental happened to it. Keep paying us and we'll make sure nothing does." I'm pretty sure there used to be a word for that, back in the before days.
cassepipe 2y ago
It seems like an exaggeration. As a child I have been instructed that a LP/CD/DVD is either is its sleeve or in the player but never anywhere else. My parent's CD collection have either no or very minor scratches, all of them most definitely playable. And they have been listened to, a lot. Some of my friends took almost no care of their CDs (left them without protection in the room/car) and even then it was rare that one wouldn't play.
retrodaredevil 2y ago
I'd agree that when CDs get scratched there will be parts of the CD that some players can no longer handle. The great thing is that when your CD gets scratched to where your old CD player can no longer play it, there's a good chance your computer can rip the CD without issue so you can burn it to a CD-r. It's not a perfect solution, but in most cases, the raw data on the CD stays intact in one way or another.

dualboot 2y ago

| The one huge advantage of digital media is that it doesn't degrade in any meaningful way (aside from random tracks being accidentally deleted That assumes you're using a storage platform that routinely validates the integrity of the data at rest.

bregma 2y ago

"Nice collection. It would be a shame if something accidental happened to it. Keep paying us and we'll make sure nothing does." I'm pretty sure there used to be a word for that, back in the before days.

cassepipe 2y ago

It seems like an exaggeration. As a child I have been instructed that a LP/CD/DVD is either is its sleeve or in the player but never anywhere else. My parent's CD collection have either no or very minor scratches, all of them most definitely playable. And they have been listened to, a lot. Some of my friends took almost no care of their CDs (left them without protection in the room/car) and even then it was rare that one wouldn't play.

retrodaredevil 2y ago

I'd agree that when CDs get scratched there will be parts of the CD that some players can no longer handle. The great thing is that when your CD gets scratched to where your old CD player can no longer play it, there's a good chance your computer can rip the CD without issue so you can burn it to a CD-r. It's not a perfect solution, but in most cases, the raw data on the CD stays intact in one way or another.