Has it really been a quarter-century since the first compact disc was pressed, finally freeing us from the infernal routine of rewinding our mix tapes? Well sure enough, Philips was kind enough to inform us that its very first CD rolled off the production lines on August 17th, 1982, which history will forever remember -- perhaps unfortunately -- as a copy of ABBA's The Visitors. Nonetheless, this first widely-produced optical disc format would end up changing our lives forever, ushering in the era of lossless copies, easy music sharing, and an unwanted little friend we've come to know as DRM. Now with some 200 billion discs having been sold worldwide -- and probably twice as many distributed gratis by AOL in its dial-up heyday -- it would seem that the original shiny little platter is unquestionably in its golden years, with more convenient or capacious formats replacing it on almost every front. So Philips, the readers and editors of Engadget are proud to join you in saluting the revolutionary product you helped pioneer -- and also offer our condolences that things, um,
haven't worked out quite so well for you in the transition to MP3. If you want to learn some of our (mostly embarrassing) first albums on disc, keep reading after the break...
Peter - Joy Division, "Substance"
Ryan - Beatles, "Help"
Evan - Billy Joel, "Greatest Hits Volumes 1 and 2"
Chris - Peter Gabriel, "So"
Paul - The O.C. Supertones, "Chase the Sun"
Don - Metallica, "Metallica"
Thomas - Mötley Crüe, "Theatre of Pain"
Joshua - The Dickies, "Killer Klowns From Outer Space"
Nilay - New Order, "Substance"
posted August 16th 2007 11:55AM
Now that we have all of that out of the way, let's start listing the first CD you ever burned a copy of! Mine was Ultimate Dance Party 1997.
My first CD was Billie Holiday's Songs for Distingue Lovers. I didn't own a CD player at the time and accumulated maybe a dozen CDs before I finally got one, a first-generation Sony single-play that I still use.
I'm older than punchcards BTW.
Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream
I didn't even have a CD player when I received the CD as a gift. I was so convinced my parents were giving me a Discman for Christmas, I asked for CDs from everyone else. Luckily, my faith in Mom and Dad was well-founded, and they did in fact give me a player so that my new CDs didn't go to waste.
I've gotta go call my folks and say thanks!
First CD was Alice Cooper - Welcome to my Nightmare.
WEAK!!!! INXS, MY FRIENDS! TASTE MY SHORTENING TELOMERES!
my first cd: Metallica, ...And Justice for All
Broke up with my fiance, returned the ring and promptly bought a Sony Diskman from Best Brand and 'Rattle and Hum' from Coconuts.
My first two CDs were (like a lot of people), Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" and Dire Straits' "Brothers In Arms," which was the first all-digital CD I remember seeing in the stores. The tiny bit of ABSOLUTE SILENCE in that break in the first guitar riff on "Money for Nothing" absolutely blew away the audio fans I knew who listened to it. Sounds like a small thing now, but compared to the never-completely-absent surface noise on LPs, the silence was golden. This was the summer of 1985, as I recall. My first player was a Hitachi deck for which I paid around $250. Compared to my then-$400 Sony turntable, it was a bargain. The Hitachi is long gone, but I still have several copies of that Sony turntable (PS-LX55S full-auto straight arm with a vintage Shure cartridge).
Oh: and about AOL CDs: I used to go to Target, get an armful of the free AOL CDs, take them home and pop them in the microwave for three seconds. Long enough to craquelize the media but not long enough to rupture the shrink wrap. Then I'd take them back to the store, stick them back in the rack and get another armload to process. Just saving people from doing something stupid.
First CD was Rush's Moving Pictures. I bought it even before I had a CD player.
I can't even remember what my first CD was, probably something crap which I've long since thrown out. The O.C. Supertones huh Paul? I haven't heard any of their stuff in a while.. Were you into Five Iron Frenzy too? I think my first that I still have was The Young And The Hopeless by Good Charlotte.... Should probably get rid of that too...
First: DC Talk - Jesus Freak
But I also have that 'Tones CD.
RIP FIF.
Yup... RIP FIF, don't have Jesus Freak though, only Supernatural...
The sad, sick truth of it: my first audio CD, I purchased in around 1988. It was...
Top Gun: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.
After that came the Batman soundtrack, and Weird Al: In 3-D!
The Beatles - Yellow Submarine, and at the same time, a Sanyo portable CD player.This would be about 1992. Both of these I still have, and AFAIK still work. No skip protection on the CD player!
Psh, I had a Panasonic discman with 3, yes, that's right, THREE seconds of skip protection! It was even so kind as to say 'Sorry' on the lcd if it skipped more. Ah, 1999, those were the days. :D
Oh yeah, I also think my first CD was AOL 7.0. :P
Peter Gaberiel - Security. Got it when I was a junior in high school in 1987.
New Order's "Substance" was my first disc too! Blue Monday rocks!
Why is a CD 74 minutes long? Answer: Beethoven.
Sony and Philips worked under the following constraints:
-The bits to be etched the CD had to be 0.83 microns long and 1.6 microns apart. Hence about 750,000 bits fit in 1 sq. mm
-CD uses 16-bit audio with 2 (stereo) channels.
-Sound is sampled at at 44.1 KHz for historical reasons. So 1 sq mm translates to about 750,000 bits / 44,100 Hz / 32 = 0.53 seconds of music.
Philips came up with a 11.5cm CD that could store about 65 minutes of music. Sony made that 12 cm because 11.5cm can store around 65 minutes of music, while a CD that's 12cm can store about 74 minutes. One of the supposed reasons is that a slow rendering of Beethoven's 9th symphony (a popular piece in Japan) would take 74 minutes.
I hate to say it, but my first CD was Wilson Philips' first album. And I'm a straight guy.
granted, im only 17, and i really wasnt into music until maybe 5 years ago, my first music cd was linkin parks hybrid theory. i did have a great many cds before that, but they were all data. and now :( every thing is on a flash drive, or that 40gig ide drive i carry around.
My first CD: James Newton Howard and Friends
http://www.james-newton-howard.com/main.html?/discography/jnhandfriends.html
600 CDs later, it is still about one of the best CDs I own. If you are a Toto fan, check it out.
my first was ace of base - the sign. i still have it, too.
First CD I even owned was The Presidents of the United States of America, self titled release. It was a birthday gift.
The first CD I ever bought myself was Bone Thugs n Harmony, E. 1999 Eternal. They are still my favorite group of all time.
Happy Birthday CD...
Yeah, bra
Actually two CD-s both soundtracks
"Top Gun" from Sony music
"Electric Dreams" From Virgin
I love them even today.
my first CD was backstreet boys - millennium. oh, 1999 :)