will the day come when?

I won't hazard a guess as to when CDs will completely disappear (probably never) but I do expect them to give way to electronic distribution. We're almost ready to see movies distributed this way but network bandwidth is restricting that market right now.

Here's what I WISH would happen with music distribution and this assumes we can overcome the DRM issues. Music labels could store the originals in a suitable hi rez format and allow buyers to pick the format and resolution they wanted to download. The product could then be sent in full resolution or converted and downsampled on the fly to the selected format and resolution. The fly in this ointment (so to speak) is what will be the incentive for labels to put the time into producing well recorded product if most buyers are downloading at a resolution that won't show the advantage of the extra time and effort.

I must admit that the Sonos controller looks really cool and intrigues me. I get really tired of putting on glasses so I can squint at the track list (usually printed in gray on black or some other idiotic combination) on a new CD to figure out what song is playing. They're also going to have to figure out how to distribute albums that have no gaps between tracks (e.g., live albums and some classical) - that's very irritating (at least to me). EAC-type image rips to wav with associated .cue files are one way to get around this.

Note that I see this as different than the change from vinyl to CD. That was a fundamental change in the way that music was recorded and the carrier that it was distributed on. The change from CD/SACD/DVD-A to hard drive is much less dramatic. Essentially the data stays the same, it's just distributed differently.

Note also that I still listen to LPs and don't expect this will change. Whether I rip my CDs and switch to electronic distribution will probably be determined by whether the industry can overcome the shortcomings I mentioned above.

Dick

I wonder about the cd question all the time.

Even the CD format now isn’t used to its fullest extent. I listen to a lot of reggae on cd and 99% of the CDs sound like garbage compared to something like Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Fox Trot (from a recording and production stand point). Most of the CDs in my collection have large variations in their sound quality. Until all popular music it being recorded in a fashion that is fully utilizing the technologies that is already available I don’t think there is any sense in even considering changing from CDs.

As far as every thing going to the internet, that is doubtful there are still a lot of people without broad band , cable modem etc. and without that you cant be buying music online.

So lets all look back and see how long it will take for the last hold out company to stop making cd players. I personally give it less than 10yrs.

Somewhere in Las Vegas Nevada, I am told there is a small factory which presses new vinyl. I sure in the future someone will provide a wide range digitally formated disc, for a price. The internet makes it easy for companies to reach a small niche market. Heck look at vinyl, without the internet it would still be in the back of a few specialty magazines.

Discrete CD players may become hard to find, but I reckon decent Universal DVD/Harddrive players will be around for a long time.
Given the amount of money MR & MRS Average (like me) have invested in CD's and DVD's over the past 20+ years, it would be a brave manufacturer who stops making backward-compatible players. I know how popular mp3 is now, but as was pointed out already, broadband/cable internet is still being rolled out. And if you make up your own mp3 library, where are you likely to rip from? Your (and your friend's) CD's, where you can set the compression you want.

Personally, I can't be bothered with audio files. I have an mp3 player that now mostly gets used as a radio, because I don't want to spend ages in front of a computer ripping CD's or downloading & transferring files, to then try to listen with headphones on a noisy train. Why would I, when I can listen to crystal clear music from my CD's through my home system.

Maybe I'll get a hard drive server one day and dump all my CD's uncompressed, but I'll still want it to have a decent CD player built in.