No CDs in new cars - irrate audiobook fan

Pedro deNada

Does anyone else find the lack of a CD/MP3 player in new cars a pain in the *ss?
Ford want €400 to put a CD/MP3 player in the glove box in a new focus. I have 500 books on CDs and some books have 15-20 CDs per book. Yes you can burn all of these books onto multiple USB keys or other storage devices but its not convenient to do this or access them as on a CD box, it also takes ages to burn them, so its convenient for Ford to get rid of the CD but not for the customer.
Can't do language CDs either (learning Portuguese).

I now have to stretch to a CD player in the glove box like my father had to do with his 8 track player in the 1970s. Progress??
:mad:

sentient_6

Your crippng about spending 400 extra when your going to spend how much for a new focus?

Balmed Out

For general audiobooks (possibly language ones too) have you tried the borrow box app and a library account then play via Bluetooth.

topnotch

A cheap fm transmitter like this one with a portable cd player might do temporarily. You could power it from the cigarette lighter to save messing with batteries.
http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/8199645/Trail/searchtext%3EFM+TRANSMITTER.htm

Yourmama

Pedro deNada wrote:

I now have to stretch to a CD player in the glove box like my father had to do with his 8 track player in the 1970s. Progress??

Yes, that's progress, CDs era is gone. There are better technologies now. I know it's a pain but friend of mine ripped his whole collection of CDs over couple of months and now keeps them on two hard drives where the seconds is only for backup.

Wanderer78

topnotch wrote:

A cheap fm transmitter like this one with a portable cd player might do temporarily. You could power it from the cigarette lighter to save messing with batteries.

Can be a lot of signal loss with these yokes, prone to interference as well, but they do work

Wanderer78

Yourmama wrote:

Yes, that's progress, CDs era is gone. There are better technologies now. I know it's a pain but friend of mine ripped his whole collection of CDs over couple of months and now keeps them on two hard drives where the seconds is only for backup.

Even though I've done this to some degree in the past, I'd just bloody download them now

Alun

Pedro deNada wrote: »

Yes you can burn all of these books onto multiple USB keys or other storage devices but its not convenient to do this ...

You do realise you can get USB keys in sizes up to 2TB these days? You'd have enough audio books on one of those to listen to on a trip to Mars and back.

TheUnderfaker

It's actually a fantastic example of progress

Twenty Grand

I find it disgraceful I can't play my vinyl collection in my new BMW.

How about you just don't buy a new Focus, and buy a car that has a CD player?

Del2005

topnotch wrote: »

A cheap fm transmitter like this one with a portable cd player might do temporarily. You could power it from the cigarette lighter to save messing with batteries.
http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/8199645/Trail/searchtext%3EFM+TRANSMITTER.htm

A double male cable from a portable CD player to the Aux input would be better.

OP my sister had the same complaint a few years ago when she got a new car, 2 years later and she hasn't bothered to do anything about it.

0lddog

Some posters here may be unaware of the wonderful ( mostly CD based ) content available to borrow from the public library system .

OP, I feel your pain

Prompts the question what other improvements Ford have for 2019.

Alun

0lddog wrote: »

Some posters here may be unaware of the wonderful ( mostly CD based ) content available to borrow from the public library system.

It takes literally a couple of minutes to transfer a CD to an MP3 on a USB stick or memory card. Non-issue.

Twenty Grand

0lddog wrote: »

Some posters here may be unaware of the wonderful ( mostly CD based ) content available to borrow from the public library system .

OP, I feel your pain

Prompts the question what other improvements Ford have for 2019.

I have a Spotify account and an audible account. Before that an iTunes account.
I haven't bought a CD in nearly 10 years I'd say.

Gingham1

Alun wrote: »

0lddog wrote: »

Some posters here may be unaware of the wonderful ( mostly CD based ) content available to borrow from the public library system.

It takes literally a couple of minutes to transfer a CD to an MP3 on a USB stick or memory card. Non-issue.

Yes. I am aware of them and when I lived beside a library I was borrowing and ripping to mp3 constantly.
EAC and LAME at highest bitrates. If I wasn't ripping CDs I was ripping Dad's from the library. Had to walk past Xtravision on the way to library.

