OK, well, let’s try to do this pseudo-scientifically:
Here’s the Google ngram results for instances of “compact disk” and “compact disc” from 1980-1995 in the English language corpus.
It looks like between 1983 and 1984 is where the biggest jump in the instances of that term being used in print occurred. If we take the levels of 1989 and beyond as representing a time where pretty much everyone was aware of the word (the word’s popularity in print peaked then in this time period and remained relatively stable), then I’d guess by 1986 most people would have been aware of it.
I heard about them in the early 80s, but I remember seeing my first one when a friend brought one to school in about 1985 or 1986. I bought my first CD player (and first CD) before my sophomore year in college which would have been 1988.
Does anybody remember when they stopped selling CDs in those long, rectangular, LP-length packages? All I can think is early-90s had the long packages and by my high school years in the later 90s they were just cellophane wrapped CD-sized squares. 93-94-ish? Or was it earlier than that even?
I was in the Air Force until '84, a job that has never paid much, so I may have heard of CDs, but I doubt I heard one for maybe a year or two after that. High tech was expensive back in the day.
I looked back thru some of my older ones, and going by the copyright dates, it looks like I started buying them in 1988, maybe late '87 (I didn’t look at all my CDs).
I, too, have the Beach Boys’ Still Cruisin’. It still works, I’m listening now. Thanks for the reminder, DrCube.
My first CD player was also a Technics, and being into classical music, my first CD ever was a classical CD. I went to the record store and looked around and bought Peter and the Wolf, of all things. This would have been in summer 1986.
first time I heard of a cd was in the early 80s but that was on more “in the future” type of shows first time I seen practical use of one was I think it was Jackson bad album …my first cd player was 1991 it was a single cd tabletop Sony one you hooked to an existing set up then mom got me s portable one and when that one was stolen I thing it was 93 or 4 Walmart was making them for 40 bucks a pop
one of the things that helped speed up cd acceptance is the pc gaming worlds total conversion of them and that was pdq …
I still have a JVC demo CD stamped 1985, Narada Sampler #1 1986*, Special EFX Mystique 1987, and Sinead O’Connor Lion and the Cobra 1987.
I think I had a Sony demo before the JVC one, but it’s gone. I was selling CD players in 1985. My first one of my own cost over $600.
We were also into metal cassette tapes, limited edition LP pressings, 8mm video, etc… . In addition, we were using VHS HiFi (JVC HR-D 470u) for deep layer recording fidelity in our basement studio trying to hope DX-7s, EMUs, and a Prophet 5 made us sound like KraftWerk.
*web search shows a German CD release of this in 1985. Mine was US.
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The first CD I ever heard played was Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” and it sounded fantastic on the system I heard it on. This would have been in 1985 or 1986, however I had read about them a year or two before that.
And yeah, DrCube, 93-94-ish sounds like about the right time frame for losing that ridiculous over-pack. I don’t know if it was for anti-theft reasons or just to present a larger item for the consumer.
I think it was so they would fit into repurposed LP bins. The elongated packaging made it so that two CDs side by side were the same size as a single 12" LP.
For me it was sometime during the early 1980’s. I wanted to buy my brother an album of science fiction TV and movie themes as a Christmas gift, but it was only available on CD, and we didn’t have a CD player.
I remember when they were first selling classical and jazz CDs and you were supposed to check for the the three boxes on the back to make sure it said D-D-D.
Digital recording, digital mixing, digital transfer.
The A-A-D stuff was just old analog recordings put onto disc.
I was a kid so my memories are inexact, but I’m pretty sure I had a CD player by around 1986, and I don’t think it was all that unusual by then. So late 80’s?
<hijack> Speaking of packaging choices driven by the desire to fit into space designed for a completely different media:
I read a lot of manga (Japanese comic books) in English translation. The original Japanese manga can be drawn and published in several sizes and aspect ratios, but American publishers mostly use a standardized 5" × 7.5" trim size, resulting in an in-between aspect ratio that is awkward for all of the most common original sizes. Apparently one of the major motivators behind picking this specific size is so the books would fit onto DVD shelving. </hijack>
Oh man! Sometime in the late 80s, maybe as late as 1990, I put a Sony 10 disk changer in my '79 Mustang hatchback. NOT Mustang II, btw. A Five Oh 5-speed.
It fit in the hatch area (I built a board and vented box for it the crossovers and the amps). Basically, my car was one large speaker, separate tweeters, midrange, and bass, plus a sub. The head unit was on the end of a thick cable. I didn’t do a dash mount, kept the controller in the center console. I could pretty much hide the system from a casual glance that way. Yeah, I had an alarm installed.
I was always amazed by how how clear the music sound was for an old rattle box. So, by 1989 to 1990, CD car systems were commonplace enough in my generation (25 to 35 yr olds) to spawn several different magazine titles that I subscribed to. It’s where I got the idea and plans to make my set up.
I could drive from Guthrie to Fort Collins without changing discs.
I can pinpoint this to year and season: fall of 1985. I remember who told me about them (a cow-orker), where we were (break room), as well as specifics about how he described them.
I didn’t own one for another year or so when I joined a “CD club” (BMG?) and received 5 for a penny. I owned CDs before I owned a CD player.
I also recall a relative giving me a CD (Marshall Tucker Band) that she had won at some charity fundraiser because “you’re the only one I know who owns a CD player”.
mmm
