Welcome, compact discs and DVDs. We’ve been expecting you, here in the graveyard of dead media. It’s getting a little crowded, but there are a few fresh plots already dug for you, over by the Betamax, VHS and 8-track tapes.
All media has an expiration date — a point where advancing technology and/or changing taste render it obsolete, and something new rises to take its place.
That doesn’t mean this is easy for some of us to take. As someone in his early 30s who has been avidly (OK, rabidly) collecting CDs and LPs since high school, my collection’s impending obsolescence is a bitter pill to swallow. by now, I’m used to talking music with kids who “own” plenty of music, but it’s all on a hard drive or iPod — for whom the act of going to a record store to purchase music is as old-fashioned as playing mumblety-peg or gee-haw whimmy-diddle.
Music is still a commodity, still being made for money. But recorded music is no longer tied to a physical object. Movies are on the same path, though a little farther behind. Now, I try not to imagine how younger generations of music consumers might see my wall-sized shelves of CDs — as a tremendous waste of space, resources and effort, most likely.
Every medium for recorded art arrived in its particular time, shape and form for a reason. some of them must still have some value (I hope). there must be some advantage to primitively storing music, movies and writing in a physical format.
So, the time has come to take a cold, hard, objective look at the major obsolete media of my lifetime, to see if there’s anything worth keeping. Which media were built to last? Which ones will rise, zombie-like, to new life beyond the grave?
BOOKS: The book hasn’t had a serious competitor since the days of papyrus scrolls, and hasn’t changed much since the invention of the paperback. now, with the Kindle and other electronic e-books, it’s no longer the only game in town.
E-books’ big sticking point — staring at an electronic screen — is much easier on the eyes than it was a few years ago, and will continue to improve. But you can’t beat the paper book for sheer durability and flexibility. they may collect dust and take up a lot of space, but you can still trade them in at the used bookstore.
Verdict: Keep.
VHS VIDEOTAPE: It had a good run, but fragility, lousy picture quality and the annoyance of rewinding doom the VHS format. Tellingly, the few places that still buy used tapes give virtually nothing for them. still, the format gets points for being easy to re-record. Don’t like something? Just tape over it.
Verdict: Discard.
CASSETTE AUDIOTAPE: Audiocassettes were always an inelegant format, with murky, tape-hiss-clouded sound and a clumsy shape. They’re very easy to re-record, but the sound degrades a little after every recording. Rewinding and fast-forwarding is time-consuming.
Yet, they’re very portable, conveniently sized and exceptionally durable. Sure, we’ve all seen cassettes unspool and “get eaten” by tape decks, but hard plastic-encased audiotapes also are surprisingly rugged. Throw ‘em, step on ‘em, leave ‘em on the floor of your car for years on end — most of the time, they’ll still play. Plus, there’s the fine art of making mix-tapes for friends and romantic interests.
Curiously, there’s a movement to revive the tape. a number of artists — from noise-rockers Oneida to multimedia artist Phillip Jeck — and small, independent labels have begun to release albums again on audiotape. some seem to do it for purely contrarian reasons. others seem driven by nostalgia for the days when you had to actually spend time with an album, and listen to the tracks in order.
Verdict: Discard.
DVDS: Convenient, sturdily-packaged, and far superior to VHS in picture quality, the DVD is slowly being replaced by the next-generation Blu-Ray technology. However, they’re easily damaged, and easily affected by dirt, smudges, even fingerprints. This might be the perfect time to sell, while they still have some value.
Verdict: Discard.
ALBUMS/LPS: Large, awkward, fragile, impossible to use in the car, LPs are the most physical of physical formats. in fact, the physical manipulation of records to create new sounds and mixes is still an important part of hip-hop and dance music subcultures.
Aficionados claim — myself included — that LPs have a warmer, fuller analog sound that stands in stark contrast to the cold, digital sound of compact discs. they also retain their value quite well, and there’s a large, worldwide aftermarket for serious collectors.
At one point, album cover art was a big deal — think of ’50s jazz on Blue Note — and this is its ideal format. There’s plenty of room for liner notes, lyric sheets, photos and other creative packaging, too. Who can forget Andy Warhol’s peelable banana on the cover of Velvet Underground’s first album, or the zippered jeans on the Rolling Stones’ “Sticky Fingers”?
Verdict: Keep.
COMPACT DISCS: Capable of exceptionally clear sound, no matter how many copies are made. Compact, attractively designed — so shiny and mirror-like! — and easily filed and stored. There’s plenty of room for cover art and copious liner notes — an important, if not essential, part of the album experience. They’re also easily copied and transferred between digital formats.
Yet, CDs also are extremely fragile. Any little nick on the surface, and it will skip — surely, one of the most annoying sounds on the planet. Don’t ever drop one.
A recent article on the influential music Web site pitchfork.com imagined a future CD revival, much like the current cassette mini-revival. in 2022, a club of British youths painstakingly record customized, themed mix CD-Rs (rewriteable CDs), as a conscious rejection of fully-networked, crowd-sourced, vote-determined nightclub playlists of the day. that way, the connection to the music is intensely personal, rather than something shared automatically with friends (and marketers).
Verdict: Inconclusive, but leaning towards keep.
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What media will be the next to go?
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