I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time.

Actually, I’ve already done it.  Years ago, I invested a great deal of time in digitizing all my CDs in high-resolution mp3 format (320 kbps), with the intention of holding on to the CDs for safekeeping. I got rid of the jewel cases and kept the discs and the booklets in Case Logic CD books. Now, in an effort to streamline my digital life even more, I want to get rid of the CDs altogether. So…

I am re-importing all the CDs into iTunes, but instead of importing the CDs with mp3 encoding, I’m using the Apple Lossless import setting. (Apple Lossless preserves the full CD quality of the music, yet maintains a smaller file size than the original aiff format on the CD itself.) My entire CD library will be at my fingertips in glorious full quality in iTunes.

“But what about the artwork?” you ask. If I’m going to be rigorously honest (with you and with myself), I haven’t really looked at the artwork of these CDs since I bought them. But as a graphic and web designer, I do have a special interest in album art. With those rare, extra-special, ground-breaking and inspirational booklet designs, I can simply scan them as desired.

My home stereo setup is wireless. In addition to my main AirPort wireless router, I also have an AirPort Express connected to one of the auxiliary channels on my stereo, enabling me to stream all the music in my iTunes library wirelessly and in full quality with AirTunes on my home sound system.

Very very exciting.

Aside from the obvious feng shui, space-saving solution to maintaining an exclusively digital music collection, it’s better for the environment. We’ve all heard about the floating Texas-sized continent of discarded plastic drifting around the Pacific Ocean.  If there is anything I can do on a personal level to NOT contribute to that and any other evidence of human excess and careless waste, I’m onboard. From now on, all my music purchases will be exclusively digital. And, as a stickler for audio quality, I urge all artists and record labels make full-quality audio files available for purchase and download, as opposed to just mp3 versions.

And as for the analog concern about not having any artwork to look at with digital releases, I urge you to open the mind: with a digital release, we’re not limited to the confines of paper and plastic surfaces. Instead, the options go boundless with digital… bonus photos, fullscreen artwork, companion videos… whatever your imagination allows. Also… no paper, no plastic, no toxic ink, no printing costs, never out-of-stock or back-ordered, no “4 – 6 weeks delivery” bullshit. Instant gratification. And even instant gratification, in the words of Carrie Fisher, “takes too long.”

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