Compact Disc (Object Lessons)

The Object Lessons series achieves something very close to magic: the books take ordinary-even banal-objects and animate them with a rich history of invention, political struggle, science, and popular mythology. Filled with fascinating details and conveyed in sharp, accessible prose, the books make the everyday world come to life. Be warned: once you've read a few of these, you'll start walking around your house, picking up random objects, and musing aloud: 'I wonder what the story is behind this thing?'" Steven Johnson, author of Where Good Ideas Come From and How We Got to Now ## " Object Lessons describe themselves as 'short, beautiful books, ' and to that, I'll say, amen. . . . If you read enough Object Lessons books, you'll fill your head with plenty of trivia to amaze and annoy your friends and loved ones-caution recommended on pontificating on the objects surrounding you. More importantly, though . . . they inspire us to take a second look at parts of the everyday that we've taken for granted. These are not so much lessons about the objects themselves, but opportunities for self-reflection and storytelling. They remind us that we are surrounded by a wondrous world, as long as we care to look. "Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. The story of the compact disc is also the story of the end of physical media. It is the story of how the quest for perfection laid the grounds for the death of a great industry. For in the passage from analogue media, like records and tapes, to digital media, like CDs, something changed in the nature of media and in the relationship we have with music. Music became code, a sequence of 1s and 0s. A flow of pure information. The material structure of the medium itself was always supposed to disappear. But the physical has proved to possess an uncanny knack for returning. The CD was killed in the 90s - first by emphasizing its physical nature, later by removing it altogether. But today the CD persists - a zombie medium, still popular amongst certain avant-garde record labels and Japanese consumers. Against all the odds, the spectre persists. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in the The Atlantic"-- Provided by publisher Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. The story of the compact disc is also the story of the end of physical media. It is the story of how the quest for perfection laid the grounds for the death of a great industry. For in the passage from analogue media, like records and tapes, to digital media, like CDs, something changed in the nature of media and in the relationship we have with music. Music became code, a sequence of 1s and 0s. A flow of pure information. The material structure of the medium itself was always supposed to disappear. But the physical has proved to possess an uncanny knack for returning. The CD was killed in the 1990s – first by emphasizing its physical nature, later by removing it altogether. But today the CD persists – a zombie medium, still popular amongst certain avantgarde record labels and Japanese consumers. Against all the odds, the spectre persists. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in the The Atlantic. Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. The story of the compact disc is also the story of the end of physical media. It is the story of how the quest for perfection laid the grounds for the death of a great industry. For in the passage from analogue media, like records and tapes, to digital formats, like CDs, something changed in the nature of media and in the relationship we have with music. Music became code, a sequence of 1s and 0s, a flow of pure information. The material structure of the medium itself was always supposed to disappear. But the physical has proved to possess an uncanny knack for returning. Today the CD is a zombie medium, still popular amongst certain avant-garde record labels and Japanese consumers. Against all the odds, the spectre endures. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in the The Atlantic . Title Page Copyright Page Contents Introduction Chapter 1: The little disc Chapter 2: The faithful disc Chapter 3: The wounded disc Chapter 4: The undead disc Postscript Acknowledgements Select Bibliography Index