Okay, but you should refrain from calling DRM-AAC files "iTunes" (or even the online store, which is the "iTunes Music Store").
iTunes by itself is a program, just like Firefox is a browser. The music store is server(s) at Apple.
I don't know DeliPlayer nor WinMediaPlayer, but you could still give iTunes a go. It rips, catalog, tags and plays music for you. You can even drag'n drop the music from the library onto an external drive (i.e. mp3 player if it maps as a drive) without having to care where the files are stored. You just won't have the iTunes/iPod synergy of smart playlists or automated sync, but it'll work just fine.
Ok, so your reason for not liking iTunes.... is because you're being locked into a monopoly? And you want to use MP3?
Don't you know that iTunes is a FREE ripper/jukebox/player that can be used without the music store, without an iPod and also supports MP3, including for ripping?
There no DRM unless you buy from the iTMS (which is iTunes Music Store, not iTunes itself). The iPod also supports MP3 too, in case you didn't know.
So, even with your "no DRM, MP3-only" requirements, you could still use iTunes because, you know, it's great all-in-one program (and free).
Zune won't be compatible with Microsoft's own "PlaysForSure(TM)"... How long will Zune last? Don't like iPods? Though I can't really see any real reason, it's possible. Want Ogg support? Samsung seems to have Ogg support in nearly all of their players.
Red Book CDDA has nothing to do with MPEG-1... I'm not sure why you're talking about it. Unless you mean MPEG-1 Layer 3? If I remember correctly Layer-3 came out around 1995.
So, when they made the Red Book CDDA specs, nobody could imagine 0.25$ CD-Rs and 30$ CD-burners. Audio CDs were already used world-wide for about two decades before the MP3 threat became evident (which seems to be 2000 for the RIAA even thought MP3 dates back to around 1995).
They couldn't "protect" (i.e. break the specs) CD-DA unless they were prepared to ask people to ditch CD-DA for something else.
The RIAA's members continue to sell unencumbered media for the most part.
Because the CDDA specs were done a long time ago, when nobody thought that if would be economically viable to copy 600-700MB of data for a single 20$ music CD. When MP3 came out, it was too little too late to change the CDDA specs: they didn't want to break the billions of CD-audio players available world-wide.
I'll also add a comment to your "for the most part" argument: look at how often and in how many ways they've tried to put (sometimes artificial) barriers to CD-ripping. With the iPod and other MP3 players being so popular now, too many people stumble upon those limitations, the RIAA can't get away with it.
You're also ignoring the fact that we live in a consumer-driven society, people are used to a multitude of choices for any single item. How many brands of TVs, computers, dvd players, washing machines and cars are there? Certain Linux 'brands' will rise to the top and be increasingly picked up by mainstream users, others will languish in geek obscurity. Sounds good to me.
Last time I checked, brands didn't really matter: - a Toshiba TV can display signals from a Motorola digital decoder box. - a Toshiba DVD player can play DVD movies from Sony. - a Whirlpool washing machine can wash Levis jeans. - I don't need a Toyota road to drive a Toyota.
There's already a fragmentation in the computer world... You need Windows to run Windows programs (WINE isn't perfect), you need OS X to run OS X programs, you need Linux to run Linux programs.
Oh wait, you're using KDE and that program needs Gnome. And you won't run it because it has static-linked librairies or closed-source binaries or something. If I just said something stupid, well, that gives you an idea about how confusing the whole thing is.
Windows = Windows OS X = OS X Linux = too many configurations to even begin to comprehend what the hell is going on. Linux is NOT an option for normal users.
Until the Linux community graps this concept, Linux isn't going anywhere near even the OS X marketshare for the desktop, let alone Windows. And stop saying "we aren't in competition with OS X or Windows" or stop comparing Linux to both of them. You can't have it both ways.
FSF has a thing against DRM. This article tries to explain why RMS isn't a DRM (Note that NewsForge is also owned by OSTG) fan and how GPLv3 is gearing up to protect against it.
I'm already busy gearing up to protect myself against acronyms overload, thank you.
Linux/open-source people keep saying "choices are good"... Well, it's not.
If you overload people with choices, they won't know what to choose and they'll go back with what they know, even if it's not even half as good as all these new options. How could they know their current stuff is crap, they can't use the new ones because there's too many choices.
Why so many distros anyway? Shouldn't there be two or three distros at most? One for servers, one for desktops.... I can't even figure out what a third distro could possibly be...
Seriously, stop it with all the distros already. And close 99% of them. Unless you're telling me that all these distros run the exact same binaries and all of them don't need anything compared to the others...
Linux distros, KDE vs Gnome, static vs linked, compiling programs.... And you think Joe Street will switch to Linux? If he ever gets fed up with Windows, he's going to switch to a Mac or stop using computers alltogether (I've seen it happen more than once).
If energy was free and didn't have to come from some power plant that poluted the environment, then yeah, wireless me up.
Energy does not have to come from a power plant that polutes the environment... Hydro-electricity, windmills and solar panels are but a tiny part of non-oil energy sources. I find it appalling that so many people think that you need oil to make electricity...
