
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 28, 1990                   TAG: 9004300217
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

EXIT PLATTER

ONE DAY, early in the 21st century, you may take your child to an American-history museum, point out to her a shiny, flat item in a glass case, and say in hushed tones: "That, dear, is a phonograph record."

She will look up at you, smile sweetly and ask: "Did they have music when you were young?"

Restrain your baser impulses and savor the memories you'll have. The record, a form of preserving sound invented more than 100 years ago by Thomas A. Edison, is on its way out.

As the medium for all kinds of music, from classical to rock, it has already been supplanted by tapes and compact discs. The pace of technology in this field is dizzying. Remember the eight-track tape? Nobody has those anymore. The audiocassette tape is being crowded by the CD, and on their heels comes the DAT, or digital audio tape, whose quality is said to rival the CD's.

For most of us, quality is an arcane factor that audiophiles argue about. But even if we can't always detect a difference, we usually want what's latest and supposedly the best. Interestingly, there are purists who contend that a really good vinyl record is better than a CD.

But CDs are the wave of the future, and stores don't want to stock records in every form. So the area set aside for platters is getting smaller and their prices are dropping. Many establishments are selling out their stock to concentrate on tapes and CDs; the latter also bring larger profits.

Indeed, an entire generation is coming along that has never owned a turntable. In 1977, Americans bought 344 million albums. By 1989, the number had dropped 90 percent. For every album sold last year, six compact discs and 13 audiocassettes were purchased.

That kind of volume - especially in the electronics field - usually leads to a drop in prices. CDs now cost about $16 compared with a top price of $10 or so for albums. Companies say it costs more to produce CDs. But that will surely change.

There's not enough room here to list the hundreds of products progress has left in the dust. But trust to this: One day, the obsolescent phonograph record you can buy now for two or three dollars will be a collector's item. Heaven knows what it will cost then.

by CNB