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the audio cd is a beautiful standard because it is something truly rare in the field of technology: it is complete. it set out to solve the problem of distributing audio, and it solved it so completely that it will never be obsolete, because it delivers quality far surpassing what the human ear can make out. for the last four decades, audio has simply been a solved problem, thanks to the cd.
@hikari Agree, except for obsolescence. I have vinyl I've owned for 60 years that I can still play, and if anything it sounds better than then because the playback technology has improved a lot.
Were civilization to collapse, vinyl would still be playable with a needle and resonator box, just as it was when I was a kid. Victrolas will work.
Not an argument about the quality of sound, but about the longevity of analog technology. Digital permanence is not guaranteed.
@robpike that's true, but vinyl is rather unusual in this regard! analog technology can also be obscenely complex. VHS and LaserDisc are both examples of that I think, there can never again be new players for those formats.
@robpike perhaps there'll be no video or software record of our civilisation for our successors to enjoy. it's nice that they'll have some audio, but only music…