A bettter compression already exists. It's called VQF. MP3 has taken off, though. It's common. An obscure, unpopular format doesn't scare anybody, just like one that requeres too much storage and time to get and keep wouldn't be worrisome (As was the case when MP3 was just starting out).
The clear line between MP3 (or, in fact, any other digital format) and other forms of copying is that where before there was a quality drop with each step away from the original (copy of a copy, etc.), now there is only the initial data loss in the encoding process.
Quick buck? Its completely free. I have yet to pay anything
That's right, so far you haven't paid anything. Now that the server source is out, you probably won't. However, I can't be the only one who ever saw the possibility of a banner across the top of the napster client. What about an advertisement as you log onto the server? Subscription fees? There was never any idealistic bullsh*t from Napster - I never saw a claim saying that the service would always be free of cost and advertising. Just because something has been free up to now doesn't mean there won't be a charge for it in the future. Anybody here ever been part of a public beta test for debugging commercial software? I thought so.
The problem with visual and multimedia entertainments is that they require more attention. I can turn on my MP3s, CD player, tape deck, turntable (Yes I have one - there's a lot of good music I don't have in other formats), etc. and still carry on a conversation, while making the room alittle bit more pleasant. I can put music on as I fall asleep, and enjoy it without it distracting me to the point of staying awake. Music doesn't show that anybody cares about other media any less, but it will continue to be a valid media type. Oh yeah, did I meantion driving? I can see it now...
"Oh, the stores a few minutes away. Let's see whats on TV that I can throw on my heads up display while I drive there. Wait a minute, there's a pedestrian there!" (swerve, hits a tree)
And that's assuming he notices. Or was that only somebody on TV...
Actually, I've seen it exceed a terabyte, but again, it's clearly an inefficient system to break up the user base. On the other hand, as long as you limit the number of songs that will be shown from a given search, breaking up the user base sometimes keeps you from finding only 1 song by a given band. Otherwise, you would have an even greater chance of gettin 100 copies of the same song. Of course, a new client could fix this...
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Sorry about that bold. Forgot to preview my comments (**blush**)
A bettter compression already exists. It's called VQF. MP3 has taken off, though. It's common. An obscure, unpopular format doesn't scare anybody, just like one that requeres too much storage and time to get and keep wouldn't be worrisome (As was the case when MP3 was just starting out).
The clear line between MP3 (or, in fact, any other digital format) and other forms of copying is that where before there was a quality drop with each step away from the original (copy of a copy, etc.), now there is only the initial data loss in the encoding process.
Quick buck? Its completely free. I have yet to pay anything
That's right, so far you haven't paid anything. Now that the server source is out, you probably won't. However, I can't be the only one who ever saw the possibility of a banner across the top of the napster client. What about an advertisement as you log onto the server? Subscription fees? There was never any idealistic bullsh*t from Napster - I never saw a claim saying that the service would always be free of cost and advertising. Just because something has been free up to now doesn't mean there won't be a charge for it in the future. Anybody here ever been part of a public beta test for debugging commercial software? I thought so.
The problem with visual and multimedia entertainments is that they require more attention. I can turn on my MP3s, CD player, tape deck, turntable (Yes I have one - there's a lot of good music I don't have in other formats), etc. and still carry on a conversation, while making the room alittle bit more pleasant. I can put music on as I fall asleep, and enjoy it without it distracting me to the point of staying awake. Music doesn't show that anybody cares about other media any less, but it will continue to be a valid media type. Oh yeah, did I meantion driving? I can see it now ...
...
"Oh, the stores a few minutes away. Let's see whats on TV that I can throw on my heads up display while I drive there. Wait a minute, there's a pedestrian there!" (swerve, hits a tree)
And that's assuming he notices. Or was that only somebody on TV
Actually, I've seen it exceed a terabyte, but again, it's clearly an inefficient system to break up the user base. On the other hand, as long as you limit the number of songs that will be shown from a given search, breaking up the user base sometimes keeps you from finding only 1 song by a given band. Otherwise, you would have an even greater chance of gettin 100 copies of the same song. Of course, a new client could fix this ...