Just Don't Throw Them Out

When I read an article like this one, whose headline proclaims "Digitize Your CDs and Reclaim Your Closet," I usually think one key point is missing. Often enough to notice a trend, there is a permutation of this idea

I have a closet full of compact discs (some out of print) that I’m not quite ready to part with, yet they take up way too much room

which leads to the conclusion that if you rip your CDs to MP3, you can sell / trash / donate your CDs and no longer own them.

DO NOT DO THAT! DO NOT GET RID OF YOUR CDs IF YOU RIP THEM TO MP3!

Why scream that in red font and all caps? Do you not read this blog on a regular basis? Do you not see the Reconversion (Music_Shell folder stats) and CDs to MP3 Documentation links on the side of the page? My experience is that once you think you are "done" with a CD to MP3 conversion, your external hard drive will understand that you feel good about your accomplishment and then decide you do not deserve happiness. And die. No problem, you will think. Buy another external hard drive and repeat the conversion. Again, your external hard drive will understand that you feel good about your accomplishment and then decide you do not deserve happiness. And die.

If you rip your CDs to MP3, you can sell / trash / donate your CDs and no longer own them, but you should not. Ever.

I am lucky to now have an "in" with the local police department. They purchase spindles of 100 DVDs and burn dashboard camera footage to DVDs for archiving and, every so often, I stop by and get those spindles. In fact, I now have 10 x 100 CD capacity spindles, plus a 1 x 50 capacity spindle in the den closet. Since I just recently picked up those spindles, it's likely I won't stop by the local police department until May or even June. At this point, I don't care that I don't have CDs to fill those spindles and I don't care that those additional spindles will not fit on my bookcase unless I dedicate another shelf to them. I've already dedicated the top of the bookcase. In total, I have 5 shelves of 10 x 100 CD capacity spindles. That's 5000 CDs, and if I fill the empty 10 x 100 CD capacity spindles, plus a 1 x 50 capacity spindle, I will have 6500 CDs.

That's a lot of music!