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Move Aside CDs, There's a New Media in TownAug 09 '04 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line CDs will slowly be phased out and replaced by DVDs and digital media.
The music industry as a whole has taken a massive hit and have never experienced the mass amount of piracy that has occurred in in the last couple of years. With piracy on the decline, but the sale of compact discs down as well, we are forced to ask ourselves whether or not CDs themselves will one day become obsolete. The Short Answer: CDs will one day become obsolete. The Long Answer:Read on. Keep in mind that once upon a time (that really wasn't that long ago) in a place not-so-very-far-away, atracs and records ruled the music world. At the time, no one believed that the massive, floppy circles would be replaced by smaller, shinier circles that were more durable and could be transported easier. I know what you all are thinking I am about to say: digital media will immediately wipe out analog. Not quite. With the current analog technology, a typical CD can hold 700 MB (just gathering that number from a typical CD-R disk, and yes, I know it's not the same technology). However, looking at DVDs, a typical DVD (using the same strategy as for CDs and looking at DVD-Rs for storage capacity) can hold 4.7 GB, and that's one that is not double sided or double layered. As the demand for superior sounding music increases, the amount of space per song required will increase. The natural evolution: to DVDs. But enough with analog media, lets turn the focus to digital. A clear advantage of digital media is that it allows us to store music without having to worry about "scratching" it, or of the quality deteriorating as pits get worn and dulled (if you know how CDs and DVDs work, you know that they utilize "pits" for reflection back into the laser to tell what the music should sound like). We have already witnessed a slight movement towards digital media, with programs such as iTunes and the new Napster allowing users to purchase and download songs legally. With MP3 players beginning to saturate the market, how are we not to expect that they will one-day rule the music empire? But MiniDisks Failed!! - Excellent point that you, my magical friend, have brought up. However, MD technology had a lot to compete with. CD-Burners were beginning to become very affordable during the release of MD, and music companies never took hold of the whole MiniDisk movement. Not many albums were directly released on MiniDisk technology directly, and, as a result, it was viewed as a "high tech tape" (which it essentially was). Why change technology over to something that is essentially the same as an older technology when you can embrace an advancement in the current technology (CD-R and CD-RW... not to mention DVD-R and DVD-RW later on). Digital technology is getting cheaper and much more affordable. The music industry has also realized that digital music can be used as a friend instead of viewed as a foe, which is why programs such as iTunes have become so successful. As technology becomes more affordable and safer (i.e. better copyright protection), I think that we will slowly see a conversion to digital music and a movement away from conventional CDs. We must remember to look to past media (records and tapes) to predict what will happen in the future (DVD music and digital media). (c) Ryan Brennan 2004 All Rights Reserved  |
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