Remember compact discs?

This morning I received a CD in the mail that I had ordered from Amazon thanks to their creepily accurate recommended picks (they know me so well!!). I finally broke down and bought the last Maxwell album that I didn’t own yet. They make it so easy, I’m ordering something else, and those nice people at Amazon suggest other things I might like. And usually they are spot on. My thoughts were, “That’s right, I don’t own that album yet. I really would like it! It’s only $7.50!” Sold. Yes, I am very susceptible to marketing ploys.

So, I tore open the cardboard packaging to reveal a shiny cellophane wrapped cd underneath. Remember those shiny discs we used to listen to music on before iPods were invented? I forgot how much fun these things are! It has been years since I purchased one. Though I am still really not sure why they have to them so gosh darn hard to open. Really, the shrink wrap is difficult enough to crack, then that sticky bar along the top that never comes off in a single piece. It’s a miracle that people didn’t stop buying cd’s before mp3s came along because of the sheer difficulty of getting to the music.


Then I popped open the cd drive of my desktop, and for a moment I forgot what to do next. It took a little perusing of my computer’s applications to remember I needed to launch Windows Media Player to actually play the cd. Now I am happily enjoying the sounds of Maxwell Unplugged while flipping through the disc jacket, full of pictures and info about the songs. Though I do plan on uploading it to my computer and subsequently, my iPod for future listening, this whole buying a cd thing was a fun trip down memory lane, to when I used to get SO EXCITED to buy new albums and then look at all the pictures inside, and hear the songs that aren’t released on the radio. I might just buy some more cd’s soon. Any recommendations of good albums you’ve heard lately?