1. Is the Story True That Music CDs Were Sized to Fit Beethoven's Ninth Symphony?
In 1980, Sony and Philips established the standards for music CDs. The diameter is 12 centimeters, and the maximum recording length is about 74 minutes. A story is widely told that Sony’s Norio Ohga insisted, “It must fit the Ninth,” and this determined the size [1]. However, this is just one perspective. There is another theory that Philips engineers stated the Beethoven story was a public relations narrative [1]. What the real deciding factor was cannot be clearly stated.
What is clear is that the vessel of 12 centimeters and about 74 minutes took on the next job after music. In the next section, we look at what happened when text and numbers, rather than sound, were put into that vessel.
2. How Much Floppy Disk Data Fits on a CD-ROM, the Computer Version of a Music CD?
The standard for putting computer data, not sound, onto a music CD disc is called CD-ROM. Its specification document is called the “Yellow Book” due to its cover color. According to the English Wikipedia, it was created in 1983 and standardized as ISO/IEC 10149 in 1988 [2]. The capacity of a 12-centimeter disc is 650 MB for the 650 MB type and about 703 MB for the 80-minute type [2]. Floppy disks at the time held 1.44 MB per disk. Calculating 650 divided by 1.44 for the 650 MB type gives approximately 451. Thus, one 650 MB CD-ROM equals about 450 floppy disks. This is a calculation based on standard capacity, and the actual amount varies depending on how the contents are packed.
This difference has great significance for those distributing software. For example, Windows 95 required 13 floppy disks, even using a special format (DMF) that held more than usual [5]. It is said that most of these were shipped on CD-ROM. However, since this story is viewed from the floppy disk side, we keep it as just one example.
In the mid-1990s, it is said that CD-ROMs could hold more data than the standard hard disks of the time (about 300 to 500 MB) [3]. So, what was the first thing put into this large vessel?
3. Dictionaries and Encyclopedias: The First CD-ROM Software
The first CD-ROM software in Japan is said to be the “Latest Science and Technology Terms Dictionary” published by Sanshusha in October 1985 [3]. It was a dictionary for looking up scientific and technical terms. In the United States, Grolier’s encyclopedia is considered one of the first consumer CD-ROM products. Content used for reference, like a dictionary, fit on one CD-ROM [2]. The year it was introduced varies by source, splitting between 1985 and 1986, so we will call it “the mid-1980s.”
This encyclopedia later added photos in the 1990 edition and video and sound in the 1992 edition [2]. What began as a replacement for text-only books changed into material for enjoying with sight and sound. However, these were still products for people who had dedicated reading devices. What happened when devices came attached to computers and game consoles from the start?
4. CD-ROM Drives for Game Consoles and Computers
In December 1988, a CD-ROM drive for the PC Engine appeared, and it is said that the world’s first CD-ROM game software was released [3]. For game consoles, too, CD-ROM was a new container. On February 28, 1989, Fujitsu announced the FM TOWNS. It is considered the first computer in the world to have a CD-ROM drive as standard equipment, and there were 27 types of CD-ROM software at the time of announcement [4]. Note that this is the date of “announcement,” which is different from the date it went on sale.
If a drive is attached from the start, buyers can use CD-ROM software immediately without adding another device. From the perspective of manufacturing companies, this meant a place was created where there were definitely customers to sell to. So, could software makers easily move from floppy disks to CD-ROM?
5. Why More CD-ROM Software Did Not Lighten the Burden on Makers
FM TOWNS software increased to 125 types in December 1989 and 305 titles in November 1990 [4]. This means it exceeded 10 times the 27 types at the time of announcement in about a year and a half. However, the counting methods for “types” and “titles” may differ, so please read this as an estimate.
However, there were major challenges for the makers. For games around 1989 to 1990, when FM TOWNS was released, an industry column suggests that developing CD-ROM versions took 1.5 times the period and 2 times the cost compared to floppy disk versions [4]. This is a general estimate for games at the time and does not mean all CD-ROM software was like this. For example, if a game could be made on floppy disk in 6 months for 1 million yen, the CD-ROM version would take 9 months for 2 million yen. These numbers are an example to help you feel the multipliers, not actual costs.
This is a story about game development and does not apply to all software generally. It can be read that having large capacity meant makers “had to produce a lot,” but the sources do not state this explicitly. Nevertheless, CD-ROMs continued to spread. The next section looks at magazine extras.
6. How Magazine Extra CD-ROMs Delivered Software to Homes
In Japanese computer magazines, the extra media changed over time. According to AKIBA PC Hotline!, 5-inch floppy disks started appearing as extras in February 1994, and 3.5-inch disks became possible from June 1, 1994, before changing to CD-ROM [6]. A 2006 All About explanation lists the benefits of magazine extra CD-ROMs as: no download required, can be installed on computers not connected to the internet, and the reassurance of selection by the editorial team. The weaknesses are the cost of purchase and that the included software is the version at the time of magazine publication [7].
Even as the internet began to spread, extra CD-ROMs were used. In December 1996, Intel Japan announced plans to distribute 1 million copies over 3 months via CD-ROMs attached to 8 computer and internet magazines in “Web&CD Magazine” [8]. Dividing 1 million by 8 gives an average of 125,000 copies per magazine. This is just a calculation of the planned numbers, not actual circulation.
In this system, video and audio are played from the CD-ROM as needed. It can be inferred that heavy data was placed on the CD-ROM side in an era when internet lines were slow, but this is an inference from the article’s mechanism [8]. After that, from the early 2000s, DVDs and downloads began to replace CD-ROMs [2]. Today, software sold on CD is rare. So, what can be verified from CDs at home?
7. How to Check the 12 Centimeters and 74 Minutes of a Music CD at Home
If you have a music CD at home, borrow one and measure from edge to edge with a ruler. The diameter should be 12 centimeters. Next, add up the song lengths written on the case paper. Check if the total is within about 74 minutes. Note that 74 minutes is the maximum in the standard, and not all songs necessarily fill the length completely.
If you are interested in computer software, you might find introductions to extra CD-ROMs if you look for old computer magazines at the library. By comparing the years introduced here with advertisements at the end of the magazines, you can check if the shift from floppy to CD-ROM is reflected in the pages.