Arny Krueger wrote:
"D.M. Procida" wrote in
message
...
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

I don't think people are that bothered about sound quality on the
whole.

Oh c'mon. The fact they were said to be near indestructible was a big
selling point.

Durability was a selling point. Sound quality was the largest and most
important selling point. People were so desperate to shed the shackles of
analog that they were seriously considering using Video Discs, especially
once VDs started having PCM sound tracks.

Exactly - that's part of convenience rather than sound quality.

Nobody is saying that CDs *weren't* more convenient. It was a secondary
advantage.

Treatment that would ruin an LP won't damage a CD. You can let a four-
year-old use an expensive CD player.

When CD players cost like $1,000, and record stores had very few CD titles,
very few people letting their 4-year-olds use them.


1. Notions of durability. CD was heralded some time before its launch on
a BBC technology programme (Tomorrow's World), which involved smearing a
CD with muck, and then marvelling at how it still played after it was
cleaned. This was a direct comparison with LP. I seem to remember this
was quite a milestone. And yes, we didn't get out much.

2. Convenience/fad. This wasn't just about storage - quick track
selection, (later) remote controls, and random play. All high gadget
amusement factor.

3. Obsolescence. People were less likely to buy new music on LP because
of stories, which of course became true (self-fulfilling prophecy), that
it was a dead format.

4. Marketing. (1) and (2) featured large. In addition, notions of
'digital sound', 'pure sound', 'low distortion' and so on were banded about.

5. Sound. Few really knew what that 'digital' meant in terms of enjoying
listening to music. We were told it was better because it was digital,
and that really was an end to it. Of course, there were tangible
advantages, such as less crackle and pop, but quite how much this ever
got in the way of enjoying music was never made clear. And hindsight has
revealed that in many cases we were sold a pup - the digital
transcription was often a mess, and the scramble for 'remasters' had begun.

I think your version is skewed by your experience in the US. Perhaps you
were (are?) more into 'high fidelity'?

Rob