Why are CD's decling in quality?


When CD came out in the 80's , they were marketed as 'indestructible'. They were built in such a way that they were almost impervious to any scratches and other damage.
As time went on, they declined in quality to the point that you could buy a cd and find it skipped on the first playing. Now many CD's I buy in the 21st Century seem to be incredibly vulnerable to damage. This is very frustrating.
.Does anyone have any suggestions or thoughts on this topic?
Or knowledge of why this has come about
acidfolk
As a follow up to Lowrider57, Acoustic Sounds sells "Gold" hi-rez redbook CD (e.g., XRCD). I have posted a number of comments about this medium's superior sound -- and we're talking redbook CD. Just picked up 2 Mo-Fi hi-rez "Gold" CDs -- The Cars. Excellent!!!
Bifwynne, I think we may have discussed this subject. What I am finding is SHM-CD is affordable and there is a large selection, not so with XRCD.
My question is have you ever ordered from the Japanese based vendors and if so, was the transaction favorable?
Lowrider57 ... I don't recall having ordered from Japanese vendors. Is there a web site?

To date, my source for hi-rez redbook CD is Acoustic Sounds, who ain't exactly cheap.
There are many Japanese vendors on Amazon selling mostly SHM-CD.
There is an online Japanese store that somebody here recommended but I never bookmarked it.
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Found it in the archives...XRCD, SHM-CD, Blu-spec CD

[url]http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/music/index.html[/url]