> Still, I wish that the industry would've put some basic sort of protection around the actual data. Enclosing the media in a cartridge of some sort, the way floppy disks or minidiscs work, would seem to make a LOT more sense. Blank minidiscs cost about a buck for a medium much less widely embraced than DVD, so I can't imagine that it would drive manufacturing costs up that much. The cynical part of me says the industry likes making rental outlets replace their media on a regular basis.

CD-cartridges have been used in radio for years (though i'm sure most places depend now more on digital files). I love the idea, wish they and their players were more readily available to the public. The cartridge ends up being about the size of a standard jewel CD case, rendering them quite a bit less portable in bulk.

To me, the convenience of not having my favorite albums get scratched as easily, especially the ones that are out of print and therefore irreplacable, far outweighs the convenience of carrying 100 discs on a spindle. What does one use more than 10-20 discs for at a time, anyway?

I don't think the fault can simply be attributed to the rental places and product labels who distribute and produce these albums (and movies--i'm talking for myself about music, but same goes for movies). If the public buys something, it will usually continue to be sold.

Most people don't know about or care enough to ask about the cartridge systems. If the public demanded it, it would be the front-runner. Yeah, that'd be nice.