Speculation - But do we NEED CD's / DVD's anymore

jimbo45 · 21 Feb 2010

Hi all
Just throwing a bit of speculation here

Now you can get really CHEAP pocket sized portable 500 and 1GB self powered usb disks these days do we really need to have largish DVD's and CD's anymore.

Music CD's are essentially in any case 100% redundant -- I rip all my music to FLAC and I'm sure others do similar (and to other codecs as well) -- and it's always possible with NERO or other software to "re-create" the Audio CD image back again from FLAC / WAV or oither lossless codec.

For Data (including DVD's) there's enough software around to make an ISO copy even the most copy protected DVD .

For playing etc there's plenty of Virtual CD / DVD image mounters too -- when I travel take a small USB disk with loads of DVD images on them - the software will even copy DL disks (and BLU RAY too - although playing Blu ray DVD's on a computer is still a pain).

So you save space as well at home --don't need to have loads of CD's / DVD's around.

For music in cars -- pretty well most car radios these days have an AUX in and often a USB in as well so no probs playing from IPODS etc etc.

Playing CD's in any case in a car is iffy -- you probably need a changer in the back and I don't know about where you live - but using a CD player in an Off roader which is really Off Road isn't a good idea either.

On the rare ocasion I need a physical disc I can burn it to the appropriate medium.

So even for Film DVD's I'd suggest that the distributors could supply "Electronic Images" of the DVD which if necessary we could burn ourselves.

Getting rid of the physical medium also would save a lot of pollution in the manufacture of CD's / DVD's too -- there's some nasty heavy metals used in the manufacturing processes as well.

But I suppose the Ostriches and Bozos who are in charge of the Music and Movie industries will probably fight this all the way and come up with ever more stupid DRM schemes rather than embrace the new technology for fairly distibuting their products -- but that's another whole different issue.

Cheers
jimbo

1Bowtie · 21 Feb 2010

Good post Jimbo, i hadn't stopped an thought how little i use cd's and dvd's anymore. With about four flash drives, 120 gig ipod, 500 gig portable hdd, i seldom use any cd or dvd's.:)

smarteyeball · 21 Feb 2010

jimbo45 said:

Hi all
Just throwing a bit of speculation here

Just playing advocatus diaboli here. Merely counter-speculation for the sake of it

(basically, not my personal opinions - just a few minor counter points as to why physical media still exists and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future )

Now you can get really CHEAP pocket sized portable 500 and 1GB self powered usb disks these days do we really need to have largish DVD's and CD's anymore.

Not every body is tech savvy enough, nor has the prerequisite hardware for such. ▲A

Music CD's are essentially in any case 100% redundant -- I rip all my music to FLAC and I'm sure others do similar (and to other codecs as well) -- and it's always possible with NERO or other software to "re-create" the Audio CD image back again from FLAC / WAV or oither lossless codec.

As above, with the addendum of not everybody has the inclination to do so. ▲B

For Data (including DVD's) there's enough software around to make an ISO copy even the most copy protected DVD .

▲B with a further addendum of some people still have qualms with 'copyright issues'. ▲C

For playing etc there's plenty of Virtual CD / DVD image mounters too -- when I travel take a small USB disk with loads of DVD images on them - the software will even copy DL disks (and BLU RAY too - although playing Blu ray DVD's on a computer is still a pain).

I refer you to my previous comments. ▲A / ▲B / ▲C

So you save space as well at home --don't need to have loads of CD's / DVD's around.

Some people like to have a 'tangible medium' for many varying reasons.

i.e - Collectors

For music in cars -- pretty well most car radios these days have an AUX in and often a USB in as well so no probs playing from IPODS etc etc.

Pretty much is not all.

Playing CD's in any case in a car is iffy -- you probably need a changer in the back and I don't know about where you live - but using a CD player in an Off roader which is really Off Road isn't a good idea either.

Not everybody has 'multiple rear installed' changers. Nor does everyone drive roughly, or in a Off Road vehicle.

On the rare ocasion I need a physical disc I can burn it to the appropriate medium.

