Tomorrow's World - Compact Disc

Kieran Prendiville on Tomorrow's World demonstrates the compact disc, sometime in 1981 but I can't give an exact date of transmission. Note there is no jam in this clip. See my page at orchardoo.com/jam for details, which I've updated recently (November 2023) or this video • Tomorrow's World - The... .
Honey is featured in a breakfast television clip about compact discs, partially featured in my clip at • Stephen Fry's 100 Grea... from Stephen Fry's 100 Greatest Gadgets. The full clip from Breakfast Time is on the BBC Archive channel at • 1983: Will a CD covere... .

[@LarryDors]

I've covered the jam spreading myth in a video at kzbin.info/www/bejne/kGakhperfqllhpY and at orchardoo.com/jam.

[@themaritimegirl]

"You don't have to worry about scratches." I'm crying. This is awesome, though.

[@Shedpocket]

Whether it will take off remains to be seen....the man says....lol

[@synaesthesia2010]

4K Blurays, anyone?

[@calif1mc]

I have some.

[@calif1mc]

Physical media can't be hacked, it can't be made a victim of ransomware, a virus can't take it down, a hacker can't delete it, if the company goes under, no worries, your music and movies are still going to work, and the physical act of touching and playing it makes the music seem more personal, more real. Now, don't get me wrong, Music in the cloud is great, you can take it anywhere, and you don't have lug around discs and tapes, but to rely 100% on it is dangerous and stupid. About 4K Blu Ray's, if you want the best, uncompressed images, they're it, you just can't get the same via broadcast.

[@moramento22]

I use streaming services cause I love them because you have unrestricted access to millions of songs with a low subscription price, but for my most precious music I still buy CDs and, as vinyls got into fashion, I'm toying with an idea of buying them in that format as well. It's as you said reality and satisfaction coming with them that's the best.

[@michaelwest6238]

Didn’t mention in the future gardeners would hang them up to scare birds

[@krashd]

I'm a giant and I find that they make excellent sequins.

[@NotMe35971]

Also in some countries people believed that it can reflect speed radars if hanged on the mirror in the car. I'm not sure if it worked.

[@zetametallic]

@@toddblanks the lead singer of the group M covered himself with them for the 1989 remix of 'Pop Musik' on TOTP. I always remember that

[@johneygd]

Ot you can use them as frishbees ,ahahaha.

[@TheLegendaryDoc]

"whether there is a market for this disc remains to be seen...." :-D

[@clemstevenson]

I remember those words. Pity the damn things were so expensive in those days. Things changed in a later time, and it became a case of "how many copies would you like?"

[@whi5tler_1337]

TheLegendaryDoc was there ever a market ?

[@mrcaboosevg6089]

Nearly 40 years later and even with the internet CDs are still selling pretty well

[@RB747domme]

@@mrcaboosevg6089 yes, they sold 12 last week alone.

[@mrcaboosevg6089]

@@RB747domme I know plenty of people that still use them, they're older people sure but they still buy them. Supermarkets wouldn't still carry them if there wasn't a market

[@freeman10000]

As a music medium CD's can't be beat. A well recorded Compact Disc played on even a moderate HiFi system is something to behold. Long live physical media😊

[@Rich6Brew]

I agree. If I'm paying to listen to music I want hard copy.

[@bacomiric]

CD survived all challenges and is still used in 2020.

[@APBCTechnique]

I actually watched this episode and said that will never catch on 😂

[@PhirePhlame]

You don't have to worry about scatches *You don't have to worry about scratches*

[@andy6576]

@moonage daydream Bollocks. Vinyl depends on a diamond-tipped stylus to read the sound, so no matter _how_ preciously you look after vinyl, it degrades a little _every time it's played_ simply by the process of friction and erosion.

[@Discrimination_is_not_a_right]

I don't have to worry about scratches. But I'm careful about how I handle my discs.

[@endezeichengrimm]

I worry

[@TC-mb2pw]

Exactly, which is why I view the resurgence of vinyl as a mug's game. It's not as good as a cd, never was, never could be.

[@39PSIOnTheDaily]

"You don't even have to worry about scratches." Yeah. Tell that to my poor, worn out little Miles Davis' CD's.

[@synaesthesia2010]

if it hasn't lasted that's down to mishandling it, you should always hold them at the edge, never let the surface touch anything, and they'll last years, my dad does this and has had some CDs for over 30 years he still plays often and they're in mint condition

[@LarryDors]

One of the first CDs I got was 10cc Greatest Hits 1972-1978 which must have been in the early to mid 80s and the disc still plays fine today.

[@TheAkashicTraveller]

The is probably only in the plastic layer which you can just get resurfaced.

[@Solitaire001]

With CDs the label side is the vulnerable side because (usually) the label is the only thing protecting the CD's metallic layer. If the label gets scratched the actual CD data can be damaged. That's why I think part of the CD standard should have been to provide a protective coating on both sides of the CD. I still have my original CDs and they play just as well as the day I purchased them. Like others have mentioned, I only handle the CD by the edge and/or the center hole. I also avoid CD players that pull the CD into itself (like most car CD players). With those types of player, I prefer to play a burned CD rather than my original CD since I can always reburn it if it gets damaged.

