Yesterday I wrote about some church nerds who have been made obsolete because of advances in technology. Another casualty of technological advancement is the compact disc. I have boxes filled with old CDs, safely tucked away in their jewel cases, filling up our small garage. The compact disc is a casualty of the digital age and one of the enduring questions has to be: what do we do with all of these old CDs? Here are a few suggestions.
Keep Them
Maybe it will be worth keeping all of your old CDs. Vinyl has made quite the comeback in recent years; perhaps CDs will go through a similar renaissance in another two decades. Think how impressed the hipsters of 2030 will be when you show them the original album for Savage Garden’s self-titled debut (Who isn’t impressed by a chica cherry cola?). Or maybe you could impress the youth group at your church. Even though they weren’t alive when it came out, I have students quoting lyrics from dcTalk’s “Jesus Freak”. So just like vinyl has made a resurgence in spite of its inferior sound, lack of portability and high cost, in the future perhaps CDs will be all the rage with the hip kids. Sure they take up a lot of space, but your collection of 90s CDs could you make you the coolest person ever.
Coaster Collection
Let’s face it, coasters are practical but lame. No one wants the condensation from their frosty beverage to ruin a table, but to place that beverage on a boring piece of wood or ceramic tile does not adequately communicate how cool you are. Imagine if your coasters not only protected your overpriced Pottery Barn end table but also told a story of your musical past. CD coasters say so much more about who you are and could even provide a talking point when you have guests. Be prepared to defend yourself, though, when someone sets their Coke down on your copy of Cracked Rear View by Hootie and the Blowfish or Heart in Motion by Amy Grant.
Vigilante Justice
My large CD collection is symbolic of my own selfishness. Instead of spending $10 at a time to cure the ills of the world, I spent $10 at a time so I could listen to Third Eye Blind and Newsboys. It’s time for something good to come out of those selfish buying habits. I literally have hundreds of CDs which could be used in a vigilante war against crime. I’m not a billionaire playboy like Bruce Wayne and I can’t afford a utility belt or batarangs. However, I already have a huge collection of CDs which could easily be fashioned into some sort of ninja throwing star. Imagine the fear that would strike the hearts of would-be criminals as a rain of CD shuriken came flying down from above. And imagine the embarrassment that would come from knowing their crime was thwarted by Jock Jams 5 or …Baby One More Time.
Those are a few suggestions for what to do with your old CDs. What do you do with your old CDs?
I still listen to CDs, I need to get one of those iPod adapator things. And even when I buy music online I still burn most of it onto a CD. It sort of makes me nervous to leave everything I have on a computer program. Years worth of writing disappearing in an instant has made me want to save everything in something beyond my laptop and the programs that are on it.
EXACTLY! I FEEL THE SAME WAY! Most of my music files I back up onto a USB or burn to a disc.