10 Things You Probably Forgot About Compact Discs

Ahh the 90's.  Just thinking about that time makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  Life was good if you were anywhere between the ages of 12 and let's say...25?  You be the judge on that timeline.  We had Nintendo, Jurassic Park, and one of my personal favorites, the compact disc.  While, the CD was actually invented in 1980 by James Russell, it didn't reach its full popularity and surpass cassette tape sales until 1991.

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I'll never forget my first CD, it was Tragic Kingdom by No Doubt.  I swear I played that thing until there was nothing left to play.  That album title seems almost fitting because it really was a love/hate relationship we had with the CD back then. The novelty of it all made us giddy with excitement, but there were some serious flaws with the whole operation.  Below is a list of 10 things you probably forgot about the compact disc.

1. Listening Stations in Department Stores- I always remember going shopping with my parents and going directly to the music section and grabbing a handful of CD's to scan the barcode and hear a few snippets of songs on the album.
2. The Impossible Cellophane Wrapping- I swear that crap was shrink wrapped upon shrink wrapped!  It took an hour just to get a corner torn off!
3. The Sticky Label- Once you got the wrapping off, then you had to try to peel off the sticky label without leaving any residue behind to get all nasty.  DO NOT just try to pull it open, rookie mistake.  Bye Bye plastic lid.
4. CD Inserts with Artwork and Lyrics- Remember when you could just open the insert and learn all the song lyrics, correctly?!? Not to mention the badass artwork by amateur tattoo artists or Jackson Pollock wannabees.
5. Portable CD Players- I really did love mine, I cherished it as if it were my only child.  However, trying to roller blade or skateboard dragging around such a monstrosity was quite a challenge.  I think an Ipod Nano would be about the size of one of the buttons on my old discman.
6. CD Bargain Bins- Remember those old bins loaded up with random discs from either new artists or one hit wonders?  My best bargain bin find?  A five dollar bin at Target that I got a CD from an up and coming band named Linkin Park.  The album was Hybrid Theory, and it literally changed my life.
7. CD Scratches- Even the words are like nails on a chalkboard.  Once you started getting those bad boys, get ready for skip city!  You didn't even bother wasting your money on those scratch fix kits, they were junk.  Just broken dreams.
8. Letting Your Friends Borrow Your CD- I can't tell you how many I lent out to people and never saw it again.  I'm still waiting to get my Metallica Load back from 1997.
9. The Lid Breaking Off- By the end of it all, I'd say about 85% of my CD collection was missing the top lid because it broke off for every and any reason known to man.
10. Burning CD's- Of course I've saved the best for last. Whether it be from Napster, or Limewire, the epitome of the CD era, in my opinion was the ability to burn mixes of whatever you wanted and making fun labels for them.  Mixes for your mood, for your car rides, for your crush, you name it.  Just don't download any viruses onto your family computer, because that can be a HUGE problem....or so I've been told.

So that's it.  Just about everything I can remember about the good 'ole compact disc.  Like I said, some stuff was great, some stuff was a real pain in the ass.  But I don't think I would want it any other way.