I've got invites for indietorrents.com

I dunno if any of you are worthy though..

And by the way, the 'massive discount' they provide for us students is an automatic $70 tacked onto our tuition that goes to napster. When you consider that 2% of students bought songs off napster, and there are 5000 undergrads, that 100 students bought songs, and napster got $35,000.

jslope

So if I understand you correctly

a. Microsoft had a monopoly of Windows being installed in virtually every computer because Windows is compatible with just about everything so people would choose that over Linux, Mac OS, FreeBSD, etc...

b. Apple sells iPods which are only compatible with iTunes software and songs so people choose iTunes over rhapsody, napster, etc... because of compatibility

Tell me how Microsoft is wrong and Apple is not.

a. What Microsoft was actually guilty of was tying. See, their monopoly on PC operating systems is legal (yes I know they don't have 100% of the market but for legal purposes they don't have to to be a monopoly). What was actually illegal was bundling Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player into the OS. That's what they were tried and convicted for.

b. the iPod plays mp3s and mp4s. Any online store that sells those will work with the iPod. For instance allofmp3.com works just fine. Or you can buy a CD and rip it. Also, iTunes supports plugins that allow it to work with other hardware besides the iPod. So basically neither product is closed.

(psst..."index of"...) No spyware laden programs, always fast speed, no $, no limitations on burning, no "renting", nigh universal file format...

theurge14 wrote:

>iPods play MP3s.
>iTunes uses MP3s.
>iPods can be accessed using Winamp or any other player >you want.
>AAC is part of the MPEG4 standard.

>Sorry, you're wrong.
>Have a nice day.

All hardware players play MP3s...forgive me if I am not impressed that an IPOD can too.

All software players play MP3s...again, forgive me if I am not impressed with iTunes

The official apple party line is that IPODS CANNOT be accessed by anything but itunes. Yes there are hacks out there, but this is not supported by apple.

PROTECTED AACs are only officially playable by ITunes because of Apple DRM. Again, there are hacks, but we are talking about a company attitude here and Apple's restrictive DRM and proprietary hardware/software.

For the record...I'm not bashing Apple, ITunes, or IPODS. If you love them then great. What I do have a problem with is slanted arguements like the one presented in the parent article that seems to say Apple is open/free while Napster is restrictive and closed. Apple is just as guilty with thier hardware/software/drm restrictions as Napster.

h3dge .. i think you should be impressed with an ipod...

It's arguably the first electronic product you could drop out of the window of a 10 story building and it would be okay... On top of that, the finger sensing mechanism to sort is wonderful.

I was a skeptic too... But they put out a product worth the hype..

Again.. I repeat... out of every electronic product I have ever purchased... I'm talking literally dozens of PC's, wireless routers, scanners, printers, tivo, flat screen, hdtv, yata yata yata...

The IPOD was the best consumer electronic (for the money) I own.

I debated the whole ipod thing for a long time...they just seemed so expensive. So I found a solution. I bought a palm Tungsten / E and a few gig. SD cards all for under 300 bones. So now i have a sweet palm (loaded with all the sweet apps needed..i.e. games, datebook, phonebook. etc...) and gigs of songs easily and quickley transfered.

and Limewire works splendid to get the songs you would like that really aren't worth the money.

h3dge: Why aren't you complaining that you can't play your PS2 games on another system? The official Sony line is that you can't play your PS2 games on anything else. Again, there are emulators, but we are talking about a company attitude here and proprietary hardware/software.

Proprietary Hardware and Software is nothing new in the electronics industry. MiniDisc, UMD, BetaMax, VHS, DVD, whatever. A digital format is no different than a physical format.

You guys still download MP3s via spyware infected P2P programs and shady websites? Learn to love torrents, and they will love you back. Full albums in 5-10 mins.

On a side note. The iPod, while a great device, is going to lose out to flash memory drives as they get bigger. Apple needs to reinvent soon. Because the only people who use Macs are multimedia professionals, and anti-corporate hippies. The iPod market is the only thing keep Apple a house brand name.

dauminated: I'd reconsider that. Apple is approximately 3% of the market. Assuming that half of America owns computers, that's still well over 4 million computers. Certainly they're no Dell or Microsoft, but they're more of a household name then say, Falcon NorthWest or Alienware.

Monopoly? oookay, cell phones? iPod? The earlier post of the prototype iTunes phone; no carrier
wants to approve it for use in their network because.. they want to run their own music download services, remember these are guys who charge $3 for a _ring_tone_, a .99 service they can't get a big cut of, they're going to exclude from their service. No celly for me..


Shame that universities are being forced to cover their arse on high-speed internet by blocking stuff and paying for things like this Napster thing. My school uses the technology fee for.. duh, computers. They block all the torrents and groksters, but I make do ;)

Hmm.. not enough humor here. try this: iFlea parody(pops, windows media of all things)

Of course, napster doesn't use that hypno-audio signal exclusive to iTunes that makes all listeners use it, buy ipods, macs.


All hail the glory of the Hypnopod!

but frogs dont have ea BUZZZ

At the end of the Fall 04 semester, Penn State's outreach (i.e. marketing) office wanted to do a contest in which Penn State clubs would get students to sign up for their "free" Napster accounts. The student would choose which club got them to sign up from a drop down menu during the registration process and the club with the most registered students by the end of the contest would win a portion of the proceeds from a concert held in the spring. They canceled the contest because not enough clubs were interested in participating. I was at the informational meeting. There were like 12 people there.

