Physical Media might not be dead, but Physical Media in Retail Stores are accelerating the death (1 Viewer)

[BobO'Link]

This only works if it is surface damage from scratches and/or junk on the surface, such as dust, peanut butter, grease, fingerprints, etc ...


It is a whole entirely different story if the damage is in the resin layers, and/or from "rot".

Or from a scratched label side - most people aren't aware the label side of a CD is far more fragile than the "shiny" side. I see them constantly flipped on the label side on a table and cringe as that disc won't be playable very long. It's a much different story on DVD/BR as the silkscreen label isn't applied over a thin epoxy seal on the substrate but on a plastic top layer.

 

[BobO'Link]

I once looked into a disc machine that removes scratches. $4,000.

No thank you.

You can purchase "consumer" devices for under $50 that will do that. I've considered purchasing a SkipDr but don't get that many damaged discs.

https://www.amazon.com/Professional...&qid=1579116482&sprefix=cd+scr,aps,151&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Inno...&qid=1579116482&sprefix=cd+scr,aps,151&sr=8-4

https://www.amazon.com/SkipDr-Manua...&qid=1579116482&sprefix=cd+scr,aps,151&sr=8-5

When it comes right down to it the couple of CDs I've had to remove a scratch from I did with a cotton swab and bit of toothpaste. Surprisingly it worked enough to let the disc play (and rip) although the surface at the point of scratch removal was a bit cloudy looking.

 

[BobO'Link]

You can sometimes rescue scratched CDs by gently washing them in a dilute solution of dish washing liquid and water, rinsing them off, and then letting them dry thoroughly. Of course, it's better to keep them from getting scratched in the first place.

Isopropyl alcohol - 75% or higher. Works great and doesn't damage a playing surface.

I've used De-Solv-It (kind of like Goo-Gone) on DVDs with no ill effects. Normally to remove that "cloudy" film that gets on some discs. As long as it's on the surface it'll take it off. I've also used it on the label side to remove rental sticker residue or sharpie marks. I always follow its application with an alcohol cleaning to remove the oil film.

 

[TJPC]

I have 1000s of commercially made and home burned discs, and have never scratched or soiled one so it won’t play. Do people dangle them on a string for the cat?! I had one break in half as I tried to remove it from the case and play it the first time, but Amazon replaced it. It may be because of the exaggerated care I had to practice with my LP collection 1960-1985.

 

[The Drifter]

Thanks for all of the feedback re: cleaning DVD's/CD's. That being said, I don't have a lot of faith in anything that may remove scratches from either format. Back in the 200X's, I remember a local video rental store had a so-called DVD "buffer" that was supposed to "buff" out scratches on their DVD's - but, I don't remember it working that well.

 

[BobO'Link]

I have 1000s of commercially made and home burned discs, and have never scratched or soiled one so it won’t play. Do people dangle them on a string for the cat?! I had one break in half as I tried to remove it from the case and play it the first time, but Amazon replaced it. It may be because of the exaggerated care I had to practice with my LP collection 1960-1985.

I've purchased a few used discs that had scratches I failed to notice until it was too late to do a return. They'd play but skip. When I ripped my collection I decided to try the toothpaste bit to get a good copy. Things I've purchased new still look new - other than a few that got scratched a bit when being inserted into that car disc holder (a holder for the disc that was inserted into the dash player - I hated that thing) but nothing that prevented them playing properly. I was absolutely anal with my LP collection. No one touched them but me and they went back into the sleeve with the sleeve inserted into the jacket so the disk couldn't fall out. You had to take the sleeve out to get to the disk and the surface was touched by nothing but the Diskwasher, the stylus, and the anti-static turntable mat.

Thanks for all of the feedback re: cleaning DVD's/CD's. That being said, I don't have a lot of faith in anything that may remove scratches from either format. Back in the 200X's, I remember a local video rental store had a so-called DVD "buffer" that was supposed to "buff" out scratches on their DVD's - but, I don't remember it working that well.

The Hastings store here had one. I've had them use it on a couple of rental discs that I took back because they were too scratched to play. One worked the other didn't.

 

[TJPC]

What about an anti-static gun and that little clear plastic “tone arm” with the roller and brush that “played” the record from the opposite side?

 

[Worth]

I have 1000s of commercially made and home burned discs, and have never scratched or soiled one so it won’t play. Do people dangle them on a string for the cat?! I had one break in half as I tried to remove it from the case and play it the first time, but Amazon replaced it. It may be because of the exaggerated care I had to practice with my LP collection 1960-1985.

The discs I've bought are fine. But a few of the ones I've rented, especially those borrowed from the library - well, I'm not sure I want to know what's on some of those.

 

[BobO'Link]

What about an anti-static gun and that little clear plastic “tone arm” with the roller and brush that “played” the record from the opposite side?

Yep - ZeroStat. I have one of those. Also a Discwasher stylus cleaner.

Playing an LP was a ritual. Hit the anti-static mat with the Zerostat, clean the stylus, carefully remove the album from the sleeve, place it on the mat, hit the album twice with the Zerostat, turn on the turntable, clean the album with the discwasher brush, play the album. The flip side got a hit with the Zerostat a couple of times, the album surface cleaned, and the stylus cleaned again before playing.

I've never seen the clear plastic "tone arm" you mention. Mine is quite conventional - an Audio-Technica Pro-12 dual magnet cartridge mounted on a BIC 980 belt drive turntable. Still have it but the motor on the turntable seized up a couple of years back.

