CD sales plummet. Up with downloads.

Old school here contributing to the decline of CDs as noted on Drudge, having recently downloaded my first entire ‘album’ via iTunes. It took how many generations for vinyl record albums to be phased out? And now CDs look like they could be gone in what, less than 20 years?

I also love how a technology can die out or gets marginalized, yet its moniker lives on. As a former vinyl freak, I held out before switching to CDs. 8-track tapes and cassettes also casualties of the tech wars. At that time, vinyl purists argued “CDs don’t sound real enough, there’s no hiss,” Still, as it is with any new technology embraced by an industry, consumers don’t have much say in the matter. They have to switch over.

Props though to the Amish for never bowing to the ‘man.’

Even with previous formats, CDs at least still allowed you to have something tangible to hold in your hand. Something you felt, something you really owned. But then came the internet, Napster and downloadable songs. No trip to the store. No disc to pop in. No thanks.

I knew it was inevitable though. Sure Sting would be happy if I saved a few trees doing it this way, but I wasn’t convinced. Hard to break old habits. It was either going to be cold turkey or the equivalent of the patch–used CDs bought on Amazon, followed by a few single song downloads at a time.

Then, after getting one used CD too many from them in a damaged jewel case three weeks later, I went over to the dark side. Originally thought I’d save money buying used, and for a lot of titles, I did. Even hard to find stuff. (No, not the import of An Evening with Menudo and William Shatner, Unplugged.)

Thing is, we’re all about the moment, a need that a great bargain on Amazon doesn’t meet. The instant gratification of ‘BUY NOW’ is replaced by three weeks of ‘WHERE THE HELL IS MY ORDER?’ What kind of bargain is it if I can’t have it now, right?

With iTunes, it was $9.99 for 14 songs in less than five minutes. So while it may be some time before a hard drive replaces all my CDs, I know the shock of not having something ‘real’ to hold will be lessened.

I’ll still be able to appreciate an album’s cover art on my iPod’s half-inch screen.
(via Drudge)

Tags: iPod, iTunes