Today (August 17) is the 25th birthday of the compact disc.

Let us not dwell on the fact such technology is older than I am. Let us bask in its glory, for digital media may kill it as a commercial medium.

I can’t remember what my first CD actually was, only that I resisted them for some time because I preferred cassettes (which were more versatile and a damn sight cheaper).  But following some not very well-publicised incidents where my lovely tapes were eaten alive and spat out in ruins, my move towards CDs became unstoppable. I still don’t have all of them on my Facebook profile.

The things seem nigh invincible, save for coins, dust, pets, people, jam-covered fingers and microwaves (ever seen what happens to a CD after its been in the microwave? Tis pretty).

They’ve come a long way since Richard Strauss’s Alpine Symphony and some rubbish from Billy Joel. Now we have all sorts of disposable one-hit wonders weighing the shelves — though not for much longer, if predictions are correct. Sales have slumped in the last decade, partly due to file-sharing, partly due to the rise of portable digital music players, and partly due to people spending money on DVDs and games.

Though I still enjoy making CDs, the format’s time will pass. It’s easy to see it morphing into DVD-style music/content hybrids (don’t they exist already?) but it’s just as possible the successor — if it has a physical successor rather than a digital one — will be something completely different.

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