Take a look at your CD collection and your CD-ROMs. What shape are they? A circle? They are probably all the same diameter, aren’t they? This monotony among compact disks is changing. Companies are now making CDs in all shapes and sizes. From business cards to brochures to albums, CDs are now taking on a whole new image.

You might be wondering how a disk that isn’t round can be read by your CD player or computer. Simple, the same way it has always been done. Tracks on a CD aren’t read around in circles as those on a vinyl record are. The tracks are read from the center to the edge, or on the radius of the CD. The size of any given track is determined by how long that section of the CD is.

You might also wonder how it fits in the player. The CD just isn’t any wider than a normal round CD. The only consideration in the shape of the CD is that it has to balance out. If one side is heavier than the other, then it won’t spin properly.

Expect to see strangely shaped CDs all over in the near future. When you graduate and start searching for jobs, consider getting a CD card instead of a paper one. It’ll be the same size and shape as a regular card, and employers will be able to read your resume and other useful information about yourself on their computers. They will probably be impressed that you are keeping up with new technology. Also, if you collect sports cards, you can look for them on CD format, too. You can read stats and view much more information than a paper card could hold. You might get a CD instead of a brochure when thinking about going to a spa, or you may get one from your travel agent when planning your next vacation. You can also throw out those fuzzy dice and replace them with a shaped CD to hang in your car. If all this isn’t enough and you want more CDs in your life, some companies are starting to advertise on CDs shaped like their product, such as Coca-Cola and Nabisco Crackers.