I think that iTunes and the other music services are a great idea.  I have purchased songs from groups that I had never heard of and would have never purchased a CD from.  This type of activity is win-win.  i get music that I normally wouldn't buy, and the artist get a sales that normally wouldn't happen and a new listener who might buy from them again.

It only takes a few minutes for my PC to convert a CD into MP3 files using Musicmatch. I have a 1.99 Ghz Athlon XP processor. Still there is not good reason to use Kazaalite which was created to make stealing easier.



[Message Edited]

Ryan....that may ONLY be the case in the US.  In Australia, for example, it is illegal under Australian Copyright Law to copy music in any form or by any method.

If you want a CD you 'must' buy it.

If you want a cassette of the same music you must buy it.

'Fair-use' interpretations of copyright as allowed in the US do not apply in Oz....

What is the world coming to? We have all of these "free" programs that are, yes, illegal, for those who care to argue the point. (Sure they can be used legally, but that's in the minority.) Now, the RIAA wants their customers back. To do this, they are suing the very people they want to buy from them. This sounds like the wrong way to accomplish that goal. Frankly, I am a quality freak and always buy CDs because I shudder at lossy compression.

Did you know that it would take the RIAA over 300 years to sue all of the file-sharers today?

Let's all go get iTunes. Napster, Kazaa and its cousins can go down the drain.

Anyone want to give Boomer a bath for me in exchange for some AOL coasters? I have a full 1000 Glass set

I wonder if AOL would freak if anyone was distributing that crapper P2P ?

All done, he fur has been washed,conditioned and now he is sitting slapping his tail back and forth in front of the bathroom door thinking he is going to get blow dried, spoiled brat that he is

On the latest poll - funny, over 1000 people voted and guess what is winning? Download for free.

Thtat is the option of Download for free - I do not download music for free.

23 by Citizen ][Ryan][ - 10/29/2003 2:59:52 PM
Not exactly. Especially if you've already purchased the music that you're now downloading. I personally find downloading albums instead of copying them via my cd-rom much faster and more efficient, especially if you want to download higher quality versions than those on your CD's.

duh whaaaat?!

Kona, if I make a poll like this:

How would you want to aquire your next car?
1 - Buy it new directly from the car dealer
2 - Lease it
3 - Buy a used car from a dealer
4 - Buy a used car from an individual
5 - Get a stolen car from free, with absolutely zero risk of getting caught

What do you think the answer would be? I wouldn't be surprised the results would be similar.

so paxx, what kind of cars do you offer j/k

Personaly I prefer my music on cd's, converted some of the best to my pc just because I have a good speaker set on it.

The highest quality music comes on vinyl, but it degrades slowly by use. Cds are a great format, but they aren't analog so some of the music has to be degraded. However this degredation cannot be heard by a human listner. This principle applies to other formats like mp3 or aac. I find that songs from itunes are in a format (i think aac) that is just as or almost as good as cd quality. I haven't tried roxio's frankensteinish (they raised it from the dead) napster, but mp3s unless coded at a high rate aren't nearly as good as cds.

by the way I want a new bmw, i'll pay 99 cents for it

you could never tell the difference between a cd and an mp3 encoded at 160kbs

just a fact of high bit rates

only suckers encode at anything lower
there's a reason i have a 20gig iPod

Oh yes you can Doomgaze. At least on higher end systems.

VBR is the best way to go.

160 is minimum 192 sounds fine to me

all of mine are incoded at 256

or 320

I'm with you Travis--vinyl anyday over cd. Vinyl is superior. But with the likes of SACD and DVD-A...

funny how actual S to N ratios show differently.
that the differences are beyond the range of human hearing

was your mother a dog?

Well..I just posted this as a sort of ..Haha..Wink wink..Grin joke sorta thing..Im so glad you guys didnt start an all out war..grin...I personlay use vynal almost exclusively...Vinyal can record from 50KHz down to 9Hz..while the human ear can only hear up to 18KHz to 20KHz and as low as 19Hz you still feel the warmness of a record..( Ihave 2 Technic SL1200Mk tables and a Vestax PMC-17a mixer)...CDs can only record up to 20KHzdown to about 15Hz..Most bass guitars only hit about as low as 19Hz...I just thought Napsters return was interesting fodder for the message board...

I can hear all the way to 19000 hz so sometimes an mp3 can sound harsh to me.But that could be due to poor encoding or poor source material.(such as a lower bitrate re-encoded to a higher bitrate.)

Tommy Bolin sounds good period

"Wild Dogs Howling in the Night" !

Ah-Oooooo

I downloaded Napster 2.0, didn't sign up yet...but it looks very very nice. They have all the top musicians, and well made software. They really look like a VERY strong contender...