Compact Disc was born in 1982 in Germany, after some years of gestation in the Netherlands. It first appeared in retail form in the form of Billy Joel's 52nd Street on Oct. 1, 1982.

CD led a long, expensive and uproarious, if sometimes quarrelsome, life. It was never happier than when accidentally dropped on a hardwood or tile floor. It was then eager to make a disheartening noise upon striking the floor and springing open, scattering all its many pieces across the floor.

The cause of death of Compact Disc was said to be irrelevance. Symptoms of that lingering malady had become more noticeable of late. No memorial services are planned at this time.

Social networks Highlights of a new NPD Group study:

Underscoring the increasing importance of sites like MySpace for music discovery, 19% of those surveyed said they listen to music through social networking sites, up 4% from a year ago.

Almost half of US teens listen to music on social networks up from 37% in 2007. Among college-age fans the percentage rose to 41% from 30% the previous year.

The number of U.S. consumers buying CDs fell by 17M in 2008.

The decline in CD purchases was most prevalent among teens and consumers 50 and over.

The number of people purchasing digital music increased by more than 8 million in 2008 to 36 million.

Number of Digital music download purchases increased 29% in 2008 over '07 and now account for 33% of all tracks purchased in the US.