Found a 1997 article predicting CDs would be dead by 2000

I was digging through some old computer magazines my dad kept and found a prediction from 1997 saying CDs would be obsolete in three years. Here I am in 2024 still buying used CDs at garage sales for a buck each, what a miss.

2 comments

2 Comments

hernandez.jordan5d agoTop Commenter

Honestly I think people forget how fast tech was moving back then. CDs were already getting replaced by MP3s and Napster was just around the corner, so at the time that prediction probably felt reasonable. But here's the thing - physical media dies way slower than people think because there's always a crowd that wants the actual thing in their hands. Plus used CDs are dirt cheap and sound fine, why would I stop buying them just because streaming exists? Tbh I still grab them at thrift stores whenever I see something good.

eva_lewis4d ago

My thrift store actually has a bin of CDs for 50 cents each, and I grabbed a mint condition Pink Floyd album last week that sounds way better than a compressed stream. Frankly, most people can't tell the difference between a CD and a 320kbps MP3 anyway, so spending money on plastic cases just feels like clutter collecting dust.