Comment on Bring Back the Burned CD— They’re a love language. And a reminder of the hope we once had.
ftbd@feddit.org 15 hours ago
And why is burning an audio file onto a CD better than having the same file on flash storage?
It’s usually not. I have one old car with a CD player and a less-old car with a USB stick loaded with media. The flash storage is better.
But if you have nice speakers and listening space, the quality of the DAC matters, and a real CD player would probably have a better DAC and sound better than compressed audio on a flash drive sticking out of your receiver. Unless you have a fancy audio server/DAC setup, in which case it’s moot.
Why do some people like vinyl? Why did the iPod’s scroll wheel evoke joy when used? Why is the OG PSP’s UMD drive clicking open and closed enjoyable?
If you’re looking to abstractly optimize consumption and sharing, it’s worse. But if you’re looking to optimize personal connection to the art, having some tactile interaction arguably does that better.
I’d even bet that if you scanned brain activity of someone opening an MP3 versus someone putting in a disc and hitting a play button, the disc’s physical interaction very likely creates stronger neural pathways that trigger more chemical rewards.
That authors’ view is explained in the article.
Unlike a burned CD from a friend, there’s no social contract that compels me to sit with something new, and take the time to better understand it. There’s very little on Spotify that will compel me to dive into the catalogue of a new-to-me artist, then seek them out when they go on tour.
Its not inherently better than sending someone a playlist by any other means but on the other hand I just think its neat to have a physical thing that you have to intentionally plug into something and listen to in a specific order and way. That and the way that tech/streaming is changing the ways we interact with music on a personal and cultural level is overwhelming to me, makes me nostalgic for the limitations of older mediums. When you had to be intentional about what and how you listened, it (at least to me) made a deeper connection between me and the music as a listener. Fortunately we can still be intentional in many ways, its just easier to not do that with streaming and algorithmically recommended stuff.
I do wish that my friends would still send each other playlists in any format.
Elitism
krisevol@lemmus.org 14 hours ago
Being old does that to people