Hummin' Comin' At 'Cha

The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony and released in 1982. The CD is a type of optical disc used for data storage, and is the standard physical medium for commercial audio recording.

Introduced in 1982, the CD was originally designed for storing and playing back music recordings, but later expanded to encompass data storage, video, and other applications. CDs consist of a clear polycarbonate plastic disc coated with a reflective metallic layer, usually aluminum or gold. The data is stored as a series of microscopic pits encoded in a spiral track on the disc. A laser is used to read the disc, detecting the pits and converting them into electrical signals.

The standard CD has a diameter of 120 millimeters (4.72 inches) and can store up to 80 minutes of uncompressed audio or 700 megabytes (MB) of data. The CD's storage capacity was a significant improvement over the previous prevalent audio storage media, such as the vinyl record and the compact cassette tape. This, combined with the CD's high-quality digital sound, led to the CD quickly becoming the dominant format for pre-recorded audio.

CDs are commonly used to store computer files, photos, videos, and other data. They have a much higher data storage capacity than floppy disks, which were the primary method of data transfer and storage before the advent of CDs. CDs can also be recorded or "burned" using a CD writer, allowing users to create their own custom data discs.

The CD format has been widely adopted and has become a ubiquitous means of storing and distributing digital content. It has been a significant technological advancement, revolutionizing the way people access and consume music, data, and other digital content. Despite the rise of newer digital storage formats, such as DVDs and Blu-ray discs, as well as the increasing popularity of online digital distribution, the CD remains an important and widely used medium for data storage and distribution.

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