[@AmazingArends]

I only once had a CD or CDROM become unreadable due to scratches, and that was when I let someone else mishandle it.

[@alvarosanchezlocutor]

Clean sound forever. Still to this day. Those who claim that CDs are worthless don't know how to take good care of them.

[@Badassvidsz]

Couldn't agree more .

[@jimmyschmidt14]

sounds as good as it did the day it was printed.

[@Mr.77776]

Now the idiots are blaming cd rot for their cds not working. I have 3,600 cds and not one has cd rot.

[@Pauldjreadman]

Finally found tomorrow's world, it's a damn shame they stopping producing this program

[@AmazingArends]

CD-ROMs were just as remarkable when they first came out. The idea of being able to store hundreds of books or a full encyclopedia on a single disk was pretty mind blowing back then.,

[@CallieMasters5000]

I've invested all my money in 8 track tapes. These new-fangled things won't last!

[@martinwooder4174]

Seriously. 30+ years how much has the world changed. Yet cds are still (just) with us!

[@rkmugen]

Unfortunately, not everyone has 20-gigabit/s (not Gigabyte/s) internet connections yet. I myself am sandwiched between Comcast/Xfinity and AT&T, both of which cost an arm, a leg, and a head with ancient connectivity (compared to that of South Korea, of Japan, and of the Netherlands), piss-poor customer service, and a bunch of packaged shit I just don't need (nor would I ever want to pay for) anyway; TV subscription packages - i NEVER pay for TV... EVER.... i believe i am a rebel in that way. I actually ended up with a lesser-known provider, which isn't as bad as either of those two.... but still offering me nowhere near the GOD-LIKE speeds of the other 3 countries I just mentioned, and nor offering me my currents service at anywhere near a comparable price. For this reason.... this BIG reason, I still opt for buying things locally in stores...... and as an absolute last resort: online (waiting for the truck to deliver it to my front door). I mean, it's not so bad when my pizza delivery happens to come at around the same time as the packages I've ordered...... THAT is a very good day!

[@MrDegsy69]

@Blob B Dowloading a 1080p Mp4 is roughly 1.7gb in size. This usually takes a few minutes. Upgrade that dial up modem Mr Blob! 😂

[@martinvernon4129]

Compact Disc. That was the system I ended up with and I LOVED it! Everybody else followed this system and produced a mixed bag of players and discs. The quality varied tremendously

[@LarryDors]

I also have some pre-recorded cassettes, vinyl abums, 7 inch singles, 12 inch singles and a couple of mini discs but a lot of CD albums and singles (including enhanced ones that had extra content if played on a PC, see kzbin.info/www/bejne/iJy4cpdrotqIqZY).

[@denadavey1470]

I recall walking very slowly in an odd way to prevent my disc player jumping-if I went down a kerb The Human League would skip 3 tracks! We all looked stupid in the 80’s but I walked like John Cleese doing the ministery of silly walks 🤣

[@dm95422]

The song he was playing was called "Paradise" by the BeeGees from the "Living Eyes" album.

[@LarryDors]

Bisphurok Baruah asked about the track three weeks ago and I replied with the same answer, so I don't know why you did the same thing!

[@dm95422]

@@LarryDors LOL...For good measure, just in case. No harm in that. Great song.

[@southendparaquest]

Bloody hell, thought that was James May at the start. And if you're wondering how Dubstep came about, find a CD and put a scratch on it

[@Stefan-]

The people that invented the CD and the digital format that is stored on the CD really knew what they were doing.

[@Spacekriek]

Oh, indeed. I could not agree more. Do yourself a favour and look up this video: Errors aren't forever m.m.v. Stan Baggen,Jack van Lint. It explains a lot of the techical processes and designing that went into the compact disc. Another person whose name is also associated a lot with the development is Kees Schouhammer Immink. Enjoy !

[@Urko2005]

I remember also watching somewhere, where it said you could virtually do anything to a CD without harming it lol

[@mrcaboosevg6089]

They must have been smoking the good stuff, a cassette of the time would have put CD durability to shame

[@freeman10000]

CDs are pretty durable and you have to scuff them up bad to render the useless. The main problem with CD's are the el cheapo players and will inadvertently skip for no seeming reason at all.

[@windogmassey1]

"Whether there is a market remains to be seen"...

[@catsadilla324]

Mans low-key disrespecting the best audio format out there today.

[@MrDaiseymay]

Back then, even I thought it was the real future. As for 'Scratching them', along with other ludicrous claims of abuse. CD's need just as much care as Vinyl.

[@parttimehuman]

@@MrDaiseymay If you take a scratched cd that skips and wash it under the sink with some warm water and soap, it would help. Always seemed really weird to do like you would ruin it. But once it was dry it would play a lot better.

