Mastodawn

artemist Aug 1, 2023

Hot take:
The Compact Disc is still the most futuristic audio format. Forget streaming, files, or the vinyl resurgence, CDs output music at near the top of the quality a human can hear by shooting LASERS at a mirror spinning 8 times per second. This somehow just works and you can read a $0.10 disc with a $20 drive.

When I buy music, I prefer to have it on a CD. I can rip it into my computer easily and if I ever lose that copy I can just rip it again, bit perfect every time. There's no subscription and no DRM that can take it away from me, I have a physical thing.

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Joe Bartlett

@artemist For many years CD imports were the only way I could get hold of Japanese music, and I felt so lucky that there's a high quality, pre-DRM, digital format that's so widely used and easily imported. Even DRM-free iTunes and Amazon MP3 downloads were locked up behind regional credit card requirements.

Fortunately more bands are on Bandcamp these days, and DRM-free downloads are better in so many ways (cost, convenience, environmental impact). But CDs are still special to me.