Compact Disc Facts: 11 Tidbits for the CD's 30th Birthday
Possible alternatives included MiniRack, MiniDisc, and CompactRack. Ultimately the term "compact disc" -- which later led to the "CD" moniker we all know and love -- was chosen in tribute to the compact cassette's success. [Reviewsic]
Ha! Purchased ...
6. The compact disc can hold around 700MB of info. That's approximately 80 minutes of straight up tuneage! Even your first generation iPod can hold a lot more Joni Mitchell than that.
7. A CD spins at a rate of 200 and 500 RPM, depending on what track you're playing. You know how sometimes, it sounds like your computer is going to take off and fly away because the CD in your disc tray is doing its thing? That's probably the 500 RPMs of raw power you're feeling.
CD Baby?
8. How about this? A CD's shelf life is around 100 years. Lowly floppy disks and tapes often become faulty after only a decade or less.
9. The very first compact disc to sell 1 million copies was ... Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms. Bet you've never even heard that one, have ya? [Metal Floss]
Don't get burnt!
10. As with any format switch, there was backlash. People thought vinyl was superior (it still is), but the chance for musicians to showcase their sound on CDs became increasingly popular. The Star Man himself, David Bowie, was the first major artist to convert his entire catalog to the compact disc format in 1985. [Mental Floss]
11. Our last tidbit is the most embarrassing. At one point, 50 percent of all compact discs worldwide had an
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