Compact Discs

Japanese and Dutch scientists invented the Compact Disc (CD) in 1981. It was able to record sound as microscopic changes in the surface of a plastic disc, with the changes "read" by a laser in a CD player and changed back into sound electronically.

Launched in 1982 by Philips and Sony, the lightweight plastic discs were just 4¾ inches (12cm) in diameter, compared to 12 inches (30 cm) for LP records.

The shiny, un-scratchable pygmy-45 sized digitally encoded discs appealed to the older, richer, more discerning record buyer disenchanted with floppy, scratchable, 12 inch vinyl. CD customers were interested in purity of sounds, and more importantly, reluctant to have to get up in the middle of a dinner party to turn an album over!

By the late 80s the digital sound of the CD had buried the LP, transforming the humble 12-inch into into car boot-sale trash (and occasional over-priced collector's item). On the downside, CDs had smaller, less attractive covers, suffered from a "sterile" sound and were more expensive. Still the public went wild for them, but for many, love of vinyl is still a real part of their lives and will continue to be so for as long as needles and turntables are being manufactured.

In 1985, the CD-ROM was developed by Philips/Hitachi and this new media began to be used for storing data generated on a computer. It quickly became the default standard for computer storage media.