[@welsh-3286]

i hope so, these modern wonders of science can i buy one now ?

[@carguyuk3613]

I bought a Philips cd player in 1985. Two months later I had enough money to buy the amp! First cds were Elo and Dire Straights. The Cds still play perfectly although my original player is long gone.

[@BilisNegra]

Because you treated them right, unless the lot of silly commentators which always sprout when discussing CDs.

[@horrortackleharry]

I like the CD format- mostly because they're all now 50p a pop in charity shops.

[@JohnJackson-mn4ts]

Don’t need to worry about grubby marks or scratches.... yeah, right! 🙄

[@MrDaiseymay]

I chuckled at that claim. Back then---I remember some idiot saying, ' you can jump up and down on them, spread jam on them too, etc ' Even fine scraches cause missed recorded material, and, oily finger marks. Obviously, being a BBC prog--the idea , staring them in the face, that this breakthrough in sound recording---lacked any commercial value, what-so-ever, was entirely expected, and nobody challenged that.

[@sbanner428]

Until blu-ray

[@p.g.j6323]

Yeah. I have some scratched so bad they wont play

[@LarryDors]

@@p.g.j6323 Have you tried any of the tips at electronics.howstuffworks.com/repair-scratched-cd.htm? If you get a scratch on vinyl disc you really can't do anything, though!

[@razik1986]

😂😂😂

[@thekarmafarmer608]

I remember the companies saying that scratches wouldn`t affect sound and that CDs would massively reduce the cost one would pay for an LP.

[@LarryDors]

Well, you're half right. Small scratches won't affect the sound on a CD as much as it would on a vinyl record, but do you think record companies would reduce the price of albums that people would buy on CD to replace their vinyl versions? They are out to make money, not help the consumer!

[@thekarmafarmer608]

@@LarryDors Haha, well I know that now, don`t I? When they came out we had no idea that they simply wouldn`t play if they were scratched. The average person had no idea how they worked. And no, as an adult I don`t think they would reduce the price. But, that is how they were marketed. That`s all I was saying

[@yixnorb5971]

@@LarryDors That's because the laser focuses past the clear outer layer to the digital pits on the metallic substrate.

[@LarryDors]

@@yixnorb5971 I would hope that we all know that CDs are read effectively from the inside out as the data is bounced from the innner layer out through the clear layer to the laser pick up (as Kieran sort of explains in the clip). The problem happens when the scratches on the surface causes the light to bounce back at an angle and not hit the receiver acurately, or not hit the right part of the data in the first place, both causing a drop in the music. I know that's not the right terms but you know what I mean!

[@Detson404]

That’s what I’ve heard. They were marketed as being nearly indestructible lol.

[@paulhunter123]

if you dont have to worry about scratches on CDs why are so many of mine scratched to hell and skip or wont play?

[@LarryDors]

Is your vinyl collection any better?

[@paulhunter123]

@@LarryDors no one said vinyl doesn't scratch

[@michaelturner4457]

They got scratched because of careless handling and storage probably. Same with vinyl records.

[@jamesgill6247]

Imagine if they could put pictures and video on one of these things!

[@alanwhite7912]

Of all the music they could have played they went for the Bee Gees!

[@kyleswartz7268]

It was the first CD manufactured so they didn't have much of a choice.

[@flecktarn4110]

Better than the crap in the charts now. Even if it does sound like someone got kicked in the balls.

[@freeman10000]

@@flecktarn4110 Well put

[@myaccountagain]

They also did a demo where they spread jam on it to show it would still play, disappointed that wasn’t in this video

[@LarryDors]

Please read the description for this video and see my page at orchardoo.com/TWCompactDisc.htm before talking about jam. TM demonstrated the new compact disc only once and did not use jam, but a breakfast TV spot used honey (kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z2KVoIJpl9d3gNE).

[@giles852002]

Twenty years later the Vinyl record is outselling the CD.

[@pran6090]

Source?

[@Rich6Brew]

LP stands for Lonely Person.

[@rachel.mcgowan]

Only because downloads, and latterly streaming, overtook the CD. Digital music is massively more popular than ancient analog.

[@dales616]

This has triggered me back to 1992 an mum buying "best of" CDs....

[@LarryDors]

I think a good proportion of my CD collection are best of/greatest hits compilations.

[@LarryDors]

I transferred this from a Betamax tape recorded in 1981, but I can't remember which month. I went from vinyl to compact disc before going to mp3 (with a side step to mini discs) and to anyone else linking to this video, note there is no jam involved! A BBC News item on compact discs shown on breakfast TV used honey and coffee and Peter Powell spread some jam on disc in a segment on the Oxford Road Show.

[@wisteela]

LarryDors Many thanks for uploading this. Yes, I'm wondering about the jam smearing too.

[@fowlskins]

+LarryDors i always thought the jam smearing was on the tomorrows world program in fact thats why i watched this thank god we never had to worry about scratches though eh :)

[@andrewscott1253]

+LarryDors You know there is so many sources on the web that thik Kieran spread Jam on the CD on Tomorrow's World, both Wikipedia and WhatHIFI say this. Funny eh how these misconceptions can get so engrained.

