I don't feel the need to carry the entire history of recorded music around at all times-- there may be 60+ gig of music on my hard drive, but when you get down to it there's only a few hundred songs listen to with any regularity.
Also, if it's cheap I will be far more comfortable taking it on the subway, on vacation or anywhere else I might be likely accidently drop it, leave it somewhere or have it stolen. I haven't plunked down $400 for an ipod because I know every walkman I've had in the past has had a lifespan of about six months.
I don't doubt that the scare tactics have worked, and casual P2P users have been scared off. I have friends who are just now getting DSL lines and are scared to death to load up Kazaa or Limewire out of fear that the sheriffs will immediately knock down their doors.
But I'll also bet there's a large number of people who've been there since the Napster days, who have hundreds of gigs of mp3 files they'll never get around to listening to. P2P activity might also be levelling off because so many users have all the music they'll ever need... And spending all day and night trading files no longer has the illicit thrill it used to.
Wal_Mart may well become a powerhouse, but I don't think they will become *the* place to shop for music. They're just not, well, cool enough. Most music purchases are made by image conscious teens and young adults who will happily pay a few cents more per song to get it from the "right" place... And the one thing Wal-Mart will never, ever be is hip.
I should also note that while Wal-Mart may be one of, if not the largest retailers of music in the brick-and-mortar world, it's not becasue their customers are loyal-- it's because in much of the country, they're the only choice.
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I don't feel the need to carry the entire history of recorded music around at all times-- there may be 60+ gig of music on my hard drive, but when you get down to it there's only a few hundred songs listen to with any regularity.
Also, if it's cheap I will be far more comfortable taking it on the subway, on vacation or anywhere else I might be likely accidently drop it, leave it somewhere or have it stolen. I haven't plunked down $400 for an ipod because I know every walkman I've had in the past has had a lifespan of about six months.
I don't doubt that the scare tactics have worked, and casual P2P users have been scared off. I have friends who are just now getting DSL lines and are scared to death to load up Kazaa or Limewire out of fear that the sheriffs will immediately knock down their doors. But I'll also bet there's a large number of people who've been there since the Napster days, who have hundreds of gigs of mp3 files they'll never get around to listening to. P2P activity might also be levelling off because so many users have all the music they'll ever need... And spending all day and night trading files no longer has the illicit thrill it used to.
Wal_Mart may well become a powerhouse, but I don't think they will become *the* place to shop for music. They're just not, well, cool enough. Most music purchases are made by image conscious teens and young adults who will happily pay a few cents more per song to get it from the "right" place... And the one thing Wal-Mart will never, ever be is hip. I should also note that while Wal-Mart may be one of, if not the largest retailers of music in the brick-and-mortar world, it's not becasue their customers are loyal-- it's because in much of the country, they're the only choice.