Buy a mini ($400). Use rsync to push your DRM free music to your Linux machines. You'll find that Darwin plays nicely with Linux machines and all of your favorite packages are there. And if you don't like it, you end up with a really nice-looking Intel based machine that you can install your favorite Linux on.
Grousing about Apple not supporting Linux directly is like grousing that 99% of the software in the world is written for Windows. Sad, but true. You pays your money, you makes your choice...
Those wanting to show their support for DRM-free music will have to wait a bit. According to the podcast, the new DRM-free tracks will be available "in May".
Interestingly, there is no support at present for searching by publisher in iTunes (wonder if they'll add that), but if you want to plan your purchases for next month, you can look at this wikipedia article for a list of EMI artists. With few exceptions (the Beatles, primarily, since they're still not available in any online format), the whole catalog will be available...
My faves from the list: The Beach Boys, Bob Seger, Coldplay, David Bowie, Depeche Mode, Elvis Costello, Elvis Presley, Erasure (can't help it), Garth Brooks, J. Geils Band, James Brown (Hit Me!), Joe Cocker, Kate Bush, Norah Jones, Pet Shop Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead (pre-2003), The Knack, The Decemberists. They also have a very respectable classical music inventory for folks that that swing that way.
Personally, I think that people who are contining to grouse about quality are somewhat like those that swear by vacuum tube amps. When I did my own double-blind tests of LAME-encoded MP3, I found that the sweet spot was 192Kbps, but that there where occasional passages of very unusual music (orchestral or Peter Gabriel's Passion) where I could hear a tiny difference (a slight beating oscillation) that didn't go away until 256Kbps. So I rip lossless and downconvert to 192K for actual use on most players. Would I prefer lossless? Sure, but 256K AAC not only adequate, but excellent. I will buy extensively when it becomes available, both because I like it and to encourage other labels to do the same.
Final point: cynics may say that EMI is doing this partly because they've been seriously short of sucessful acts lately and will do anything to create sales. See this Forbes article for more. Whether that's true or not, I intend to buy, buy, buy. Scr** you Sony!
Let me try to be clearer. The big issue is using someone else to do your dirty work (making them pay) for you. The issue is not whether Trillian sold a chat client, it's whether they tried to use Yahoo to implement anti-piracy measures.
And as far as the compatibility issue goes, songs are not users. Users are likely to have only one chat id (which is Trillian's raison d'etre), songs are likely to be sold by all the online music stores.
Errr...DRM is the issue. The fundamental issue is that Real was trying to sell DRM protected music, but using Apple software as the "cop on the beat". The is no moral, ethical, or legal reason why Apple should do this.
The only way this would be similiar is if Trillian had tried to sell a chat client that used Yahoo to block out users who didn't pay.
Further, compatibility was critical to Trillian because there was no alternative to reaching Yahoo users. Apple iPod owners can simply buy their tunes through the iTMS. Might be more expensive, but then, no one forced people to buy an iPod.
While it's true that money buys access to politicians of every stripe, the Bush administration has developed whole new ways of not only extracting money from donors, but also ways of hiding their important donors from scrutiny.
All those $200 donations? Why don't you ask the Bush campaign whose "Pioneer" id number was written on the check. Which CEOs coerced all those company VPs to make those donations so that they could enjoy face time and continued access to unimportant little things like Cheney's "Energy Policy Committee" (featuring Ken Lay), or Rumsfeld's "Foreign Policy Advisory Board" (featuring Richard Perle and Newt Gingrich).
Some of the reponses have called the original story "inflammatory" or suggested that it's a reasonable spam control measure.
If the issue were spam or forged email addresses, for a heck of a lot less money, they could have installed an email confirmation system that would ask email senders to confirm their submission. C'mon, Majordomo can do that out of the box (not that the Bush administration would have heard of it:-)
Forcing people to declare whether they support the president? Trying to control the topics they comment on? They might as well just say they won't take electronic feedback at all.
I would encourage/.'ers who would like to complain about this system to actually use it to "write a differing opinion" complaining about both being forced to delare whether you are any enemy of of the state AND being restricted as to the subjects on which you may voice an opinion.