[@fowlskins]

there was jam spreading on a program i watched it with my own eyes always thought it was tomorrows world but maby it was another platform

[@LarryDors]

+LarryDors I have uploaded a clip featuring part of the breakfast television clip (which featured honey, not jam) at kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJqyd4KAjNmsfdU.

[@domfjbrown75]

I want that Technics SLP10!!! Watched this when it first aired as a 6 year old and my two mates and I were totally blown away by it!

[@LarryDors]

If you want one, Reverb.com have one for sale at only £491.16 plus £80.95 shipping from Annapolis, Maryland, USA!

[@esssexboy]

I remember my 8 track player i had in my Capri. Doesn't seem that long ago the 70's, my god half a century 🙏

[@Nightweaver1]

My new computer doesn't even come with an optical drive because they're so obsolete now.

[@frazzleface753]

What a time to be alive. I would love to go back for a bit.

[@sirpercivalsmallcock-jones9585]

That CD sounded like it was playing too fast. Oh, wait, it's the Bee Gees.

[@kyleswartz7268]

Would have been funny if they were actually singing in falsetto.

[@MrDegsy69]

@@kyleswartz7268 Robin did get a pair of 'falsies' later on if that helps? 😂😂😂

[@97channel]

That's a lovely little microwave, at the end.

[@lewisclark1122]

Never mind the item - what a fantastic title sequence.

[@LarryDors]

With none of this computer graphics stuff either!

[@geekymarianne]

Thanks, lasers. Thasers.

[@seand1971]

Look around you. esque.

[@william-uk]

I love that stat about the track on a CD being 2.5 miles long (although I've seen it calculated elsewhere as up to 3.74 miles)

[@LarryDors]

Doesn't it depend on how long the audio content is? Early discs were up to 72 or 74 minutes, then later CDs increased this to 80 minutes (and sometimes more). The bbe Gees album shown was called Living Eyes and was just over 46 minutes long. It was first released in 1981 but didn;t appear on CD until the 1988 reissue.

[@andrewmcdonnell826]

And here we are in 2020 with vinyl outselling CDs.

[@15loucanova]

not actually true but that is what the labels want you to believe to hype up vinyl because they are making such big margins on the over-inflated retail prices. vinyl revival is still really a relatively niche market but yes sales are growing but worldwide sales of cds still far outweigh vinyl sales. in Asia in particular, cd sales are still very healthy. the big joke where consumers are being mugged/hoodwinked by the industry is that you're paying big bucks for new vinyl which, in over 95% of cases, is being pressed from a digital source.

[@rachel.mcgowan]

Back when I was a kid, a CD album was about double the cost of a vinyl album. Now it's the opposite, at least. I read, and have no reason to disbelieve, many vinyl albums sold today are never played. Used to only be hard-core collectors that bought records not for playing.

[@giles852002]

Sad thing is, I just inherited a Vinyl record that is nearly 50 years old & plays beautifully. They’re saying CD’s that old may not be playable due to disc rot! This is why vinyl is making a huge comeback!

[@LarryDors]

Not all old CDs suffer from disc rot as it depends on the manufacturing process. The first CD I got (that came bundled with my player) is 10cc Greatest Hits, and it still plays fine. Some vinyl records can be mispressed and not play properly. The original NOW That's What I Call Music albums had 8 tracks per side and did not sound the same as the same track on the artist's album as they might have only 5 tracks and so the grooves were wider apart. People have just thought it sounds better on vinyl.

[@dales616]

Vinyl gives a much better sound. Let's face it, CDs and pro tools and all the digital stuff that comes with it kinda made the music world stale and repetitive

[@Alexamenus]

​@@dales616 that is technologically not true, the dynamic range and audio bitrate on a CD is much higher and lossless, analog audio data is actually much lower quality, and honestly i think the resurgence of vinyl now a days is just a scam by record companies to get young people to pay more for music

[@BICIeCOMPUTERconGabriele]

This is bullshit... pressed CDs (the one you bought pre recorded) will last way longer without any issues.

[@Pauleyh2]

I have CDs from the early 80s that sound perfect

[@mega-hb4re]

When everything was so simple

[@LarryDors]

Well, MS-DOS first appeared in that year and that wasn't simple, neither was the first IBM PC, but Raiders of the Lost Ark was good!

[@leerobinson590]

Ain't that the truth

[@MrExasperation]

CDs really are almost scratch-proof *when compared to vinyl*. In 1982 everyone was calling CDs "long-play records" and treating them as a successor to 33s. The fact that you can gently rub down a CD with cloth without destroying is pretty neat.

[@BilisNegra]

That's the part everyone misses. It's not like you can mishandle them like a brute (or a kid, which is about the same).

[@michaelturner4457]

Another new format. Guess I'll have to buy The White Album yet again.