Gingham1

DVDS NOT DADS

bazz26

I thought they stopped fitting cd players into new cars a few years back.

pablo128

Toyota are not making diesel engined cars anymore. Instead of buying a petrol Toyota and then complaining about it, I will simply buy a different brand of car with a diesel engine.

You should do likewise.

Pedro deNada

Ho, ho, ho to U,
Its always been included in the price. I drive 25k miles/yr for work so unfortunately have to change. Actually €400 is a lot extra for something that's been previously bundled.

Pedro deNada

Agree, did look at the nearest option a golf estate, VW do still provide CD player, but VW dealer says Golf wagon/estage not been sold in RoI anymore, so no joy.

Pedro deNada

No VW, BMW and few others still providing them. US and UK customer surveys suggest 70% of motorists still want them. Ford just stopped providing them.

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

It’s well over a decade since I bought any sort of CD. I had to actually look there to see if I had a CD player in my car... Why use it when you’ve options like apple carplay, Bluetooth, USB ports?! All far far superior to CDs.

This is literally the same as someone in 2010 moaning there’s no tape deck in their car.

Peatys

Pedro deNada wrote: »

Does anyone else find the lack of a CD/MP3 player in new cars a pain in the *ss?
Ford want €400 to put a CD/MP3 player in the glove box in a new focus. I have 500 books on CDs and some books have 15-20 CDs per book. Yes you can burn all of these books onto multiple USB keys or other storage devices but its not convenient to do this or access them as on a CD box, it also takes ages to burn them, so its convenient for Ford to get rid of the CD but not for the customer.
Can't do language CDs either (learning Portuguese).

I now have to stretch to a CD player in the glove box like my father had to do with his 8 track player in the 1970s. Progress??
:mad:

Save yourself a fortune on buying cd's and get an Audible account. Difference would pob pay your focus repayments

Pedro deNada

Yourmama wrote: »

Yes, that's progress, CDs era is gone. There are better technologies now. I know it's a pain but friend of mine ripped his whole collection of CDs over couple of months and now keeps them on two hard drives where the seconds is only for backup.

Thanks, but spending months ripping my audiiobook collection does not entice me as a ripping time and how to catalogue or find the book you want on the hard drives is another issue.

Thought technology is supposed to be about choice and make you're life easier, seems its actual effect is the opposite.

Twenty Grand

Pedro deNada wrote: »

Thought technology is supposed to be about choice and make you're life easier, seems its actual effect is the opposite.

Why don't you just rip your audiobooks as you need them? No need to do everything in one go. Throw them onto your phone and problem solved!
This is a non issue IMO.
Technology stops the need to hoard boxes of CDs and carry them around with you. Do you carry a portable CD player around with you when you're not in the car?

Del2005

Pedro deNada wrote: »

Thought technology is supposed to be about choice and make you're life easier, seems its actual effect is the opposite.

Tell me about it. I've boxes of 8 tracks waiting for them to be reintroduced to cars.

Technology like all things is to make companies profit and they do that by obsoleting old technologies in order to get people to buy new.

Pedro deNada

Del2005 wrote: »

Tell me about it. I've boxes of 8 tracks waiting for them to be reintroduced to cars.

Technology like all things is to make companies profit and they do that by obsoleting old technologies in order to get people to buy new.

Ha ha cynicism is unbecoming, golden discs in Tallaght is full of LPs.
it should been integrated paper has survived from the ancient Celts or Egyptians see how these electronic fad data storage means survive or can remain accessed going forward.

Pedro deNada

Alun wrote: »

You do realise you can get USB keys in sizes up to 2TB these days? You'd have enough audio books on one of those to listen to on a trip to Mars and back.

no **** sherlock, it's hassle don't see it as 'progress' just being a 'sheeple'.

Pedro deNada

TheUnderfaker wrote: »

It's actually a fantastic example of progress

Ha ha ha!

Pedro deNada

Twenty Grand wrote: »

I have a Spotify account and an audible account. Before that an iTunes account.
I haven't bought a CD in nearly 10 years I'd say.

that's your prerogative it should be about choice not 'techno nazis'.

o1s1n

Pedro deNada wrote: »

that's your prerogative it should be about choice not 'techno nazis'.

