At least in cars that is:

DETROIT -- The dash-mounted CD player could quickly go the way of 8-tracks and quadraphonic sound, a vice president from Siemens VDO said Thursday at the Ward's Auto Interiors Show in Detroit.

And it will be a welcome demise, he said, because it will free up valuable real estate on the dash for all the other cool gizmos drivers lug around these days, like the cell phone, personal digital assistant and music player.

Never-ending advances in digital music devices, the take-them-everywhere cell phones and finicky customers who expect to customize their vehicles with portable devices, will push CD players out of most vehicles as early as 2012, said Frank Homann, vice president of Siemens VDO's Interior Electronics Solutions group.

Many manufacturers already are putting new sound technologies in vehicles.

For the past two years, DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group has offered its U Connect system to allow people with Bluetooth phones to connect to a speaker phone in the car. It recently introduced the My Gig system that will burn CDs to a 20 Gig hard drive in the dash.

Ford Motor Co. will introduce its Sync system later this year. It connects a driver's phone to the vehicle, as well as allows an iPod or other music device to be controlled by the car's stereo. It will also play music saved on a flash drive by connecting to a USB port in the car.

Chris Dragon, director of marketing for audio company Harmon/Kardon, said he doesn't see carmakers opening their dashes to just any devices.

"(Carmakers) make a lot of money on those technology packages that include CD players and other things," Dragon said. "I don't see them opening up their electrical architecture to outside people any time soon."

Many of the changes in future interiors will start in the more nimble aftermarket arena, Dragon said. Harmon/Kardon sells a number of aftermarket devices that are popular with consumers, including the Guide and Play GPS 500 that can store music and movies, as well as GPS navigation.

Automakers could save between $20 and $40 a vehicle if they eliminated CD players, according to Homann.

They also could save money in other ways, such as consolidating some of the electronics behind the dashboard, he noted. But all of this will take time.

Most new models now come with an auxiliary input jack to allow motorists to plug and play their music devices.

Additionally, carmakers recognize the need to have more electrical sources in a vehicle so drivers can recharge their phones, iPods and laptops.

Even if CD players linger in dashboards of the future, many will simply gather dust.

"I bought a new car a few years ago and have never played a CD in it," Dragon said.

"Everything I have is on my iPod and that goes wherever I do."

i still buy cd's, but they go right on to the ipod, i buy them so i dont risk looseing all my music, wasting money if my computer has some kind of fatal error

i think i am getting an iPhone when they come out so then i will put all my cd's on it :) yay!!!

One of my biggest disappointments with the patriot is that the Aux jack is only available with the basic radio - the upgrades don't feature it. I can't imagine ever really playing one CD, let alone six. That Aux jack would be very useful.

What am I going to hang from my rearview mirror now? Like really.

I don't have a GPS system, I've thought about buying one. To do away with the CD player I think I can live without that, as long at the connections are there haha!! I can fill my ipod up with music. Only thing I add is a radar detector haha!! Our 2005 Frontier doesn't even have and aux jack to hook ipods up. We've thought about upgrading the basic to a much better system but it's hubby's he doesn't care. My cell phone goes in my purse, or a sweat shirt pocket, but now they are trying to make it a law here that if driving while talking on cell phone, a cop will stop you and ticket you. I don't know.

And most of the GPS systems have mp3 capability as well. Heck why even bother driving...

Yeah... I wonder myself sometimes.

My Liberty was too old to even have an AUX jax included on the radio. I went online though and found an adaptor that I just plug into the back of the CD changer port and can actaully direct connect my iPod straight to the radio now. I installed about 2 weeks ago and I should probably update my sig.

MOPAR also sells a device that can interface an iPod with the radios... Too bad it only works for vehicles built from 2004 and beyond.

I like the aux for the ipod. I borrow my brother's 06' Honda and I take my ipod with me. It's nice. I'm the one who wants and wants, hubby he could care less haha. I will say that when looking at cars and pickups the one thing that I wanted was a CD player. If it didn't, I had no interest in it. Power package, Keyless entry and CD. I drove a chevy that had AM/FM and it only got one station. No fun!! I know times are changing!!

I read that earlier today. Heck I have two vehicles that are 2 and 3 years old. One has an in-dash 6 CD changer and the other has a single CD radio in it.

When I first bought the vehicle with the 6 CD changer, I loaded it up. It has the same 6 CD's in it from 2 years ago. I never even listened to them. Ever since I got Sirius, I have not listened to a CD or terrestrial radio in my cars since.

We use our Ipod. rarely use the CD player.

My on order Patriot will have the 6 cd changer because I wanted the MP3 capability. By burning cds using the MP3 format I can get 9 1/2 to 10 hours music per cd. I wish I could get MP3 with a single disk player as they are more reliable long term and six aren't needed with MP3. This will be my first car since the '60s with no tape player. I'm sure cds will indeed go away soon. I vote for flash memory as the next big thing.

Yep. I put a CD in the Pat radio once after I bought it just to make sure it worked. Haven't used the CD player since.

I have the satellite radio (didn't really want it, but they threw it in the deal) and am actually listening to that most of the time.

I thought I'd get a lot of use out of the aux jack with my MP3 player, but have not really used that much. Partly because I just dont feel like fooling with the MP3 controls while driving.

I installed a new radio in my other car that has a USB jack. I load music on a flash drive and plug it in. I really like that feature - don't know why this feature isn't on a lot more audio systems.

Ah technology. The Garmin Nuvi I just received has an MP3 capability. I picked up a 2 gig SD card at Best Buy for $20 US (sale price / no rebate) and started downloading. Problem solved.

I'll probably use my cd more than my ipod. It's to hard to operate the ipod while driving. My cousin tried his hardest to get me to put the Satellie radio in and I just wouldn't (aww stubborn me)

Of course the Nav system has big touch screen controls so it is easy to play the music.

I think that the iPod + Garmin NUVI is like driving bliss! All the music I want while I travel across country and I still know where I am going!

I say down with the CD player and switch to a harddrive setup that will store music via a USB or other transfer device.