The death of the CD is nigh as Linn bows out
Physical media such as CD and DVD is very slowly but surely being replaced by digital formats. Whether it’s streaming or downloads, physical is the past, digital is the present and future. As if to prove that, Linn Products is ceasing manufacture of all CD players, instead concentrating on its hard drive-based streaming players. Surely the first of many companies to take this decision.
CDs have been around since 1982, but the format’s time does appear to be coming to an end. The way we consumer music has changed so much in a relatively short space of time that digital downloads and streaming are offering a real alternative to the humble CD.
Linn Products is an audio specialist based in Glasgow, Scotland. It manufactures sound systems to cater to the high-end of the market, with systems ranging in price from £2,500 ($4,100) to more than £100,000 ($165,000). It has been making CD players for 20 years but, according to BBC News, has announced it will no longer be doing so from the new year.
Gilad Tiefenbrun, managing director of the company, said:
Our customers have fast recognized the limitations of CD players and in the age of home networking, people now want better control of their music and the ability to enjoy it in any room of their home. CD players no longer belong in the specialist domain.
The “specialist domain” comment is telling because that’s the only sector that is likely to ditch the CD as a format at the moment. If people are paying thousands of dollars for a system then they want it to be the latest and greatest, and that currently is hard drive-based and streaming. However, it will take a good few years for manufacturers of everyday systems to follow Linn’s lead.
In a way, many of us are already ditching CDs anyway. I personally still buy them but once it’s ripped to my computer it’s put back in its case and stays there forever. Meanwhile, I’m playing the music content on my PC and on my mp3 player. It’s only one small step then to purchase the music from an online store in digital format and forgo the physical media altogether.
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November 22nd, 2009
Just because some obscure high end audio company (no average consumer has ever heard of) is ceasing production of CD players means nothing.
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“The way we consumer music has changed so much in a relatively short space of time that digital downloads and streaming is offering a real alternative to the humble CD.”
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Someone needs to tell major artists that The CD is dead and now it is time to move on. However
there are artists who will ONLY release their material on Compact Disc. Artists like AC/DC, Bob Seger, and The Beatles.
While The CD IS ancient technology by today’s standards, as long as music artists continue to only make their music only available on CD.
The CD will still be around for a couple of more years and companies will be still producing CD players.
November 23rd, 2009
vinyl has seen off every physical format, true audio fans want only vinyl
November 23rd, 2009
lol.. I prefer vinyl too. My vinyl from decades ago still play great and will for decades more.