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I can see the USB stick being something used more regularly within the next decade if they are marketed right and especially if the price of getting them in bulk goes down. Still, they can be very tricky to have around if one's not careful. One will have to get together a storage unit for a USB collection that will appeal to the music listener to solve a little bit of the collecting problem, one style for the home and another for the car. I feel it's more in use with the underground music community with some Mainstream releases hare and there, but there are advantages. At the very least, they should be a precursor to what will happen next for those who like to have some physical form for their music - who knows what will happen long after we're gone.

(Silly Trivia Note: I think there was an Indie company that released music on Floppy Disc. If someone would have made it trendy way back in the beginning days of computers, it would have been neat for a while!)

The CDs are more like Cassettes and 8-Track Tapes now - there are those who don't care to really upgrade now or stuck with a low speed internet that makes downloading a pain. Instead of having to deal with a munched tape, it's a scratched disc, but still with better sound than the Cass' boxed up fidelity. (Damn, the 8-Track was a great idea, but...). There's still a lot of Underground bands unleashing them (Empty CD-rs in bulk are very affordable, too), and that's what will keep it going for at least the next couple of generations in my view. I can see the mainstream weeding them out quicker, though.

Vinyl will be around for a while, but I can't seriously see it making that big of a comeback, although it will have a cult following. Every College area possibly has that Indie record store with regular customers who have to have their "College Indie Music LP/7' Single" kick fed. It's kind of special and still pretty damn cool. It's a tradition that should be around for a little while at least. As long there's great music pressed on the format, there will be an audience.


Another small bit of silly trivia...
Philco tried to introduce Mini-Singles that were like records or more like glorified sheets with sound (I have to more research on that). The Hip-Pocket Record players were one of those inventions that were cute until you played it in the car on a bumpy road with the mini-player in the seat next to you. You could get the discs in a way that could get candy. They were a very short-lived idea, from '68-'69. Nice try, but still FAIL...although not a mega-fail: they did pre-date the Red Box thing when all's said.