EINDHOVEN, Netherlands - It was Aug. 17, 1982, and row upon row of
palm-sized plates with a rainbow sheen began rolling off an assembly
line near Hanover, Germany.

An engineering marvel at the time, today they are instantly
recognizable as Compact Discs, a product that turns 25 years old on
Friday — and whose future is increasingly in doubt in an age of
iPods and digital downloads.

Those first CDs contained Richard Strauss' Alpine Symphony and would
sound equally sharp if played today, says Holland's Royal Philips
Electronics NV, which jointly developed the CD with Sony Corp. of
Japan.

The CD's design drew inspiration from vinyl records: Like the
grooves on a record, CDs are engraved with a spiral of tiny pits
that are scanned by a laser — the equivalent of a record player's
needle. The reflected light is encoded into millions of 0s and 1s: a
digital file.

Because the pits are covered with plastic and the laser's light
doesn't wear them down, the CD never loses sound quality.

Legends abound about how the size of the CD was chosen: Some said it
matched a Dutch beer coaster; others believe a famous conductor or
Sony executive wanted it just long enough for Beethoven's 9th
Symphony.

The jump into mass production in Germany was a milestone for the CD,
and by 1982 the companies announced their product was ready for
market. Both began selling players that fall, though the machines
only hit U.S. markets the following spring.

Sony sold the first player in Japan on Oct. 1, with the CBS label
supplying Billy Joel's "52nd Street" as its first album.

How the hell did Billy Joel get the first CD?

When Billy Joel saw his music on CD for the first time did he have
a heart attack akk akk akk akk akk?

Thought you would have known by now?

I'm still looking for the pillock who invented the CD

I'm going to treat him to a slow and painful death !
[A bit like the one he's subjected recorded music to.]

This article doesn't mention the origins of the compact disc. It was invented by a guy in Long Beach, California around 1968, who was unable to get any companies interested in this technology for a long time. He reportedly sold the technology and all his rights to Philips who then partnered with Sony.

Halup Wrote:
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> This article doesn't mention the origins of the
> compact disc. It was invented by a guy in Long
> Beach, California around 1968, who was unable to
> get any companies interested in this technology
> for a long time. He reportedly sold the technology
> and all his rights to Philips who then partnered
> with Sony.
Nice nugget of info there! Thanks.
I wonder how Long Beach man feels about it today, if he's still alive...
He seems like the "Pete Best" of inventors...

Which was the first Stones record that came out simultaneously on vinyl and CD? Was it Undercover, Dirty Work? Or maybe Steel Wheels?

I bought my CD player Christmas 1985. Very limited selection of CD's back then. A&B Sound in Vancouver was the major record store there, and they only had a few rows of CD's, the rest was albums and cassettes. First three discs I bought were Highway To Hell, Born In the USA and Scarecrow. Couldn't find any Stones CD's. Dirty Work was probably the first Stones album simultaneously released, although I remember the album version was released first. I remember the album came wrapped in red plastic, at least the copies I saw in Vancouver. I remember with most releases that came out in 86, the album version would come out first and then the CD shortly after. When VH 5150 came out, I saw the album but thought I would wait until the CD came out shortly after. Perhaps it was due to limited production capacities at the time.

franzk Wrote:
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> Which was the first Stones record that came out
> simultaneously on vinyl and CD? Was it Undercover,
> Dirty Work? Or maybe Steel Wheels?


I think it might have been "Dirty Work". I remember it coming out and buying it on vinyl (wrapped in red plastic and a sticker about the cartoon inside??) but not liking it very much.

Then I got to hear it on CD at my kid brother's, who was a bit ahead of me, technically, at the time. And suddenly it made sense and sounded great - I still think it sounds much better on CD than on vinyl. Perhaps because this is the most 80's - sounding Stones albums?

And I still like Dirty Work - at least 2/3 of it. ;-)

franzk Wrote:
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> Which was the first Stones record that came out
> simultaneously on vinyl and CD? Was it Undercover,
> Dirty Work? Or maybe Steel Wheels?


Steel Wheels?!

First of all, Billy Joel did not have the first CD. There were 50 CD's released by CBS/Sony on October 1, 1982, and 52nd Street just happened to be numbered 35DP-1. Also released were about 20 other popular titles, 15 or so Japanese pop titles and 15 or so classical titles. 52nd Street just happened to have the "-1" catalogue number.

I am pretty sure that the first Stones album released simultaneously on CD and album was Dirty Work. I think that the first Stones CD was Tatoo You, released in Japan with the "black triangle" design on the CD. Very good sounding disc, by the way.

CDs are bane of my existence...

Curse them all...and the guys bringing my reel to reel player are freaking late...bastards...
JR

DGA35 Wrote:
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> I bought my CD player Christmas 1985. Very
> limited selection of CD's back then. A&B Sound in
> Vancouver was the major record store there, and
> they only had a few rows of CD's, the rest was
> albums and cassettes. First three discs I bought
> were Highway To Hell, Born In the USA and
> Scarecrow.

Those are three great sounding discs from the mid-80's. The original Highway to Hell pressing puts the remaster to shame. Ihope that you kept those.

My first CD was Talk is cheap. I think I bought it in 1989.