The Missing Seconds

Ever notice that when you copy music to your computer, the tracks rarely end up the same length as on the cds?

I got several giftcards for Christmas and decided to splurge on books and movies and cds. Everything I got is an old favorite, just right for enjoying again and again, especially the cds. My original cassette tapes are over 20 years old and beginning to wow just a bit.

I put all of the cds on my computer so I could enjoy them while I'm online. As I was naming the tracks, I noticed that very few had the same time listed on the cd label. Some were a few seconds longer, some a bit shorter. And then there was the final track on one album, that was 30 seconds shorter.

That's right. Not 2 or 3 or even 5 seconds, but 30 seconds.

What I'd like to know is, where did all that time go? Is it being recycled to provide extra space for the occasional long-winded classical piece I copy? Is it going to add to the total run-time for my computer before it dies of obsolescence?

Or did it just get sucked into a musical black hole in the space-time continuum?









And yes, the answer is 42.