Collecting CDs, etc.

[gvopedz]

12 minutes ago, mjzee said:

I can look at a disc and remember where I bought it.  

I still have the first LP I ever bought - I was 11 years old, I remember how much it cost (I paid cash), I remember walking to a bus stop with my new LP under my arm, and then going home in the bus, a proud owner of a Beatles LP.

[kh1958]

1 minute ago, gvopedz said:

I still have the first LP I ever bought - I was 11 years old, I remember how much it cost (I paid cash), I remember walking to a bus stop with my new LP under my arm, and then going home in the bus, a proud owner of a Beatles LP.

Same here: Rubber Soul.

[HutchFan]

Cool memories!  Thanks for sharing them.

I have LPs from my father's collection that are very special to me. Lots of positive associations. 

[Stompin at the Savoy]

I like having cds.  They provide a last-ditch, non-volatile backup for the music.  It's great looking at a nicely produced cd or box set with a good booklet.  And I have a sentimental attachment to my cds, esp some of the big box sets like Basie and Ellington.  On the other hand they take up way too much space.  Same with books.  I have a storage unit the size of a single car garage full of the stuff. 

Streaming is ephemeral: you never know if it's going to be there later.  Downloading gives you a permanent copy of your own which you can make backups of and even burn to cd or dvd.  The only real disadvantage to downloads is the lack of liner notes, booklets etc.  But you can often get photos of those on musicbrainz.org and elsewhere on the internet.

Over the years I have ripped all my cds to lossless files on hard drives and photographed all the booklets.  The advantage is I can pull up anything I have instantly and take my music with me on phone, ipad, walkman, etc.  I can also instantly bring up all versions of a song that I own, etc. 

I have reluctantly switched over mainly to reading books on Kindle for PC, where I put the book up on a large monitor, bump up the font and can read without glasses.  It's simply the most comfortable way for me to read and it relieves the eyestrain, headache, and discomfort of reading hard copy with 3.5x cheaters.  I've never owned a Kindle device.  The screen is too small for what I'm trying to do - blow it up big enough to read without glasses. Like music in digital files, this format allows for all sorts of searches not available with a paper book.

There is no best way to keep music or text.  It's all up to your preferences and what you feel comfortable with.

Edited August 27, 2023 by Stompin at the Savoy

[mjzee]

I'll sometimes read books on my iPad Mini.  I can enlarge the text as much as I'd like, reduce the display brightness to make it comfortable to read in the dark, and I like not having the heaviness of a large book.  I'm currently reading the DK book "The Complete Classical Music Guide," which is 354 pages and nicely illustrated.  It wouldn't look good on a black & white Kindle screen, and would probably be very heavy in book form, but the iPad Mini version seems just right.

[Stompin at the Savoy]

5 minutes ago, mjzee said:

I'll sometimes read books on my iPad Mini.  I can enlarge the text as much as I'd like, reduce the display brightness to make it comfortable to read in the dark, and I like not having the heaviness of a large book.  I'm currently reading the DK book "The Complete Classical Music Guide," which is 354 pages and nicely illustrated.  It wouldn't look good on a black & white Kindle screen, and would probably be very heavy in book form, but the iPad Mini version seems just right.

I have a standard ipad I use like that.

[gmonahan]

On 8/27/2023 at 2:05 PM, Stompin at the Savoy said:

I have a standard ipad I use like that.

I use a kindle. It's easy to download ebooks onto it from the library. Except for jazz books, I try very hard not to buy books. I once had a huge library, and the thought of moving it to where I am now was too awful to contemplate, so I got rid of most of my books.

But cds? Moved every last one of 'em! I have worked hard--mostly successfully--to slow down my buying in the last year or so, though this board can be very bad for that intention! Just today, I saw a 2-cd set discussed here, and the devil on one shoulder got me to order it before the angel on my other shoulder woke up to stop me. Sigh.

Edited August 29, 2023 by gmonahan

[Stompin at the Savoy]

1 hour ago, gmonahan said:

I use a kindle. It's easy to download ebooks onto it from the library. Except for jazz books, I try very hard not to buy books. I once had a huge library, and the thought of moving it to where I am now was too awful to contemplate, so I got rid of most of my books.

But cds? Moved every last one of 'em! I have worked hard--mostly successfully--to slow down my buying in the last year or so, though this board can be very bad for that intention! Just today, I saw a 2-cd set discussed here, and the devil on one shoulder got me to order it before the angel on my other shoulder woke up to stop me. Sigh.

Yeah I hear you.  People keep recommending things and I find myself buying them.  Whee!

The beauty of Kindle is you can read your books on several devices, for me a PC, ipad and iphone.  In a pinch when I have to wait somewhere I can pull out my iphone and continue reading from the point I left off on the PC.  I have to use cheaters to read the iphone but it's something to do while you are waiting at the dentist.

Edited August 29, 2023 by Stompin at the Savoy