[@LarryDors]

So you already have the vinyl album (stereo and mono versions), 8-Track cartridge, cassette, minidisc, remastered edition, blue vinyl, white vinyl, limited edition, DVD Audio, 5.1 surround mix and blu-ray formats?

[@funkyfrank1980]

Men in black!

[@SjMk1.]

Wish I had one of those non-scratchable C.D's back in the day.

[@LarryDors]

Now if only they could do the same with vinyl...

[@ZeeZeeBun]

"Whether or not there's a market for this disc remains to be soon.." Nearly 4 decades later and the format is still clinging to life by it's fingernails... Yeah I'd say there was a market..

[@gordonm.7387]

Now music comes from clouds.

[@NotMe35971]

not far from religion

[@LeeSusanto]

Wha-, are u moses?!

[@freeman10000]

Come the Zombie Apocalypse those of us with CD's and vinyl will have music! The cloud will be gone and cassettes will be degaussed 🤘

[@dannyboydoh]

Back then when this was shown we must of all thought it would be the end of the record. Here we are in 2017 and records have made a come back and are popular as ever.

[@krashd]

Vinyl never fully went away, an enthusiast would play music on no other format.

[@Royalroadtotheunc]

www.salon.com/2018/02/10/the-cd-is-dead-not-so-fast/

[@richiebattung3362]

Mind blown! Can't wait to have one of this players.

[@LarryDors]

I don't know if you are just trying to be funny, but let me say this one more time. This is from a programme transmitted in 1981, that's (at the time of writing) over 39 years ago. The last player was a prototype by Sony, called the Goronta and was never released. Their first player was the CDP-10 which played discs horizontally, like the first one (a Technics SL-P10).

[@richiebattung3362]

@@LarryDors I typed that comment using a smartphone so yes, it is a joke. 😂

[@anthonyvasquez1259]

Yesterdays world.

[@LarryDors]

Now, yes, but back when it was originally transmitted it wasn't. If you look at a clip like kzbin.info/www/bejne/mairmpVrrL54oJo where kids in the 1960s talk about what it will be like in the year 2000 they guess about over population and global warning but robot courts haven't happened yet!

[@garyhunt8964]

CD player scratched some of my CDs

[@LarryDors]

Not a helpful comment. I can't send a private message to you as you don't have any content on your channel, but have you tried any the methods shown in kzbin.info/www/bejne/nX_IepRjndahq7s to clean the CD?

[@jerrywcarman1483]

I read the posts and I noticed that one said that it would never catch on. I believe he was wrong.😅

[@MrJ0mmy]

don't have to worry about scratches um yes you do

[@doctorwhoproductions834]

MrJ0mmy back then cds were a lot better and stronger then the mass product ones now

[@benjaminshelley450]

The music on this compact disc was originally recorded on analog equipment. We have attempted to preserve as closely as possible the sound of the original recording. Because of it's high resolution however, the compact disc can reveal limitations of the source tape.

[@LarryDors]

What's your point?

[@benjaminshelley450]

@@LarryDors This was just commonly written on the back cover of CD's of older music when I was a kid. There was usually also a three letter code AAD (analog tape used for recording, analog tape for mixing, digital for master recording) ADD (analog tape used for recording, digital for mixing, digital for master recording) DDD (digital for all three).

[@LarryDors]

@@benjaminshelley450 I know about the SPARS code (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPARS_code) on compact discs, but that only started in 1984 (by Polygram I believe). The Living Eyes album by the Bee Gees featured in the clip came out in 1981 and looking at a scan of the back cover of the CD they didn't use it then. The first album I have with a DDD on it is Jean-Michel Jarre's Zoolook from 1984 on Polygram.

[@eatkunt2743]

I love my CD's! Greatly useful for cup plates.

[@sovietonion72]

In Australia we had a similar show called Beyond 2000

[@giveall9695]

All people bitching here about scratches... Well remember: I have some hugely scratched cds since I was child. The worst thing that can happen to your cd is not the scratch from bottom, that is usually fine, but from the upper side where is label. The info layer is just below that. Plus don't forget that most of people were using cds so baaadly... in cars for example, where there is sun UV shining on the disc, temperature etc... Some of cds I have are even from 80's, and I must say they still play totally fine, even with some scratches... of course if you don't do anything stupid like flying them, or testing their durability with keys... Well, then you can REALLY expect they won't work LOL... It is actually very interesting to hear a good quality cd in it's original top form... kzbin.info/www/bejne/gISUgn5ojMapn8k

[@michaelturner4457]

One day we might be able to record our own compact discs at home. Now wouldn't that be cool?

[@LarryDors]

It would be cool that people stopped leaving comments that pretend that things we know have happened have yet to happen. CD-Rs started in 1990, but the recorders were only really affordable by 1996. That's 15 years after this clip first aired on television, but nearly 19 years BEFORE I posted this clip!

[@ArchangelExile]

OoOooo buuurn

[@dapperfan44]

@@ArchangelExile haha, "burn". I see what you did there.

