Subj : Is a PC optical drive a "player"?
To   : Nightfox
From : xqtr
Date : Fri Apr 25 2025 02:52 pm

 Ni> Recently (within the last year or so), I've started to notice people onlin
 Ni> referring to a PC optical drive as a "player" (as in, wondering whether th
 Ni> on your PC, it's the software that does the playing of the video.  The opt
 Ni> drive is just reading the data, and you could also be using the optical di
 Ni> to 
 Ni> install software, rip movies, etc., which are activities that don't count 
 Ni> "playing" something.

Back in the 90s, i had a 386 machine, which had a CDROM... that device was only to use with the PC and read data or music. To listen music from an audio CD, you needed to power on the PC and use some software to play the audio...

....but somewhere in the mid or late 90s some CDROM devices appeared that could also play audio CDs by them selves. They had a Play/Pause button and an audio jack, that you could connect to headphones or speakers and listen music. They only needed power to be used. Of course they could also be used as a normal PC device to read data from the PC.

I think you mean those devices :)

..
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