The Smiley Smile Message Board

I came upon this idea after trying to answer Brother John in his Past Masters thread. More and more I grew disenchanted by the bad packaging of CDs over the last years. Notable examples:

Bruce Springsteen: 'Seeger Sessions', and 'Magic'. It's nigh on impossible to keep the CDs in pristine condition for they are packaged in stiff cardboard sleeves without the 'rosette' in the middle.
Kate Bush: 'Aerial': same.

...and many other digipacks have such a weak rosette that it breaks after a couple of times of usage, and you can't replace them.

Why don't manufacturers realize that CDs can be scratched and rendered unplayable?

I like the jewel case, esp. the modern ones with rounded edges. Why change a winning idea?

Meh!

Reminds me of the way Stereolab did packaging for their album Switched on Vol. 2. Came in freakin' cardboard and had to almost rip the artwork just to get the CD out!!  >:(

That's what I mean! Most times you have the choice between either scrathing the CD the first time, or tearing the sleeve apart to keep the album pristine. And I don't like to buy new jewel cases and put the platters apart from the sleeves. My anal obsessions overrule all of these 'solutions'.

Why would the manufacturer be concerned with you destroying the cd?  If anything, they would WANT you to scratch the cd so that you'd buy another one. 

I see. You live in a free market economy. Is your family name Friedman perchance?

That's just silly. You wouldn't buy another one if it was in the same shoddy packaging, because then you'd end up scratching that one, too.

Good scientific reasoning.

If the package was nice, you would never buy another one.

If the package scratches the cd, a percentage of people would buy another one.

If they make a cheap package, it saves them money, plus possibly makes them more money when you possibly buy another one.

This isn't hard to figure out, folks. 

I make an copy of every CD I buy. Then I only play the copies. Works pretty well.

I must admit I pondered this idea for a while. But it got too immense for me... and the whole idea of putting the originals in a locked cupboard and playing only copies is psychologically untenable for me. Only imagine hearing just before your death that originals DO sound markedly better than copies (some hifi-buffs maintain this and make a case for it by explaining copying into organic dye CDRs).
But, of course, everyone's free, and I won't ridicule any idea. I am thinking about buying a stock of empty jewel cases and storing the 'sensitive' candidates in that way.

BEWARE!!!!!!!! of those tight sleeves for the CDs in the new POB deluxe edition! One little grain of something gets in there and it'll wreck havoc on the discs.

Same thing happened with my Miles Davis: In A Silent Way/Bitches Brew Sessions!

The digipacks for the Stones and Yes cd reissues I bought a few years back both have ringwear. The ones I have from Rhino from the Doors Bright Midnight archives series have held up well but the digipacks for those have a very glossy finish.