The Day The Music Crashed...
from the uh-oh... dept
Now that we're being told all the time that we should only buy digital music, what happens when your computer screws up and you can no longer access your music? Apparently, there are a ton of stories going around right now about how the latest version of iTunes is completely trashing some Windows machines, making all of the songs stored unaccessible. So, as Jeremy Wagstaff asks in the first link, will this prompt people to go back to more tangible storage, such as CDs? It seems unlikely (and I say that as someone who actually does still prefer CDs, call me old fashioned). Instead, it may do two things: (1) encourage people to get better backup solutions, so that if a computer has problems, their music is still available and (2) push to get rid of stupid copy protection that makes solution (1) useless.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
The Day The Freeware Crashed?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: The Day The Freeware Crashed?
I prefer vinyl anyway
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
you can't get really good quality out of a PC unless you prepared to spend thousands on studio level equipment. feel free to slate me on this but you know its right. theres too much interference going on in a PC to get any real level of fidelity.
i may be tainted by the huge ammounts i spend on hi fi gear instead but i feel justified in agreeing with the fact that yes music should remain on cd.
or perhaps even minidisc? ATRAC is a fantasic method of encoding and its a real shame it never took off.
as far as copy protection goes i don't see the point. save your money. at best its a mild inconvenience to anyone who wants to rip/copy it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
Yes you are. The vast majority of digital music users are not looking for high fidelity. They are looking for portability and money savings. Personally I enjoy many one-hit wonders and select songs from select artists, to me Napster was a godsent as I don't care to spend $20 to get the one song I want. And proper encoding at 192 is fine with me.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
iTunes... wtf
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Wouldn't affect me much
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Nobody told me.....
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
BACKUP YOUR STUFF.... DUH.
iTunes and Apple tell you how to make a "DATA" backup of your music (though that might require someone to actually read something.)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
Do you actually know anything about the subject?
I'm more interested on how the guy at Looswires found out stray catheters can mess up your software, and what he was doing when it happened.
Maybe there's video...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
MP3's
"I don't fear computers, I fear the lack of them"
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Great Timing
Unfortunately, quite a few people where I work have this installed, most notably the executives. I've send some carefully worded emails warning against upgrades, but I'm sure some will slip through the cracks.
Incidentally, the earlier version of iTunes doesn't work that well with Windows either.
MLO
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
But just to keep the conversation going:
iTunes is pitched at many people who, like my Mum, can just about download tracks, to to whom if you were to say "Plug in an external hard drive and create a slave volume which you should synchronise regularly with your hard drive" would either panic and run away or hit you for taking the p!ss.
How hard would it be it keep a record of tracks purchased, matched against the licence number of your copy of itunes and allow tracks to be re-downloaded in the event of a corruption... or *something* like that (I'm sure nerds are thinking of a thousand loopholes and problems that would cause... in fact i'm thinking of many myself - but I'm sure there is some feasable solution)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hrm, no problems here.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I tunes WTH
As far as the Audiophile nonsense goes, i just need to say that i am a certified sound engineer, i play in an experimental noise band, and work at an indie record store, my life revolves around music, and recorded sound in general. In my opinion you will not be able to notice anything dicernable in a 192k and up encoding. Yes, you can notice it, if you put on headphones, and really really listen, without any external distractions. But who does that on a day to day basis? i only get that chance maybe twice a week for an album or two and then i listen on vinyl, which pops jumps on occasion, even with virgin vinyl. in the end it doesn't matter how it's recorded, sound is sound, and should be taken as it is, on it's own merits, there is no "Pure" recording, even going directly from the instrument (which can be played poorly) to your ear, you're going to get loss and distortion, humidity, accoustics, air pressure, fluid in your ears, wax, you name it. In the end, the question should be "Is this enjoyable."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: I tunes WTH
[ link to this | view in thread ]
AAC?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
A disturbing pattern here
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Why not just re-download
I still won’t be paying for any music that has any kind of DRM on it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: AAC?
AAC is a very strong codec (though there is still room for improvement). What you have to do is rip a CD starting at a low bitrate and listen to it. If it is not acceptable to you at that bitrate try it again at the next highest rate and repeat until you find the quality that is acceptable TO YOU.
A lot of people will tell you that a lossy codec is not acapable of producing quality reproduction, but if you ask them to prove their claim with an ABX test the seem to disappear for a few days because of them can not do so. As someone already said, you may not be able to get perfect reproduction, but if you try different bitrates you can get enjoyable quality from just about any lossy codec. If lossy is still unacceptable to you you can always use lossless codecs like 'Apple Lossless Encoder'. The file size will be a lot bigger, but you will have the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with knowing that you have an exact copy of the audio as it is recorded an the CD.
For the record I use OGG Vorbis for listening on my computer, but I use AAC @ 160kbs for my Shufle and it is quite enjoyable FOR ME.
[ link to this | view in thread ]