why CDs are not obsolete

This is mainly inspired by the video published by ShortCircuit where Dan (and Mark) is puzzled by the resurgence of CDs. I’m gonna be probably weaning in and out of talking about this video so just be beware.

Vinyl got resurrected by the hipsters in the late 2000s. Now even Cassettes and CDs are starting to be appealing again to collectors. I get the appeal of vinyl, the physical thing: the big cover art, (sometimes) bonus text and the best part, you actually own the album! But I find them too impractical for anything outside of that. The inevitable degradation of the medium on every listen, the probatively expensive players, the storage of them and the price. They usually aren’t even that more expensive than CDs, but why would I want to pay more for a format that while it might possibly be better in ideal conditions, when I can get the most of the same experience on a sweet digital disc.

CDs are just better in almost every way, you get most of the stuff from a (standard) vinyl release at a reduced cost, in better quality and usually in a more durable cover in the form of jewel case releases(fuck paper sleeves, they can go to hell). After you buy said CD, you are free to make as many backups of the album for personal use, just as it came from the CD factory and play it on whichever device you prefer, heck even stream it from your home server. There is disc rot, but I feel that’s rare and largely solved by the easy backups. The rip of the CD is often better than the streaming version(idk about tidal). But compared to streaming services, you at least have a copy that won’t suddenly disappear from your possession (unless they burn down in a house fire, in which case you’ve got more important things to worry about). Even when buying used, vinyls have been scalped to heaven and back, CDs are still usually reasonably priced.

And then there’s cassettes. Those can stay dead, they are the worst of both, analogue quality -> degradation, hard to get, cumbersome, the good decks and portable players are expensive and stereo recording even more so. It’s a shame some (future funk) artists release physical only on vinyl and cassette, although I get it, when bandcamp gives you the digital download for free with a purchase of either, which makes a CD almost redundant, but bandcamp probably won’t be around as long as CDs.

So in a nutshell I have ~20 CDs and a single vinyl in my collection and I think they are the best physical format to collect music on. I really don’t understand why Dan, the usually smart and quirky man from LMG doesn’t get the appeal CD collecting. He seemingly dismissed it entirely for no reason which I can guess, other than being in a bad mood that day. The whole video feels poorly thrown together, even for an unboxing/first look video.

Thanks again for reading this blog and although a bit late, welcome to 2025. I will try to post something before school gets hectic again, but I’m not promising anything. I don’t know if I will post the remaining carpark photos, but I will definitely be taking more of them once the sun is out for longer.