The CD Player Turns 30

October 1st, 2012 by Benj Edwards

Sony CDP-101, The First Commercial CD Player

Thirty years ago today, Sony released the first commercially available Compact Disc player, the CDP-101. It launched alongside 50 CDs in Japan, marking the commercial birth of the widely popular digital audio medium.

Over at TechHive (a new site run by the folks behind PC World), I’ve written an in-depth piece that details the history and impact of the CD as a medium for both audio and computer data. I hope you enjoy it.



3 Responses to “The CD Player Turns 30”

  1. Boon Says:

    In 1985 I was in college, back when kids spent all their spare cash on stereo equipment. A guy in my dorm bought a Sony CD player and cranked up two songs: Donald Fagen’s IGY and Dire Straits’ Money for Nothing. My god. Such crisp sound, like nothing any of us had ever heard before.

    The other technical marvel he has was a typewriter with a one-line LCD display. It wouldn’t print out what you typed until after you hit .

    That was a long damn time ago.

  2. Ant Says:

    Boon: Crazy! I miss the old days. 🙁

  3. Boon Says:

    Man, I have to proofread my stuff. He “had” a typewriter and it wouldn’t print out what you typed until you hit “return”. It was still called “return” in those days, not “enter”.

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