The Atlantic has a short piece about when CDs launched in the United States, 33 years ago this month.
Thirty-three years ago this month, in March 1983, America got its first whirl at the compact disc. CDs first launched in Japan, but they didn’t make their way to the States until several months later. (NPR has a helpful timeline of the important dates in compact-disc-tory.)
It might seem silly, but, back then, these mirrored plastic orbs represented an incredible technological innovation.
It’s worth reading, and you can jump from there to the New York Times describing the introduction of CDs, an NPR timeline of the technology, and more.
via The Atlantic
RETROVOLTAGE 
Interesting Article.
I remember the players cost about $1,000.00 when they first came out.