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It's striking how little they learned from the music industry. Substitute "CD" for "DVD" and lower the budgets a few orders of magnitude and this could've been

It's striking how little they learned from the music industry. Substitute "CD" for "DVD" and lower the budgets a few orders of magnitude and this could've been about the 90's/00's music industry. And the author doesn't seem to internalize what's become common knowledge in the music industry: the shiny savior disc (CD/DVD) was really masking the deeper disruptions in consumer behavior.

ams6110 13y ago
In retrospect, CDs and DVDs seem like a complete scam. They didn't offer any significant benefits over vinyl and tape. They were still a physical thing that you had to handle and store, and taking more than a few with you when you went somewhere was a major hassle. And they were far more fragile.
- thaumasiotes 13y ago
  let's see... you can listen to a CD more than once in quick succession without permanently distorting it you can play a particular track on demand you can reproduce a disc without quality loss rewinding a DVD is pretty quick DVDs include subtitles; tapes didn't CDs and DVDs are significantly smaller and easier to store than records and VHS tapes - I have a pocket-sized container that will safely hold a couple dozen CDs, but that would be fairly difficult with records. In summary, CDs and DVDs are both vast technological improvements over vinyl and tape. And I have no idea what you're talking about with "And they were far more fragile."
  - icebraining 13y ago
    Don't forget making accurate backups, assuming it's legal where one lives.
- __david__ 13y ago
  Are you kidding? CDs were miles better than vinyl and tape and were the dominant format for a very long period of time. Until the rise of mp3, there was no way to get high quality sound in a compact form. Have fun trying play vinyl in your car or on an airplane. CDs were a revolution and an amazing piece of technology, especially when you consider that they were created in the 70s.

ams6110 13y ago

In retrospect, CDs and DVDs seem like a complete scam. They didn't offer any significant benefits over vinyl and tape. They were still a physical thing that you had to handle and store, and taking more than a few with you when you went somewhere was a major hassle. And they were far more fragile.

thaumasiotes 13y ago
let's see... you can listen to a CD more than once in quick succession without permanently distorting it you can play a particular track on demand you can reproduce a disc without quality loss rewinding a DVD is pretty quick DVDs include subtitles; tapes didn't CDs and DVDs are significantly smaller and easier to store than records and VHS tapes - I have a pocket-sized container that will safely hold a couple dozen CDs, but that would be fairly difficult with records. In summary, CDs and DVDs are both vast technological improvements over vinyl and tape. And I have no idea what you're talking about with "And they were far more fragile."
- icebraining 13y ago
  Don't forget making accurate backups, assuming it's legal where one lives.
__david__ 13y ago
Are you kidding? CDs were miles better than vinyl and tape and were the dominant format for a very long period of time. Until the rise of mp3, there was no way to get high quality sound in a compact form. Have fun trying play vinyl in your car or on an airplane. CDs were a revolution and an amazing piece of technology, especially when you consider that they were created in the 70s.