25 years of the Compact Disc

Only 25 years ago, there was a world that did not know what a Compact Disc was. People survived on vinyl records and tapes till the CD came and revolutionized entertainment, pushing out the regular means and making a place for itself that stands inimitable.

The shiny 8cm discs were first rolled out on 17 August 1982, at a Philips factory in Langenhagen, Germany. The CD was "The Visitors" by Swedish pop group ABBA.

Philips first hit upon the idea of digital recording for video and developed a 30-centimetre size golden CD to play movies, but it flopped. Philips and Sony engineers then set out to create a new digital audio disc — and the CD as we know it was born. Over 200 billion CDs have been sold worldwide since the introduction of the format.

"In the late seventies and early eighties we never imagined that one day, the computing and entertainment industries would also opt for the digital CD to store the growing volume of data for computer programs and movies," said Piet Kramer, one of the Philips engineers who developed the CD.

The costly CDs and costlier CD-players made a slow start but in 1985, British rock band ‘Dire Straits,’ adopted the CD and released their ‘Brothers in Arms’ album, one of the first fully digital recordings.

It sold over a million copies on CD and firmly established the CD as the music format for the approaching future.

The CDs did rise but the introduction of digital music downloads that are put directly onto MP3 music players, is being considered a threat. CD sales have dropped rapidly in the past decade. The Blu ray, HD DVD have constantly risen on popularity charts and the research for newer and better technologies is endless.

Some say the CD will continue to fade and eventually die and some suspect if it will be able to last another five years. There are also those, who are optimistic that the CD will live.

With their relatively low prices, lack of digital rights management (DRM) protection and quality surpassing that of a digital download, the CD should remain around for quite a while, believes Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with JupiterResearch.

Whether or not it can be replaced only time will tell. As of now the almost ubiquitous CD remains the leading choice for sharing and preserving content.