I also have an SAE 5000a Impulse Noise Reduction System. It's quite interesting and, if carefully adjusted, works pretty well.

 

[Thomas Newton]

What about an anti-static gun and that little clear plastic “tone arm” with the roller and brush that “played” the record from the opposite side?

If you really want to be kind to your LPs, there are laser turntables. Unfortunately, at a price of $15,000 and up, these turntables are not so kind to your wallet.

 

[TJPC]

Yep - ZeroStat. I have one of those. Also a Discwasher stylus cleaner.

Playing an LP was a ritual. Hit the anti-static mat with the Zerostat, clean the stylus, carefully remove the album from the sleeve, place it on the mat, hit the album twice with the Zerostat, turn on the turntable, clean the album with the discwasher brush, play the album. The flip side got a hit with the Zerostat a couple of times, the album surface cleaned, and the stylus cleaned again before playing.

I've never seen the clear plastic "tone arm" you mention. Mine is quite conventional - an Audio-Technica Pro-12 dual magnet cartridge mounted on a BIC 980 belt drive turntable. Still have it but the motor on the turntable seized up a couple of years back.

I also have an SAE 5000a Impulse Noise Reduction System. It's quite interesting and, if carefully adjusted, works pretty well.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=dust...oECA8QAg&biw=320&bih=445#imgrc=C4ZADvv1mugrlM

 

[KeithDA]

CDs are also far easier to change as you drive.

My last 3 small Ford cars have had voice activated ability to change tracks on my Flash Drive... even safer to do whist driving and no CDs littering up the car...

 

[BobO'Link]

https://www.google.ca/search?q=dust...oECA8QAg&biw=320&bih=445#imgrc=C4ZADvv1mugrlM

Ahhh... the Dust Bug. I'd forgotten about those.

 

[Daniel D.Teoli Jr.]

Good points. I never had & never will have cable. Prior to getting my first DVD player in 2003, I didn't have a large interest in most TV shows/movies....other than seeing some films theatrically & being a fan of some TV shows back in the '80's/early '90's.

However, as I alluded to in my last post - getting my first DVD player coincided with getting interested/re-interested in TV shows. So, I just ended up buying/renting series I wanted on DVD. Not only was this more cost-effective than an expensive, monthly cable TV bill, but it was also better in that you had access to an entire season of a TV series.....as opposed to being at the mercy of wanting to watch something on cable that you had to worry about recording (if you couldn't watch it when it was aired); wanting to watch something that wasn't available on cable; watching something that would possibly be edited, have commercials, etc. Ditto for renting/buying movies as opposed to watching them on cable.

So, I've always felt & still feel that cable TV is a huge waste of money.

Yes, I'm with you. Cut cable 10+ years ago. Tired of them raping me. I can get almost whatever I like from libraries. I live in a tri state area so go to libraries in 3 different states all within 10 miles of each other. If library does not have it I try to buy used online.

 

[bmasters9]

I live in a tri state area so go to libraries in 3 different states all within 10 miles of each other.

What tri-state area do you live in?

 

[mark27b]

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/rip-why-i-stopped-using-my-4k-ultra-hd-blu-ray-player-117461

Read to the very last point

 

[mark27b]

https://www.insidehook.com/article/arts-entertainment/why-millennials-refuse-to-let-go-of-physical-media-vinyl-records

shared on FB by Warner Archive Collection yesterday

 

[Josh Steinberg]

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/rip-why-i-stopped-using-my-4k-ultra-hd-blu-ray-player-117461

Read to the very last point

That’s a point I’ve tried to explain before - today’s consumer isn’t nearly as interested in paying a la carte for single items or experiences as they are in subscribing to something that offers a wider selection of choice and options. It’s not just with movies. Most people would rather pay $10 a month to a service that will give them thousands of choices over paying $20 for only one specific choice.

That’s at least as big of a story as physical vs digital and a lot of the articles and discussions miss that. It’s not just that people are choosing digital over physical, it’s that people are seeking out subscriptions with access to lots of things over individual purchases of single items.

 

[BobO'Link]

That’s a point I’ve tried to explain before - today’s consumer isn’t nearly as interested in paying a la carte for single items or experiences as they are in subscribing to something that offers a wider selection of choice and options. It’s not just with movies. Most people would rather pay $10 a month to a service that will give them thousands of choices over paying $20 for only one specific choice.

That’s at least as big of a story as physical vs digital and a lot of the articles and discussions miss that. It’s not just that people are choosing digital over physical, it’s that people are seeking out subscriptions with access to lots of things over individual purchases of single items.

And most people just don't care about quality or lack there of. They're quite happy with those compressed images. It goes back to the multitudes who just don't see a difference between DVD and BR. It's "good enough."

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I don’t think it’s entirely fair to say that people don’t care about quality.

The problem with streaming is that we don’t have one universal internet bandwidth standard so not everyone is getting the same experience.

I have the lowest tier internet service that my internet company offers. On my 55” TV, I can no longer tell the difference between a Blu-ray of a movie, and a digital version from iTunes that’s using the same master/transfer as the disc. So if I stream something, I’m not perceiving a loss of quality, but I am gaining convenience.

Many people switched from DVD which was in standard definition to streaming in high definition. That improved the quality of what they had.

I just think an across the board statement that people don’t care about quality discounts the fact that for most people, this stuff just works as advertised and gives them higher quality material in higher quality presentations at the lowest price they’ve ever paid.