200 Billion...and it all started with ABBA

Can it really have been 25 years? I think if I remember correctly, the first CD I ever bought was Yes' 90125. I can still remember the look on my mom's face the first time I played the song "Leave It" for her. Even on my cheap CD player, the clarity and stereo separation were enough to make her jaw drop.

On August 17, 1982, the first CD came off the assembly line at a Philips plant in Germany.

According to the press release, the "factory in Germany, where the world's first CD was pressed, belonged to Polygram — the recording company owned by Philips at the time. The first CD to be manufactured at the plant was "The Visitors" by ABBA."

That was 25 years and 200 billion CDs ago.

Although I'm buying fewer and fewer CDs these days, instead just doing the "all-you-can-eat" thing with Zune Pass, it's good to remember that it was the venerable CD ushered in the era of digital music.

25 Years of the CD - Frankie Fresh