I do, however, have the same point of view on the subject... a wired mouse and keyboard (and network, laptops aside) aren't "bad things".
I don't know about you, but I think I'm going to hunt for a few NOS Logitech M-BA47 ergonomic 3 buttons +scrollwheel USB mouses on eBay.
If I don't, I won't have any choice but to buy something wireless when comes the time to replace it. I don't want to worry about batteries, charging them and wireless security issues. Wired keyboard and mouse for me.
I meant that for the "innovative software requiring better hardware" side of things, not the "Apple makes their own computers" side. Microsoft only seems to be trying to copy what Apple does.
So, when I read stuff like "ExtremeTech looking at the impact that Windows Vista will have on the future of computer hardware", it sounds like complete FUD to me... Microsoft hasn't made anything for the future of computing (hardware or software) for at least a decade.
NSIM writes to mention an article on ExtremeTech looking at the impact that Windows Vista will have on the future of computer hardware.
From what I've seen yesterday (WWDC 2006 keynote video), Apple are gonna be the ones pushing the future of computer hardware. Microsoft simplies (tries to) follow them.
Photoshop monkeys don't need super fast $2500 desktops, but they do need multiple monitors... something not possible on a mac cheaper than $2k.
All Macs (except Mac mini and possibly Xserve) support dual-screen. The iMac is not 2000$US. Granted, it's not 500$US either, but you seem to be saying that only the Mac Pro supports dual-screen, which is false.
Listen, AC, I'm not an idiot. I know that cable/satellite TV doesn't send DivX and QuickTime files to your decoder... But the CODECs mess is still a part of a multimedia computer. Look at MP3 as a standard audio format. These files can be played in about 50K different devices. Now, imagine the same thing for video files... If the computer connected to your TV could spit out (and play back) a video file format as standard as MP3, we'd have those computers everywhere, just like MP3 compatibility today.
Of course, the official DivX standard is now available in a lot of places, but it's still in a crappy AVI wrapper... Hopefully the H.264/AAC usage we see in broadcasting will trickle down to the consumer level soon enough.
Most video files are problematic.... they uses wrappers (AVI, QT) so most people throw any CODEC they feel like using (DivX 3 for video, VBR MP3 for audio even though the AVI specs don't really allow it AFAIK) and we end up with a mess of incompatible files unless you install 500 different CODECs.
Screw AVI, screw Quicktime. Use MPEG-4/H.264 and AAC. Depending on the video size, bitrate and all, they can play on OS X, Windows, Linux, PSP, GBA (with Play-Yan micro), PDAs, etc.
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Okay, but you should refrain from calling DRM-AAC files "iTunes" (or even the online store, which is the "iTunes Music Store").
iTunes by itself is a program, just like Firefox is a browser. The music store is server(s) at Apple.
I don't know DeliPlayer nor WinMediaPlayer, but you could still give iTunes a go. It rips, catalog, tags and plays music for you. You can even drag'n drop the music from the library onto an external drive (i.e. mp3 player if it maps as a drive) without having to care where the files are stored. You just won't have the iTunes/iPod synergy of smart playlists or automated sync, but it'll work just fine.
Ok, so your reason for not liking iTunes.... is because you're being locked into a monopoly? And you want to use MP3?
Don't you know that iTunes is a FREE ripper/jukebox/player that can be used without the music store, without an iPod and also supports MP3, including for ripping?
There no DRM unless you buy from the iTMS (which is iTunes Music Store, not iTunes itself). The iPod also supports MP3 too, in case you didn't know.
So, even with your "no DRM, MP3-only" requirements, you could still use iTunes because, you know, it's great all-in-one program (and free).
Zune won't be compatible with Microsoft's own "PlaysForSure(TM)"... How long will Zune last?
Don't like iPods? Though I can't really see any real reason, it's possible.
Want Ogg support? Samsung seems to have Ogg support in nearly all of their players.
Red Book CDDA has nothing to do with MPEG-1... I'm not sure why you're talking about it. Unless you mean MPEG-1 Layer 3? If I remember correctly Layer-3 came out around 1995.
So, when they made the Red Book CDDA specs, nobody could imagine 0.25$ CD-Rs and 30$ CD-burners. Audio CDs were already used world-wide for about two decades before the MP3 threat became evident (which seems to be 2000 for the RIAA even thought MP3 dates back to around 1995).
They couldn't "protect" (i.e. break the specs) CD-DA unless they were prepared to ask people to ditch CD-DA for something else.
I'll also add a comment to your "for the most part" argument: look at how often and in how many ways they've tried to put (sometimes artificial) barriers to CD-ripping. With the iPod and other MP3 players being so popular now, too many people stumble upon those limitations, the RIAA can't get away with it.
Last time I checked, brands didn't really matter:
- a Toshiba TV can display signals from a Motorola digital decoder box.
- a Toshiba DVD player can play DVD movies from Sony.
- a Whirlpool washing machine can wash Levis jeans.
- I don't need a Toyota road to drive a Toyota.