Can you not just fit a CD player yourself? It's not rocket science.

lawred2

Pedro deNada wrote: »

no **** sherlock, it's hassle don't see it as 'progress' just being a 'sheeple'.

You know tape decks progressed to compact disks..

Was it only after that that you stopped being one of the 'sheeple'?

Pedro deNada

Twenty Grand wrote: »

Why don't you just rip your audiobooks as you need them? No need to do everything in one go. Throw them onto your phone and problem solved!
This is a non issue IMO.
Technology stops the need to hoard boxes of CDs and carry them around with you. Do you carry a portable CD player around with you when you're not in the car?

Thanks I like having good a book of CDs I pick it off the shelf and chuck it in the CDs or.mp3 player, like a lot of folks like books and book sales are up as folk like the medium. Is tech.the servant or the.master, seems it's more tech facism than true utility.

Twenty Grand

Pedro deNada wrote: »

Thanks I like having good a book of CDs I pick it off the shelf and chuck it in the CDs or.mp3 player, like a lot of folks like books and book sales are up as folk like the medium. Is tech.the servant or the.master, seems it's more tech facism than true utility.

Who's talking about books?

Thought we were talking about CDs, which have been in huge decline for a decade with no hope of recovery. No one buys CDs any more, hence why CD drives are disappearing from near everything.

Love how you compare moving with the times as being sheeple, I'd say you're more of a Luddite.

Pedro deNada

o1s1n wrote: »

Can you not just fit a CD player yourself? It's not rocket science.

Yes having to do this, Ford are charging me €400 for the pleasure, Thanks

Pedro deNada

Twenty Grand wrote: »

Who's talking about books?

Thought we were talking about CDs, which have been in huge decline for a decade with no hope of recovery. No one buys CDs any more, hence why CD drives are disappearing from near everything.

Love how you compare moving with the times as being sheeple, I'd say you're more of a Luddite.

Actually lots of people access books on CDs, https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Books-CD/zgbs/books/69724
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/audio-books/article/72500-publishers-see-more-good-times-ahead-for-audiobooks.html

https://www.ft.com/content/b7cc252e-b3ab-11e5-b147-e5e5bba42e51

Just tell all the young bands still selling their CDs at gigs or on Grafton St the past few days

Akrasia

Pedro deNada wrote: »

Thanks I like having good a book of CDs I pick it off the shelf and chuck it in the CDs or.mp3 player, like a lot of folks like books and book sales are up as folk like the medium. Is tech.the servant or the.master, seems it's more tech facism than true utility.

Lol. Nobody should romanticize the Compact Disk.

Get a spotify account or deezer or play music etc,
Practically all they music every recorded and you can get it for free most of the time because of the amount of sign up offers they have.

0lddog

Pedro deNada wrote: »

Agree, did look at the nearest option a golf estate, VW do still provide CD player, but VW dealer says Golf wagon/estage not been sold in RoI anymore, so no joy.

More 'progress' there

Does Octavia combi come with CD ?.......is Octavia combi. still offered ?....

DaveyDave

I think the biggest issue here is how many CDs you to through. You'd be mad not to just rip them, changing discs is a pain in the arse.

I was tasked with ripping my mam's CD collection and uploading it all to Google Play Music. Throw the CD in and iTunes would automatically rip it then eject it. Super easy to do while watching TV or something and Google would scan the folder for new uploads.

I've a CD player and an SD card slot in the glovebox of the Golf and I use neither. Android Auto all the way.

OP, you don’t have to change your car. You don’t have to pick a focus. You don’t have to use CDs. You don’t have to embrace new technologies.

But what exactly are you looking to accomplish? Is this just something to be wound up about? Something to argue with people about?

Just rip your CD’s and put them on your phone. Stream them to the Ford supplied Bluetooth enabled head unit and get on with listening to your books and learning Portuguese.

Or don’t. Spend the €400 or move with the times. Whinging about it won’t help and Ford don’t care if you think it’s expensive. You’re a total outlier, requiring a CD player in a modern car. You might as well want a minidisc headunit or a factory fitted CB radio. It’s just weird.

ayux4rj6zql2ph

A cd player in a modern car is like a tape deck in cars 15 years ago, all but extinct. I've the iphone connected to my radio, youtube is now my cd player.

soo35

Twenty Grand wrote: »

Who's talking about books?

