Audio CD's: Will We Still See Them in 2010?

Just a decade ago, audio CD's were the hype. They replaced the rather "conservative" cassette; but cassette tapes, I must say, died gradually.

The truth is audio CD's and cassette tapes co-existed in the music paradise at some point. Back then, there were cassette tape versions as well as CD versions of albums of famous [and not-so-famous] recording stars. I remember myself going inside a music store and going through the gruelling process of choosing between a CD and a cassette tape. Of course, cassettes were a lot cheaper initially but audio CD's eventually caught on.

Then, as time went on, less and less cassettes were placed on the shelves. That is when I realized that cassettes were in the dying process. Inevitably, audio CD's became the king of the music store.

Looking back, I can't help but compare the fate of the cassettes with the fate of audio CD's right now. Going even further, I think that audio CD's are now in the last stage of the process of disappearing... of death. Some may even argue that audio CD's are already dead. Well, maybe in some places that is true.

The point that I am driving at here is that things come and go, and so must audio CD's. They have had their share of the spotlight and now it is time to completely turn it over to digital media - to downloadable music.

I bet no one, except for die-hard fanatics (if any), at present would prefer to bring audio CD's wherever they go when there are digital versions of the same music that can be carried around saved in the libraries of their music players (like Zune and iPod). Audio CD's are just too fragile to carry around compared to digital files. Digital [music] files can also be backed up easily. These are but few of the obvious advantages of digital files to audio CD's. I am in no manner inclined to enumerate them because, honestly, there is no point in doing so. Everybody is in agreement here, right? Or am I just standing on a frail wooden floor of presumptions? Regardless, it is a fact that we are seeing the decline of audio CD's.

Truly, nothing lasts forever in this world. The type of technology we use is no exemption. For all we know, several years from now, we will also see the decline of digital music as we know it today, to be replaced by something better... more convenient.

I just have one question left bothering me though. Will the death of audio CD's bring about the death of music stores - the physical ones? Are music stores going to be dragged into the same grave along with the audio CD's?  (Actually, that's two, but I wish to believe they are counted as one.)

Online music stores are on the rise and they have been for quite some time now. That's for sure.