[@dallase1]

I like the CD Player at 1:42, it loads like a Tape Deck, never seen one like that before seeing this video.

[@LarryDors]

That'll be the Technics SL-P10 released in 1982. See www.technics.com/global/chronicle/sl-p10/.

[@MikeLeePhoto]

Cant wait till HDDVD arrives!

[@johnclarke7096]

i remember an episode on here where they smeared jam over the cd and placed it into the cd player!

[@LarryDors]

Are you sure? Have you see my page at orchardoo.com/TWCompactDisc.htm which explains the jam myth? Tomorrow's World may show similar technologies (like the video disc mentioned in the clip, which could have been Video CDs) but they don't usually show the same technology more than once.

[@ninjaconor86]

@@LarryDors That's really interesting. I suppose it could be a Mandela Effect thing, but I have very clear memories of someone on a TV show spreading jam on a CD and then playing it. It was an old clip shown on some other show, so I couldn't say where it was from.

[@LarryDors]

@@ninjaconor86 Could have the clip featured in this kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJqyd4KAjNmsfdU.

[@alexstewart9747]

I remember it well and it’s the reason I’m watching this vid. 🤣

[@seanconnolly8345]

I remember the jam demo then it wouldn't play .it must have been live he said it worked in rehearsal. Sure it was tomorrow's world.

[@sheer2waist]

Yeah I definitely 'remember' when jam was spread on the disc! Mandela Effect!

[@hallowmaxberry74]

Dam they would never be able to make anything better than this compact disk things

[@Sameoldfitup]

Life is all memory

[@bartvanderzanden5856]

0:01 Yes, every generation has it's own sound that just screams 'the future is coming!'

[@mrcaboosevg6089]

"Remains to be seen whether there's a market", cut to nearly 40 years later and it changed the world and lead to much better compact disk formats we still use today. Even now the quality of a bluray still surpasses what most internet connections can handle and CDs are still selling well

[@guitarfoundry]

i remember watching this as a kid...my dad and i are both audiophiles, and my Dad immediately bought the first philips player which he loved for years until the mech died. Today we enjoy both digital and vinyl..they both have their place, although i do enjoy the faff and nostalgia of vinyl.

[@MrVidification]

.. with an audio quality superior to the most popular digital format and streaming services

[@Stefan-]

Yep and almost 40 years ago.

[@Yetaxa]

In theory yes But I guarantee the vast majority of people don't have the equipment required to take advantage of its superior sound

[@creamcheese6662]

I was still holding out for the digital 8 track

[@LarryDors]

Tascam made the DP-008 in 2011 (kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZjGqGCJabCtgLs and www.soundonsound.com/reviews/tascam-dp008) but you can only record on two tracks at a time.

[@MikeLeePhoto]

Hey Larry, guess what? Sony is bringing back the vinyl record!

[@eustacequinlank7418]

"You don't have to worry about scratches." I won't miss them. I digitised over 300 CDs into FLAC and got a couple of hundred quid selling the hard copies years ago. I'm not into vinyl, as I have other things to spend money on and collect that take up room, but I were to do it all again.

[@Synthematix]

I remember hearing a CD for the first time years ago, first song i ever heard on one was - Taylor Dayne - Tell It To My Heart, i was amazed at the sheer clarity of them, however as you get older your hearing goes from bad to worse, now im not even slightly interested in the compact disc.

[@janegibbon282]

They didn’t take off ‘til the ‘90s and are now virtually extinct.

[@4m05]

I remember watching tomorrow's world about the compact disc, it wasn't this one though it was another about how durable it was, they dragged in along a road attached to a car and it still played, it was later than 1983 I know this because I was not in the UK at that time sometime after 1985

[@LarryDors]

@4m05, it is highly unlikely that Tomorrow's World would have featured the compact disc a second time unless there was some significant improvement or change to the format. CDs did get longer running tmes, reduction in 'disc rot', and of course the development of CD-R, CD-RW, CD-ROMs and the precursor to DVDs, the Video CD. The proof would be finding the footage of this second feature. I doubt any disc would be able to play if was dragged along a road by a car as some light scratches can cause the disc to jump. People always think there was jam spread on a disc on TW (see orchardoo.com/TWCompactDisc.htm) when it was actually honey on a piece for Breakfast TV or jam on an unfound episode of the Oxford Road Show. CDs were shown on many other programmes at the time and they had different methods to show how much better they were than vinyl. If you can find any more information on this appearance I would be interested!

[@4m05]

@@LarryDors I remember the clip it was definatley after 1985 because I was living in south africa and did not come back till 1985, I agree with you about the disc being dragged, I cant say for sure if they did do it or not it was such a long time ago and I was in my teens, if I find the clip I will let you know.

[@vanimapermai]

These discs are too flimsy and are easy to scratch they will never catch on

[@LarryDors]

Funny that since 1982 it has been estimated that 200 billion discs have been sold, so I think it has caught on. If you held a CD in one hand and a vinyl album in the other and shook them, which would break first? Both are easily scratched though!

