# CDs - more tough 'back in the day'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 24, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cds-more-tough-back-in-the-day/265927 "2004-09-24T19:29:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cds-more-tough-back-in-the-day/265927/1 "2004-09-24T19:29:32Z")
I heard from a friend that when CDs first went into production they were far more hardy, and could take much more punishment than they can today. Is there any truth to this? Thanks in advance for replies. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cds-more-tough-back-in-the-day/265927/2 "2004-09-24T19:34:18Z")
Along with this, most DVD cases make it so dang hard to get the disk out. Often, you must flex the disk slightly to get it to release from the case. But, I have read cautions that such flexing, perhaps over time at best, can cause the metallic coating to flake. So, we must also ask are older CDs really tougher or, are they the same but now experiencing rougher conditions than prior to the introduction of DVDs? - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cds-more-tough-back-in-the-day/265927/3 "2004-09-24T19:52:15Z")
The original specifications for CDs created an incredibly strong medium. The TV demos of people drilling holes in them and smearing them with butter and still being able to play with them weren’t fixes. However, the cost of mass-producing to such exacting standards was commerically impossible. So greater tolerances were built in, making CDs tougher than LPs, but still capable of being damaged by scratches and so on. I strongly suspect that the cheapest bargain-bucket CDs on the market today are probably made with even more variation in quality. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cds-more-tough-back-in-the-day/265927/4 "2004-09-24T20:27:23Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > Along with this, most DVD cases make it so dang hard to get the disk out. Often, you must flex the disk slightly to get it to release from the case. But, I have read cautions that such flexing, perhaps over time at best, can cause the metallic coating to flake. Umm, you don’t _pull_ the disc out of the case by the edge. You _push_ the center holder in to release it, and then pick it up. As to the OP: CDs in the early years actually had a lot of problems, “CD rot” being the most famous. (But keep in mind that not all old CDs rotted.) I consider today’s CDs to be a better product. OTOH, what you put them in has gotten far, far worse. So damage to CDs due to really poor quality players is much more common. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cds-more-tough-back-in-the-day/265927/5 "2004-09-24T20:34:32Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Umm, you don’t _pull_ the disc out of the case by the edge. You _push_ the center holder in to release it, and then pick it up. Ideally, yes, but some CD/DVD cases are made so crappily that unless you have a lady stand on the button with the point of her high heel, you’re gonna have to flex the CD.