Also, I worked in the Penn State computer labs. I don't remember anyone ever asking me anything about the Napster service. People did, however, take advantage of the wireless access across campus to download torrents and other stuff.

So yeah, Napster on college campuses: working like gangbusters.

/that was sarcasm
//and my first use of slashes

GungFu

When I reformat I usually just backup my entire home directory. Once I'm done reformatting, I transfer the contents of the old home directory to the new home directory and all my settings and music and everything is the same. It is a beautiful thing.

Je5tEr - They have repeatedly stated and treated "buying music" as either/both purchasing and licensing.

Record companies want to make money every time anybody hears, records, sings or thinks about any musical note or lyric. Nothing they say makes any sense.

Donald Hogan Mark II:

emusic.com

90 tracks a month for $20.
no mainstream bullshiat either.
itunes, napster, etc. is for morons.

You pay money for music... LOL

i used to buy cd's. i stopped buying the fancy ones a few years ago, and only buy them at concerts now. i would rather buy a cd than pay any of those services to obtain one digitally, just on principle. maybe i'm old fashioned... besides, with dc++ at a college campus, you can get 100 gigabytes of tunes... of course, only 40 of that is good stuff (mine...)

usenet > iTMS, Napster, etc

Cheaper too.

sackafire:

The one song they will break down and buy (I know because my friend's brother is totally one of these kids and he knows everything they are going to do before they do it because they plan everything out at tea parties and other cover up operations) is "There's A Tear In My Beer". There is a new version of it that is specifically about "JR" beer. I know this because I have been told by a member of the inner circle of this group and he has prior knowledge of their activities before the do them and fully execute the plan that they came up with before doing it. By it I don't me it it, but the activity or avoidance of activity pre determined by the group. I'm sure you knew that but some times immature people like to make "do it" jokes, or "doodie" (which sounds like duty in casual conversation), or pre mature someting or other. I feel as though I have now done my duty to America. (this is the point where many in the group would chortle, pointing out "He said doodie")

Reading that was like listening to a cokehead talk...

Trouble: usenet > iTMS, Napster, etc

Cheaper too.

Finally, someone else with good sense. USENET, people. Skip all of the bullshiat you've discussed above. DRM free, too.

Sorry to be on-topic, but there are a few basic reasons why the university I work at went with Napster as opposed to iTunes, other, or none at all.

1) The University has now protected itself (somewhat) from the almighty RIAA in providing and advertising a legal method of downloading music to the student body. If a student still elects to download illegally, he/she is probably sh*t outta luck come persecution time.

2) The University sets up a caching server in association with the service to increase performance on the most popular content while conserving bandwidth.

3) Our U. went with Crapster because they offered the best deal. Apple played hardball in negotiations and wouldn't offer any discount on the service to students, faculty, and staff.

Neurochemist
h3dge .. i think you should be impressed with an ipod...

It's arguably the first electronic product you could drop out of the window of a 10 story building and it would be okay... On top of that, the finger sensing mechanism to sort is wonderful.

Shenanigans! I work Ipod tech support for a living. You can't drop these things onto a padded carpet without something going kerbonkers.

Gung Fu

If I wanted to reformat my computer, how can i save my itunes playlists for later?

I am on a Mac, but i assume the process is the same:

1. Select Playlist from left side column
2. File --> Export Song list (as a text file) ---> save to Desktop
3. Back up .txt file
4. File --> Import --> select backed up .txt file
5. Profit!

This process works on the condition that you do not alter any of the tags on your music files after exporting the playlist, since it relies on those to rebuild the playlist when you import it.

good luck.

/renting music is the best IQ test we have today
//unless you are using some sort of audio capturing software
///in which case it is ingenious -- thanks Napster for the free music, yet again!

Thanks

chapstickaddict

and

december

appreciate the help.

I'll give it a shot next time.

Instructions saved. Thanks again.

EnderKR:

Kinda on-topic: I used to be an avid Winamp fan - still am - but once i got iTunes, it was kinda superfluous to have two programs that did the same thing, and I had to use iTunes anyway for my iPod. If Winamp did iPod support....farkin' sweet.

Winamp does support iPods now, and does a damn good job at it too. On the fly recoding, backup, fixing the datase, etc. Just go to the winamp.com site and download the plugin.

I cannot even imagine why anyone would pay for music except for cd's.

Any music you download from itunes can be burned on a cd. anything you downlaod from itunes you can keep forever, provided you're not too stupid to never back up your data.

Anything you get from napster you have to pay a monthly fee to keep using, until they go out of business, which will be any day now, after which you're farked.

I haven't looked, but I'm willing to bet Napster's selection pales in comparison to even wal-mart.

I'm currently downloading a green day bootleg for free which I would happily pay for, but it's not available at all through legal means.

Napster is screwed, as is all the music business, until they realize people wont pay good money for crap.

Napster sold out a long time ago. Piss on them and their deal with the devil (RIAA).

Real blows, always has and always will. Their software is craptastic enough that they need to sneak it into other installs. The quality of their software is terrible, the streaming media that they offer is bad at best.

Can you blame Apple for not wanting to give those retards an in to the iPod?

/mmmm, beer.