I refer you to ▲C

So even for Film DVD's I'd suggest that the distributors could supply "Electronic Images" of the DVD which if necessary we could burn ourselves.

See ▲B / ▲C

Plus not everybody has the capability to avail themselves of said "Electronic Images"

i.e - Low speed Internet users

Getting rid of the physical medium also would save a lot of pollution in the manufacture of CD's / DVD's too -- there's some nasty heavy metals used in the manufacturing processes as well.

Not everyone cares about the environment.

Furthermore, the multitude of employment that stems from this entire process would have detrimental wide-spread impact.

As I said, these aren't answers based upon my personal opinions.

The fact is, there are still real and valid needs for physical media.

Whilst the shift towards "Electronic Distribution" has already begun and is continuing to progress strongly in that area, it will still be many years before everything is just 'bits and bytes'.

jimbo45 · 21 Feb 2010

Hi there
possibly true - but I'm sure the actual need for physical media is very very much reduced now -- collectors only nake up a small part of the total and one can alway re-burn / re-create CD's / DVD's provided you've got these stored in some LOSSLESS format.

I've just GIVEN away 200 DVD +RW's - I just don't use these anymore - even for backup.

I've finally put my entire CD collection into storage -- around 3,000 CD's as I've now ripped all these to FLAC and am busy cataloguing at the moment.

I'm going to do the same with my DVD movies -- probably around 250 DVD's which can also go to storage -- or probably I'll GIVE these away as DVD's don't have the same appeal as Music for physical media.

I've got around 6 external USB drives now and for "Long term Archive" -- and Archive is NOT the same as backup BTW I'm using some double sided DVD RAM disks -- have longevity and are good for archival. Around 9.4 GB per double sided disks -- note I use only for ARCHIVE - not my normal backups which could be around 1TB every so often.

Cheers
jimbo

stevieray · 21 Feb 2010

I buy most of my music from Amazon and friends, but the first thing I do is burn a cd hard copy. That is my emergency back up, in case my pc crashes and somehow takes down the external hd as well. I like having a non-electronic copy of things I paid for 'cause i don't want to have to pay for 'em again.

madtownidiot · 21 Feb 2010

CDs and DVDs will exist for as long as there people who don't know about better options. Personally, I prefer using a flash drive or virtual CD whenever DRM or anti-copy software doesn't make it all but impossible to do so for two reasons:

Flash drives are not prone to read errors at the slightest movement of the computer or the surface it was placed and ISO images are not prone to scratching

USB read speeds are more than 10x as fast as an optical drive, shortening the install process for software by as much as 75% in some cases and reading a mounted ISO from a virtual drive is as much as 20x faster

Bituser · 21 Feb 2010

I think everything should be sold on flash-drives. @stevieray, Most digital stores keep a record of the songs you have downloaded so you can download them again, Itunes for example.

omegatron · 22 Feb 2010

jimbo45 said:

Hi all
Just throwing a bit of speculation here

Now you can get really CHEAP pocket sized portable 500 and 1GB self powered usb disks these days do we really need to have largish DVD's and CD's anymore.

Your entire post assumes that we live in a tech saavy world. Maybe the population in the area you live in is.

But were I live. Mention terms like FLAC and Electronic Images and you are speaking a foreign language.

I know people who panic just trying to program a dvd recorder!

Who, if they get a device that isn't pre-configured and easy to use out of the box, are on the phone to tech support.

So, in response. Yes. CD/DVD are still relevant and will be for the foreseeable future.

KremmenUK · 22 Feb 2010

I used to burn all my music to CDR for use in the car but my latest car has a USB socket. It's quicker to seek tracks, can hold more and I can easily drag and drop more titles as required.

I think USB flash memory is taking over many of the old floppy/CD/DVD uses.

Not had a single coaster either :)

richyrichuk · 22 Feb 2010

CD/DVD's not needed anymore. i use them for boot CD's everything else is a waste of time, just run it over my network.

i threw out 250+ CD's out the other day full of movies. with HDD's size's and the speed u can download CD's are a waste of time for myself these days, i can download a film quicker than i can find it in my stack. and software, u just loose the CD again in the next big stack of CD's labelled 'software'