[@ccllvn]

yeah, also this HD fad will never be viable, who the hell even needs more than 480i..

[@LarryDors]

You do know this isn't a DVD, HD DVD or Blu-Ray disc? The only similar video format was Video CD, which was 352x288 (or quarter the size of the standard TV size at the time) and came about in 1993. Watch my video at kzbin.info/www/bejne/jqbHloR_aJ5kd5o to see what you could get on the format. It was big in Asia but films came on two discs (or three if it was long).

[@-bugbite]

@@LarryDors both of these people are pretending they are talking from back then sarcastically, as they know it caught on and are making a joke about it

[@LarryDors]

I know. It's getting to the point that I'll have to pin a comment to ask people to stop being 'funny' or I'll switch off the comments.

[@Kris.G]

1:05 oh dear.....

[@vinesauceobscurities]

Wait until he learns about CD rot.

[@LarryDors]

Doesn't that depend on when and who manufactured the CD? Out of the hundreds of CDs I've bought over the years I've only experienced CD rot on one of them (and it wasn't the earliest one I had either). Same with it's cousin DVD rot, where I've only experienced it on two out of the many I've bought. You can get poorly pressed vinyl as well badly made casettes, so no one format is perfect!

[@Kris.G]

@@LarryDors i was referring to scratching.

[@LarryDors]

Of course in those days it was thought you would store your CDs without cases in boxes full of pebbles or small stones and it would be at least 11 years before scratching really took off on CD (kzbin.info/www/bejne/rorEqGh6r72cipY).

[@agevenisse3252]

@@vinesauceobscurities I have many CDs from 1983. Only one of them has "rot".

[@stuffthings3728]

Wow can't wait to get my hands on one of those bad bhoys!!!!

[@LarryDors]

The first player Kieran uses was a Technics SL-P10 made in 1983 ($1000, one recently sold for $1110 on eBay), the second was a Philips prototype, which later developed into the CD-100 with a wedge front (one listed on ebay for £1150, which is about $1481), and the third was a prototype by Sony, called the Goronta and it was never put into production.

[@stuffthings3728]

@@LarryDors think I'd much prefer to go modern for that money.

[@anthonyperkins7556]

Problem with issuing old recordings on compact disc is that digital compression can mask some of the original sounds in the analogue recordings unless it's done right and the analogue recordings are properly mastered. You do hear a bit more hiss too from the analogue tapes too when crisply transferred to digital but that I can live with.

[@spottydog4477]

Actually the 'scratches' jibes aside, it was the flood of cheap cd/dvd player that resulted in the big problem with reading through even the slightest of scratches

[@vtwinmama]

Bee gees on compact disk? Wow. I'm gonna wait for the MP3 era to arrive😄

[@roys3580]

The best Tomorrow's World theme tune.

[@paulolameiras861]

1:41 awesome CD deck! Thanks for the vid.

[@krashd]

Yeah, that auto-loader thing was sweet :)

[@omegaman3396]

Pra quem não sabe, essa música tocada chama-se "Paradise", dos bee gees. A música pertence ao álbum "living eyes", de 1981. Esse foi o primeiro álbum *fabricado* em CD no mundo (não foi publicado, apenas foi fabricado para fins de demonstração. O primeiro álbum a ser *lançado* em CD de fato dou do Bily Joel)

[@LarryDors]

For those who don't read Portugese, Omega Man says: "For those who don't know, this song played is called "Paradise", by the bee gees. The song belongs to the 1981 album "living eyes". This was the first album made on CD in the world (it was not published, it was only made for demonstration purposes. The first album to be released on CD actually was by Bily Joel )" Actually, the first test CD was pressed in Hannover, Germany by the Polydor Pressing Operations plant in 1981. The disc contained a recording of Richard Strauss's Eine Alpensinfonie, played by the Berlin Philharmonic and conducted by Herbert von Karajan. Whilst the Bee Gees album was made in 1981 to demonstrate the compact disc, it was released in Japan a few years later. ABBA's The Visitors was produced in 1982 and Billy Joel's 52nd Street was pressed later but was sold in the same year before ABBA. Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA was the first music CD released in America in 1984. Dire Straits' Brothers In Arms was the first CD Single, released in 1985 and the album was the first to be recorded entirely digitially.

[@omegaman3396]

@@LarryDors thanks bro

[@kurudo6432]

it's bizarre watching this. as someone born in the 90s, used vinyl, tape and CD through my life, feel a strange nostalgia watching this. especially those equipments. they used to cost almost a car back then, and now? all on scrape yards.

[@funkg]

Funny how my decades old vinyl records still play, and my much more recent CDs and DVD mostly do not

[@marlawallis181]

+funkg Mine from 1982 still play love. You must be mishandling them. All 1,000+ of mine play perfectly though.

[@TheJoebus666]

I've bought several used CDs from Amazon, some manufactured as far back as 1985, and they play perfectly.

[@dan_loup]

The older CDs are more resistant than the new ones.