Thought we were talking about CDs, which have been in huge decline for a decade with no hope of recovery. No one buys CDs any more, hence why CD drives are disappearing from near everything.

Love how you compare moving with the times as being sheeple, I'd say you're more of a Luddite.

I buy CDs. I like to have the physical item, like people choose books over downloading them on a Kindle or whatever. I like flicking through the booklet, viewing the artwork and reading the credits. It's just a habit that has stayed with me for years. I'm not a technological person therefore transferring all my CDs to another format is not an option for me. Have a cd player in my 2017 Kia so all good!

UsedToWait

Unless it's short stories, I presume you'd need to be changing CD every 80 minutes or so?

Far safer to get them either ripped or downloaded in mp3

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Ripping your CDs to mp3 and have them all on a single USB drive is not as convenient and putting in and out CD's are you kidding me? Its you who wont take advantage of progress, people dont have CD's any more, and even your dad had to give up on his 8 tracks at some point for the superior technology.......

edit...I just read the thread entire and this is obviously a trolling exercise, well done you had me there for a minute..."you obviously are just a progressive hubristic person you must be be so happy" classic troll gem there, I doff my cap to you sir.

Gingham1

And it is audio books too so doesn't have to be stereo so you can hold even more of them on a single stick.

minikin

I haven’t enjoyed driving since they removed the pull down projector screen, viewing my kodachromes by hand has been challenging - particularly at roundabouts. Bring back screens and integrated slide projectors! Not fair that I have to concentrate on driving!

Guy:Incognito

Pedro deNada wrote: »

Does anyone else find the lack of a CD/MP3 player in new cars a pain in the *ss?
Ford want €400 to put a CD/MP3 player in the glove box in a new focus. I have 500 books on CDs and some books have 15-20 CDs per book. Yes you can burn all of these books onto multiple USB keys or other storage devices but its not convenient to do this or access them as on a CD box, it also takes ages to burn them, so its convenient for Ford to get rid of the CD but not for the customer.
Can't do language CDs either (learning Portuguese).

I now have to stretch to a CD player in the glove box like my father had to do with his 8 track player in the 1970s. Progress??
:mad:

Multiple USB keys? You know a USB key can hold much more than a CD?

Edit. Beaten to it

cnocbui

sentient_6 wrote: »

Your crippng about spending 400 extra when your going to spend how much for a new focus?

I would, knowing I can get a far higher spec CD-ROM BlueRay, CD, Multi layer disc read/write drive for my laptop from Amazon for €12. €400!!? - they saw you coming.

Twenty Grand

Pedro deNada wrote: »

Actually lots of people access books on CDs, https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Books-CD/zgbs/books/69724
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/audio-books/article/72500-publishers-see-more-good-times-ahead-for-audiobooks.html

https://www.ft.com/content/b7cc252e-b3ab-11e5-b147-e5e5bba42e51

Just tell all the young bands still selling their CDs at gigs or on Grafton St the past few days

Look, you have an idea in your head and no one is going to talk you out of it.
All your links are bullsh*t.
The whole argument here is that CDs are a dead technology and CD players are disappearing from cars. You're saying "oh well audiobooks on CDs are still popular, some people like them" but thats not going to change anything.

CDs are now a niche technology.

If you don't want to pay extra for a CD player, then just buy a car that has a CD player built in.
The solution is simple.

Wildly Boaring

Noah Greasy Neckline wrote: »

A cd player in a modern car is like a tape deck in cars 15 years ago, all but extinct. I've the iphone connected to my radio, youtube is now my cd player.

Exactly. Are Ford not providing USB and bluetooth?

I once bought a jap import and it had a mini disc player.


Far happier that new cars have USB input.
Cant expect the car manufacturer to keep putting in old technology. Tape decks had to go at some stage.

theteal

Sorry OP, it’s your own fault for fighting/not adopting newer, better technologies sooner. You may have a big stack of physical disks to rip now but in fairness you’ve had about 10 years to do this. Not since that white/orange Sony Walkman phone have I touched a CD other than to rip the content from it. At least these days you just buy the digital version and it’s a simple drag and drop job. The CD slot in my car is only used to hold my phone cradle.

Having stacks of physical media is a major waste of space, inconvenient and quite frankly a waste of plastic.