ive thought about it, ripping everything and then getting rid of it, but i dont think its a good idea. if there were a good lossless codec out there that would be able to compress them to a size comperable to mp3, it would be an easy decision. but thats probably not going to be happening for at least 10 years (my own estimate). also, there are going to be a multitude of different formats in the coming years that are progressively going to get better. (heres me hoping that ogg vorbis becomes more popular)

i think about this all the time.

i've considered, but it's not format that held me back, but the cost of reliable long-term storage.

I am considering burning 2 copies of all of my CDs (one for work and one for home), putting them in CD wallets, and selling the "real" copies. Having a perfect copy is the only way to go for me.

Edit: Actually, I already started doing this with used purchases. I get the music I want and only end up paying about $3 in the end.

I don't care for CD packaging and artwork at all, so losing out on that is not a big deal for me.

This is the main problem with this, as I see it.

Also I just love having a ton of CDs to the point where it looks like I could open a store.

I am currently in the process of trying to weed out a bunch of shit, though.

gasp! the horror.

Ehh...different strokes for different folks. It's not that I dislike album art...it's just that I look at it once and that's pretty much it. I care about the music and only the music.

i've seen some presentations at work on some things my company is working on related to data storage - it would blow your mind. it won't be 10 years.

Husband just bought an mp3 player and has been having those exact same thoughts. I think he'd regret it later if anything happened to the contraptions holding all the music.

The idea of digital storage is fine as long as you have backups of some kind somewhere else. Many of us are prepared for a hard drive crash, but what happens in the event of a fire or burglary? That 2nd hard drive won't do much good if it's gone forever.

Yeah, I know someone in NOLA who managed to escape the flood (apartment wasn't destroyed), only to have his hard drive stolen in one of the refugee camps.

yeah, i think as soon as solid state memory (ie flash memory) gets cheaper the reliable storage will be rendered moot, since flash is much more reliable than traditional hard drives. prices have already dropped since the release of the ipod nano, and theyll keep going down.

same dilemna.

i rarely look at CD packaging after I unwrap the CD...

and now with my Ipod, i rarely if ever even take out my CD's anymore. Except for what I bring to work....

BUt I have been considering picking up one of those Ipod Mini-speaker/charger things for the office

This all means, I may never touch a particlar CD again, after I put it onto my ipod...

so, for me, i think its a psychological thing about getting rid of the collection....also, the protection of a computer hardware failure and losing all the mp3's...

MP3s just don't look as neat-o on my shelf.

EDIT: Am I the only person who still listens to cds in the car? I know it's possible to hook up a digital player, but I have a hard enough time not hitting ramming into something/someone in the grocery store while I'm flipping through the albums.

I used to until the tape deck in my car broke and I couldn't use the tape adapter thingy for my portable CD player. Now I just listen to Stern or college radio.

No, I still do, though its mainly mixes I've gotten from you sweethearts since I dont always rip them; I've also got the ipod and the ever present talk radio.

The Radcliffe Monger Mix series gets the most play for CD's.

i'm considering it. but....in a different realm.

i have SO MANY live shows. and i rarely listen to the majority of it. and i'm really at a loss when it comes to storage. i have books and spindles and boxes and it's just so ridiculous.

i'm ready to pitch most of it.

(except for my grateful dead shows, of course.)

No! Murder, bad! Clone, good! I might transfer all my disks to MP3/whatever, but I will never get rid of my collection! (I might get rid of the duplicates and stuff I don't listen to, but my collection? Never!)

Hey, what happens if someone tells you there's this really cool image under the nub of Tool's Undertow of a cow licking itself. You wouldn't be able to go look for yourself, you'd have to settle for some Jpeg...if you could find it...

And if you take the CD's of Pink Floyd's Shine On together, it forms an image. You wouldn't be able to do that, neither.

And if someone said, "hey, they thank me in the credits for being a fan"...oh, wait, that'd never happen. Never mind.