May 2024
When CDs entered the marketplace in 1982, I was 26, and had been collecting LPs for 15 years. My record collection took up a good amount of space in my first, tiny apartment. I didn’t pay much attention to the new format at that point; CDs weren’t widely available, and my local hi-fi shops weren’t carrying CD players. A coworker showed me a story in the Wall Street Journal that predicted the demise of the LP and the fast-approaching dominance of the CD. I scoffed, recalling the promotional push for quadrophonic LPs and playback gear. That format died quickly.