What will become of my beloved CDs?

dweller
@elizabeth - Your scenario reminds me of the SETI organization and their search for extra terrestrial radio signals. If a civilization is a million years ahead of you, MAYBE they use a communication protocol you don’t understand (compare analog radio to digital - ever dial a fax machine by mistake? Does the sound it makes make any sense?).

>>>>If a technically advanced civilization attempted to communicate with a much less advanced civilization it would understand that it must find a common means of communication. They would almost certainly assume that anyone listening for such signals would comprehend digital. Or they could use prime numbers or Finonocci numbers to get our attention. They could send ANY kind of signal as long as it’s not naturally occurring if they were simply trying to communicate that they exist. We could figure out where the signal was coming from with ease, just like they did in the movie Contact.

folkfreak,

I guess, for now, I will have to stick to my copy of Sunrise CD that does contain first two Elvis’ songs together with pops, crackles, and whatever else it is. I stick to the CD while actually having it hard-driven. Hey, you do not want to ruin the CD.

An article in HI-Fi News recently (June issue) discussed an event introducing the new Magico A3 speakers, and Alon Wolf attended the festivities. He played all sorts of stuff from a computer, and all of it was at the "Red Book" standard...Wolf said, "We are not using any hi-res material. We see no need. You can overdo things, you know." The author, Barry Fox, feels that new gear "unlocks" the otherwise missed potential of great Red Book recordings, and I agree. I own plenty of CDs and also enjoy vinyl, and am amazed at how insanely good many CDs sound these days...a good DAC, a clean, coherent system, and you’re set for many years of excellent sounding music.

Now, the first question remaining would be if CD-resolution downloads/streams can actually sound like those CDs. Assuming that new gear does unlock whatever potential CDs have. If downloads/streams equal it, it becomes matter of, more or less, only convenience and then we are back to the original question. What will become of CDs?

elizabeth, 

Your argument about not being able to decode CDs in the future is the same one I use to refuse to go digital in photography - - but to stick to film and photographs printed on archival paper. 
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Matthew Brady's photographs of the Civil War are still with us, my latest iPhone photo already has been deleted.