Will CDs go obsolete?

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With downloading taking place, will CDs go obsolete?

Yes, there are computers without CD-players.

No doubt they will. Question is when. I don't know if many people still use them. Think their only lasting purpose at the moment is in cars (song playlists - could be mixtapes) and computers (formatted as storage - though this is limited, with small USB drives having far more storage). I think cars are the only real reason they're not completely obsolete already.

They already are for the most part to be honest

Haven't they already?

The compression that takes place during Internet streaming is horrible. While I listen sometimes to Internet radio, I don't do so for its technical quality. I like OWNING my physical CDs I have never downloaded any CD which I could simply buy. That makes it MY property (so long as I don't copy it for commercial gain), not an act of asking permission to listen to a crappy knock-off.

At some point, CDs will completely go obsolete, but some stores will likely still sell them for cheap.

People have been saying that CDs would eventually become obsolete for probably over a decade. People also said that newspapers would eventually become obsolete when the internet became a household norm.

Meanwhile, I work in a retail bookstore where, over the last couple months, we've added a huge vinyl record section to our music department which sells steadily every day.

I think CDs will be okay for the time being.

I don't think so. I think some people like the idea of having each album separate. There are playlists now but its not the same. Along the same lines of what AspieUtah said.

Not really, because of cars still having CD players, and CDs are still needed to convert some of my stuff on iTunes.

Yeah CD's ought to be fine for quite a while...but yeah one would think vinyl might be 'obsolete' well if it was, it sure as hell isn't now its my favorite way of buying physical albums. I guess cassette tapes are kind of obsolete but I still get them, sometimes I can find some good albums and such on that form and for cheap like this independent record store I go to that specializes in punk and metal has quite a selection of them. I also went to a recent concert where the band had a cassette of their album along with vinyl and CD copies.

Honestly I prefer cassettes and vinyl to CD's to me they sound better but I still have quite an extensive collection of CDs, also they work to transfer on my computer so I can put music on my phone to listen to on my headphones when I'm out and about taking the bus. Though some vinyl albums come with MP3 downloads of the album which also work to transfer the album onto the SD card for my phone.

That is very true.

As long as there are enough people buying CDs, they will keep making them.

What factors influence people's decision to continue buying CDs?

1. Buying a format compatible with expensive equipment they have invested in
2. Perceived quality of CD vs streaming or "lossy" audio formats
3. Perceived inconvenience of CD as a storage medium vs hard drive (needing to get up to change them)
4. Nostalgia
5. The "image" of CD as storage medium within our society or a particular sub-culture
6. The continuation of the residual belief that audio is a physical artifact, rather than an encoded signal
7. The ritual of changing, storing, and organising CDs
8. The perceived value of the physical artifacts that can come with CDs, such as cover art, detailed program notes, stickers, shirts etc etc
9. The continuation of a technological civilisation in which audio can be encoded and stored (in which case, this issue will be the least of our worries)

No doubt there are other factors.

If all of the issues above were related to technology, the answer would be relatively easy. However, this is not the case. The fact of the matter is that, as with many things, most people are emotional, sentimental and influenced by others. This means that association and perception will have a role to play in the fate of the humble CD.

The future of the CD is unpredictable, but it is certainly on the endangered species list.

How will we ever beam music directly to our brains if they don't?

I hope not.

The only time I listen to digital music is when I'm here at my PC on itunes. If I want to listen to some of my computer's music elsewhere I burn songs to CD. I've never owned an ipod or anything in my life. When a new album comes out from a favourite band of mine I usually can't wait to buy it on disc. The only time I'll resort to buying it digitally is if the disc version is hard to source.

Cassettes are kind of making a "hipster" comeback in underground music, but I'm not fond of it whatsoever. Some purists argue that vinyl has better sound quality than CD, plus it's most ideal for collectors and people who appreciate album artwork...there's no real downside to it other than the fact that you can't rip it to your computer or put it on your iPod (truly shocking, I know; how did we listen to music before MP3s?!), but even nowadays most vinyl records come with digital downloads.

Cassettes, on the other hand, have objectively poor sound, deteriorate faster over time, are prone to breaking (who here remembers pulling a jammed cassette out of the player and having to spool back a twisted mess of tape?) and are worthless when it comes to creative artwork. The only reason cassettes would be making a comeback are for nostalgic purposes, not for any technical practicality.

The only cassettes I own (which weren't bought while the format was still relevant) are merely not-on-CD demo tapes from '90s bands whose work I collect. The only "new" cassette release I've bought was an officially-sanctioned bootleg of a concert from 2002, which was originally recorded on cassette.