Just go to White House Webmail and since their topic choices create no obvious category for complaining about their Webmail system, I would suggest using:
Subject: Foreign Policy / Human Rights.
That's about as close as you can get, which should tell you how interested they are in hearing feedback.
Slashdot Mirror
Buy a mini ($400). Use rsync to push your DRM free music to your Linux machines. You'll find that Darwin plays nicely with Linux machines and all of your favorite packages are there. And if you don't like it, you end up with a really nice-looking Intel based machine that you can install your favorite Linux on.
Grousing about Apple not supporting Linux directly is like grousing that 99% of the software in the world is written for Windows. Sad, but true. You pays your money, you makes your choice...
Interestingly, there is no support at present for searching by publisher in iTunes (wonder if they'll add that), but if you want to plan your purchases for next month, you can look at this wikipedia article for a list of EMI artists. With few exceptions (the Beatles, primarily, since they're still not available in any online format), the whole catalog will be available...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_musicians_sig ned_to_EMI
My faves from the list: The Beach Boys, Bob Seger, Coldplay, David Bowie, Depeche Mode, Elvis Costello, Elvis Presley, Erasure (can't help it), Garth Brooks, J. Geils Band, James Brown (Hit Me!), Joe Cocker, Kate Bush, Norah Jones, Pet Shop Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead (pre-2003), The Knack, The Decemberists. They also have a very respectable classical music inventory for folks that that swing that way.
Personally, I think that people who are contining to grouse about quality are somewhat like those that swear by vacuum tube amps. When I did my own double-blind tests of LAME-encoded MP3, I found that the sweet spot was 192Kbps, but that there where occasional passages of very unusual music (orchestral or Peter Gabriel's Passion) where I could hear a tiny difference (a slight beating oscillation) that didn't go away until 256Kbps. So I rip lossless and downconvert to 192K for actual use on most players. Would I prefer lossless? Sure, but 256K AAC not only adequate, but excellent. I will buy extensively when it becomes available, both because I like it and to encourage other labels to do the same.
Final point: cynics may say that EMI is doing this partly because they've been seriously short of sucessful acts lately and will do anything to create sales. See this Forbes article for more. Whether that's true or not, I intend to buy, buy, buy. Scr** you Sony!
And as far as the compatibility issue goes, songs are not users. Users are likely to have only one chat id (which is Trillian's raison d'etre), songs are likely to be sold by all the online music stores.
The only way this would be similiar is if Trillian had tried to sell a chat client that used Yahoo to block out users who didn't pay.
Further, compatibility was critical to Trillian because there was no alternative to reaching Yahoo users. Apple iPod owners can simply buy their tunes through the iTMS. Might be more expensive, but then, no one forced people to buy an iPod.
All those $200 donations? Why don't you ask the Bush campaign whose "Pioneer" id number was written on the check. Which CEOs coerced all those company VPs to make those donations so that they could enjoy face time and continued access to unimportant little things like Cheney's "Energy Policy Committee" (featuring Ken Lay), or Rumsfeld's "Foreign Policy Advisory Board" (featuring Richard Perle and Newt Gingrich).
Check out this WaPo article Name Those Fundraisers for more details.
--MarkGo
If the issue were spam or forged email addresses, for a heck of a lot less money, they could have installed an email confirmation system that would ask email senders to confirm their submission. C'mon, Majordomo can do that out of the box (not that the Bush administration would have heard of it :-)
Forcing people to declare whether they support the president? Trying to control the topics they comment on? They might as well just say they won't take electronic feedback at all.
I would encourage /.'ers who would like to complain about this system to actually use it to "write a differing opinion" complaining about both being forced to delare whether you are any enemy of of the state AND being restricted as to the subjects on which you may voice an opinion.
Just go to White House Webmail and since their topic choices create no obvious category for complaining about their Webmail system, I would suggest using:
Subject: Foreign Policy / Human Rights.
That's about as close as you can get, which should tell you how interested they are in hearing feedback.
Complain early. Complain often.
--MarkGo