There's already a fragmentation in the computer world... You need Windows to run Windows programs (WINE isn't perfect), you need OS X to run OS X programs, you need Linux to run Linux programs.
Oh wait, you're using KDE and that program needs Gnome. And you won't run it because it has static-linked librairies or closed-source binaries or something. If I just said something stupid, well, that gives you an idea about how confusing the whole thing is.
Windows = Windows
OS X = OS X
Linux = too many configurations to even begin to comprehend what the hell is going on. Linux is NOT an option for normal users.
Until the Linux community graps this concept, Linux isn't going anywhere near even the OS X marketshare for the desktop, let alone Windows. And stop saying "we aren't in competition with OS X or Windows" or stop comparing Linux to both of them. You can't have it both ways.
I'm already busy gearing up to protect myself against acronyms overload, thank you.
Try looking more carefully at the 3rd line of my post. Yes, that was supposed to be funny. I was trying to make fun of over-paranoid Slashdot users.
I guess I'll have to be extra-obvious for the average Slashdot users next time. <g>
When you fart, the shockwave should open the windows for you.
I don't use Flash, Shockwave nor Windows...
Linux/open-source people keep saying "choices are good"... Well, it's not.
If you overload people with choices, they won't know what to choose and they'll go back with what they know, even if it's not even half as good as all these new options. How could they know their current stuff is crap, they can't use the new ones because there's too many choices.
Why so many distros anyway? Shouldn't there be two or three distros at most? One for servers, one for desktops.... I can't even figure out what a third distro could possibly be...
Seriously, stop it with all the distros already. And close 99% of them. Unless you're telling me that all these distros run the exact same binaries and all of them don't need anything compared to the others...
Linux distros, KDE vs Gnome, static vs linked, compiling programs.... And you think Joe Street will switch to Linux? If he ever gets fed up with Windows, he's going to switch to a Mac or stop using computers alltogether (I've seen it happen more than once).
You know, what if they're using Macs or Linux?!
Is homeland security going to fine them, throw them in prison?!
<pananoid>Homeland Security is working with Microsoft to further their monopoly!</pananoid> ;-)
If oil is 100% pollution and the others are 5, 10 and 15% pollution, I'll take any of the 5, 10 or 15% ones before oil, thank you.
Don't stick with the worst possible solution because the others aren't 100% perfect.
Energy does not have to come from a power plant that polutes the environment... Hydro-electricity, windmills and solar panels are but a tiny part of non-oil energy sources. I find it appalling that so many people think that you need oil to make electricity...
I do, however, have the same point of view on the subject... a wired mouse and keyboard (and network, laptops aside) aren't "bad things".
I don't know about you, but I think I'm going to hunt for a few NOS Logitech M-BA47 ergonomic 3 buttons +scrollwheel USB mouses on eBay.
If I don't, I won't have any choice but to buy something wireless when comes the time to replace it. I don't want to worry about batteries, charging them and wireless security issues. Wired keyboard and mouse for me.
I meant that for the "innovative software requiring better hardware" side of things, not the "Apple makes their own computers" side. Microsoft only seems to be trying to copy what Apple does.
So, when I read stuff like "ExtremeTech looking at the impact that Windows Vista will have on the future of computer hardware", it sounds like complete FUD to me... Microsoft hasn't made anything for the future of computing (hardware or software) for at least a decade.
From what I've seen yesterday (WWDC 2006 keynote video), Apple are gonna be the ones pushing the future of computer hardware. Microsoft simplies (tries to) follow them.
All Macs (except Mac mini and possibly Xserve) support dual-screen. The iMac is not 2000$US. Granted, it's not 500$US either, but you seem to be saying that only the Mac Pro supports dual-screen, which is false.
Listen, AC, I'm not an idiot. I know that cable/satellite TV doesn't send DivX and QuickTime files to your decoder... But the CODECs mess is still a part of a multimedia computer. Look at MP3 as a standard audio format. These files can be played in about 50K different devices. Now, imagine the same thing for video files... If the computer connected to your TV could spit out (and play back) a video file format as standard as MP3, we'd have those computers everywhere, just like MP3 compatibility today.
Of course, the official DivX standard is now available in a lot of places, but it's still in a crappy AVI wrapper... Hopefully the H.264/AAC usage we see in broadcasting will trickle down to the consumer level soon enough.
Living rooms don't do HD, period. Marketshare of HD-TV is still way too low to use that as your argument.
But give us real "Rated Adults Only" games already, none of that "Rated M" crap for 16 years old that still think blood and gore is "mature"...
Too many of them.
Most video files are problematic.... they uses wrappers (AVI, QT) so most people throw any CODEC they feel like using (DivX 3 for video, VBR MP3 for audio even though the AVI specs don't really allow it AFAIK) and we end up with a mess of incompatible files unless you install 500 different CODECs.
Screw AVI, screw Quicktime. Use MPEG-4/H.264 and AAC. Depending on the video size, bitrate and all, they can play on OS X, Windows, Linux, PSP, GBA (with Play-Yan micro), PDAs, etc.
Thanks in advance.
You can't build brand recognition (from design) if you keep changing it every year...