CD Jewel cases...

[max cooper]

Just wanted to mention how much I love these things. I usually do a little extra legwork or mousework, as it were, to get the vinyl version of most stuff, but I also own CD's and I love the jewel cases. If you drop them they don't hardly break at all, ever, especially the hinges that attach the front cover. And the little "prongs" in the center that hold the disk in place don't ever break off either. What a beautiful piece of engineering! The loveliest part of the CD packaging is the name: "jewel case". What kind of mind thought that up? And remember those really cool "longboxes" that the industry came up with to pacify the record store owners who were upset at having to retrofit their displays?

(seriously, I wish CD's were packaged in the cases DVD's come in...they're much less breakable and seem to do a better job of protecting the disk. I guess real advancements are reserved for the movie industry, where real money changes hands.)