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There is some interesting exchange of ideas and personal views going on. Part of it is about "obsolete technology" and another about the interaction with physical "Compact Discs". See this post and references for starters.
gemini://moddedbear.xyz/logs/2021-10-29-re-compact-discs-is-obsolete-technology-obsolete.gmi
And I think blu.256 started it:
gemini://koyu.space/blu256/obsolete-tech.gmi
Palm93 started the thing about Compact Discs:
gemini://heathens.club/~palm93/2021-10-24_Compact_Discs.gmi
Yes, it's really two somewhat different ideas, but imho they are related nonetheless.
I do have a collection of several hundred audio CDs. I do not listen to music on the computer/smart device. So I am all in with the idea to physically pick a box out of the drawer, place it into the CD drive (it's not a player these days) and feed the resulting data stream into the DAC/amplifier and loudspeakers.
Two of my observations have not been mentioned or have evaded my eyes:
With the existance of the manufactured (original, not fake cheap copy) audio compact disc including the cover and possibly a booklet, the question of whether or not I actually paid the fees that are somehow fed back to the artists, is essentially moot. This is not the case for digitally purchased files. (I am unsure, what the correct terms are. In Germany GEMA has their say, but elsewhere it will be different, I'm sure.)
A box with an audio CD I can give to my neighbor, and she might listen to it and give it back to me later. The above question is again irrelevant. Whenever you copy a file and send it to your neighbor, it's out of control. When neighbor copies my CD, then she did the copying, not me.
So I clearly like the possesion of those small plastic boxes with the shiny silver discs, or the larger cardboard/paper sleeves with black vinyl discs for that matter.
The other thing, that really cannot happen with playlists on a digital device is this: I open one of the drawers holding my CDs, for whatever reason. My eyes scan the lines of boxes, and whatever catches my attention can be inspected. I can then move sideways, or into another drawer and find totally unexpected titles. This sideways, associative exploration of my drawers is a very big plus, in my humble opinion.
Cheers,
~ew