CDs Versus Downloads - Survey Results
April 28, 2023
Good Morning, Y'all!
Every once in a while, I ask for your thoughts on something. The responses have varied from "tepid," to me thinking "I'm going to get a call from my email provider asking for more money due to the huge volume of incoming mail..."
This might be a bit of hyperbole, but last Friday's question "Which do you prefer, MP3 files or CDs with your books?" brought a flurry of responses. Many of them with strong arguments for either answer. So, in no particular order, and leaving out a LOT of the responses...
In Favor of CDs
"For the convenience and subtlety of sound." (Stephen)
"Downloads stink - I listen to music for the music, not as background noise." (Ed)
"Downloads stink - I listen to music for the music, not as background noise." (Ed)
"Audio files become corrupted/unplayable." (Fay)
"I can listen to CDs in the car - but can't play downloads on long trips because the phone battery runs down." (Janet)
"I can listen to CDs in the car - but can't play downloads on long trips because the phone battery runs down." (Janet)
"CDs hands down! Especially for instructional material." (Catherine)
"I have never lost my CDs, but I have had hard drives fail." (Ralph)
"CDs - hands down!" (Frank)
"For the simplicity - no mental bandwidth wasted on instructions, downloading, file-moving, managing." (Sam)
"I have never lost my CDs, but I have had hard drives fail." (Ralph)
"CDs - hands down!" (Frank)
"For the simplicity - no mental bandwidth wasted on instructions, downloading, file-moving, managing." (Sam)
Prefer Downloads
"For the convenience, I use the downloaded files more than I did the "hardcopy." (Jim)
"I can make CDs from the downloads if necessary - and vice versa." (Ron)
"Downloads - IF they're available in a high-quality, preferably lossless, format." (Ivan)
"Downloads - IF they're available in a high-quality, preferably lossless, format." (Ivan)
"Specifically in a physical medium, like a thumb drive, which can include all kinds of supplemental materials, like videos, as well." (Anahata)
"Downloads!" (David)
I left out dozens of responses, but the 13 above were the first to reply. And based on the first 13 responses, we're pretty close to even - 8 CDs to 5 downloads. The emails which came in later in the day Friday, and all weekend long, seem to be split down the middle, too. The quality of the arguments for either side were really quite amazing! Like almost all of you, I see benefits to either approach. It comes down to the person using the music.
I do appreciate all of your thoughts on the subject - thank you very much for sharing!
Richard Ash, luthier-who's-working-on-a-way-to-encode-dulcimer-music-into-waffles-so-we-get-the-benefits-of-both-MP3s-and-CDs-and-also-get-to-enjoy-tasty-treats