What Happened On March 8th?

On March 8th of 1982 in Langenhagen, Germany, a new era of sound was ushered with the Compact Disc (CD). A collaboration between Sony and Philips, promised pristine digital audio unlike anything the world had experienced before.

While the initial focus was on music, replacing the beloved crackle and pop of vinyl records, the CD’s potential extended far beyond entertainment. Its ability to store large amounts of digital data in a compact format (hence the name!) hinted at future applications. If Thomas Edison knew that this would be a possibility 102 years later, he would have been shocked!

Philips, a Dutch electronics giant, had been working on laser-based optical storage technology since the 1960s.

On the other hand, Sony, a Japanese company, was one of the founder companies of digital recording techniques.

In 1979, after overcoming technical hurdles and format battles with other contenders, the two companies joined forces to create a standardized CD system. This collaboration, bridged continents and technological expertise and laid the groundwork for the compact disc’s global impact.

Its versatility paved the way for the development of the CD-ROM, which revolutionized computer data storage and distribution. Software programs, games, and even encyclopedias found a new home on CDs, forever changing how information was accessed and shared.

The CD has a maximum of a 74-minute playtime, and this wasn’t chosen arbitrarily.  Legend has it that Sony insisted on this length to ensure it could hold Beethoven’s entire Ninth Symphony, a favorite of company co-founder, Masaru Ibuka. Philips, on the other hand, preferred a slightly shorter duration. The compromise resulted in the now-standard CD playtime.

Now, the first commercially available CD was ABBA’s album, “The Visitors,” released in Japan on August 1st, 1982. The success was immediate, with over 500 million CDs sold worldwide within the first decade.

However, the now-ubiquitous skip button wasn’t part of the original CD player design. It was a feature specifically requested by CBS Records founder, Walter Yetnikoff. Yetnikoff, a man of refined taste, disliked having to fast-forward through unwanted tracks on classical albums.