[@elimalinsky7069]

Dr_Kachu san Yeah, they make the plastic really cheap these days to maximize profit, because CD sales aren't profitable anymore so they have to figure out how to squeeze as much as possible from the CDs that do sell. Replacing jewel cases with paper folders, not including a detailed booklet, having minimal artwork on the album, having a cheaply made label with cheap adhesive on the disc that peels off easily, and the worst of all is omitting songs that have been put aside for the "special edition" which every album has these days and which sells for an outrageous price.

[@krashd]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_rot The reflective layer on a CD is a metal and metals corrode in contact with air, light, liquid, anything really. As folks have said, a good CD will last forever because the reflective layer is fully enclosed in plastic on both sides, but a cheap CD has plastic on only one side as the reflective layer makes up the other side, these are very temperamental to incorrect storage and will gradually decay.

[@BryonLape]

Yeah, you do have to worry about scratches.

[@VincentRE79]

Agree almost as bad as vinyl.

[@stickyfox]

@@VincentRE79 You can polish a scratch out of a CD and make it play like new. Polishing a record destroys it.

[@ld8619]

No Grubby fingers, and scratches noooo 😂😂😂

[@cdscissor]

I genuinely cannot tell what this comment section is lmao But I do know I love my CDs.

[@bradjones1977]

The presenter is Kieran Prendiville, incidentally.

[@LarryDors]

As the first two words in the description says.

[@PremierAudio]

I remember the Jam demonstration, Quite well, I knew it would not work as he put the sticky disc in, Then I ran around telling everybody I knew, Saying your not going to believe what a ...... this guy is, He realy thought it would still work ?? Somebody must have been pulling his leg, But to be broadcast on television was quite a revelation.

[@LarryDors]

I have a page on my site dedicated to Strawberry Jam myth at orchardoo.com/TWCompactDisc.htm. You are remembering the honey demonstration on breakfast TV.

[@freeman10000]

Long live physical media. CDs and vinyl records all the way 🤘

[@gavincurtis]

Then I pop out of my time machine and show him a 256GB micro SD.......

[@MellowCorn-xs8bn]

The Dollar Guy Scare the shit out of him!

[@anonUK]

Good luck demonstrating its use with an IBM 5150/ PC-XT! kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZLCmZyCjbGVisU

[@liverush24]

"Microwaves cook through evenly. Even in the centre, the food will cook at the same rate as the outside." More nonsense from T.W. I never forget.

[@LarryDors]

Hmm, might have been an early piece on microwave ovens. I found a piece from 1989 that highlighted the fact that they don't cook evenly, at kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZ_FiZatm76tl80.

[@magna59]

In your travels through the Tomorrow ' s World " stuff " did you come across a piece on a propeller for outboard / boat drive ? It both revolved & oscillated , for & aft from what i remember ?

[@LarryDors]

+magna59 The only boat one I remember was a wave powered boat, shown at kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4jTqaecotWJepY. I have other TW clips but they are on Betamax and I don't have a working machine to transfer them to PC. I'm pretty sure I didn't have any featuring boats though, sorry.

[@rameshemv]

He didn't call it a CD even once, it was Still a Long Playing Record !(or an Audio Disk) 😁

[@LarryDors]

I missed the first few seconds of this piece when I originally recorded it, so he may have called it a compact disc then. I know the BBC have the original in their archives, but they don't featured it on their archive site www.bbc.co.uk/archive/tomorrows-world/zrkpwty.

[@BrianG61UK]

Does anybody have the TW episode where they drilled a hole in the CD to demonstrate that it still played when damaged? (they drilled it near the outside but CDs play from the inside outwards so they drilled in a place that never played)

[@LarryDors]

I'm sure this was the only feature on TW about the introduction of audio CDs. The clip mentions a video disc, but that was the LaserDisc whch came out in the UK around 1983. Video CDs, which use similar technology to audio CDs didn't come out until 1993, ten years after. I haven't seen any clip about drilling into a CD anywhere and I don't have it on any of my old tapes as far as I know. The BBC only have a small archive of the programmes at www.bbc.co.uk/archive/tomorrowsworld/ and I emailed them to ask about other programme clips.

[@Mateusz-ts2mo]

Now is not only cd, is blu ray and dvd

[@philipmcdonagh1094]

Bought War Of The World on vinyl late 80s then got the CD a few years later the CD no longer works but the vinyl is fine. Same with Jaws the VHS still plays DVD keeps skipping they where stored properly but went kind of cloudy. So much for modern gimmicks.

[@LarryDors]

I bought the War of the Worlds CD secondhand and my copy still plays fine. Of course you only the full size booklet with the paintings with the vinyl edition and the cassette version had a voucher which you sent off to get it. The Jaws VHS probably doesn't have a full 5.1 surround audio mix and the picture quality is not good compared to the DVD or Blu-Ray editions, which you can pick up for less than a tenner (or a fiver if you go for the standard DVD). Some discs play fine, some do not. It depends on how they were made.