Digital Music Reconsidered: While sitting here listening to some excellent worship music, I decided to do a little research on the latest trends in digital music. Keith Green is crooning and I stop to wonder what he would have thought about today's digital music (in case you are not aware, Keith was a gifted music writer/singer who died 23 years ago at the young age of 28). I saw him in concert in San Jose, CA and he gave tapes to anyone who wanted one. His method was that if you could afford one, great. If not, don't pay. If you weren't a believer you could have one free. He was all about the message and getting it into as many hands as possible. I am certain that if Keith were alive today he would be a big fan of getting all of his stuff out on Kazaa, Naptster, iTunes, etc.
What promoted all of this was I made the reservations for the rest of the week at the hotel were I will be staying the next couple of nights. I am a big time collector of frequent stay points, frequent flyer miles, etc. I try to stay at Holiday Inn properties when possible. I am a platnium member (their highest) and I get an additional 50% points with every stay. Currently they have a double bonus program so that I can really rack up the points quickly. Last year I used these points for some free stays during vacation, a couple of MP3/CD players, and some other stuff. I have decided that I am going to work to get one of their top awards, an iPod (20gb). I have wanted one of these for a while and think that it would be cool to get one with my points. I am about half way there.
The digital decision for me centers around how to best get the most music into the player. I have looked at Napster To Go and for $15 a month to have unlimited downloads seems like a great way to go, except that they are incompatible with iPod. What? Why would the largest provider of music decide to do a format with iPod. In fact they have a page dedicated to telling people that they are fools if they are considering an iPod. That baffles me. Then I began to research it all and it is crystal clear. Napster doesn't allow you to upload MP3, they provide WMA format with Microsoft Janus DRM (digital rights management). Want to burn those Napster files? Forgetaboutit. Ain't happnin! Want to rip your CD and add it? No problemo. The players that are Napster specific are all multi format, but the good folks at Napster have been sued so much that they are being really careful here.
So, the question is, what could I do with the iPod, is it using a DRM algorithm? Not really. I can add any MP3 file. I can rip my current music collection, add stuff I have downloaded, and most importantly - I can add my Podcasts. Seems that the iPod is the way to go.
Before anyone comments, there is software that will allow me to convert my WMA files from Napster to MP3 format. I may try that option for a month or so.
63,000 points to go!
What promoted all of this was I made the reservations for the rest of the week at the hotel were I will be staying the next couple of nights. I am a big time collector of frequent stay points, frequent flyer miles, etc. I try to stay at Holiday Inn properties when possible. I am a platnium member (their highest) and I get an additional 50% points with every stay. Currently they have a double bonus program so that I can really rack up the points quickly. Last year I used these points for some free stays during vacation, a couple of MP3/CD players, and some other stuff. I have decided that I am going to work to get one of their top awards, an iPod (20gb). I have wanted one of these for a while and think that it would be cool to get one with my points. I am about half way there.
The digital decision for me centers around how to best get the most music into the player. I have looked at Napster To Go and for $15 a month to have unlimited downloads seems like a great way to go, except that they are incompatible with iPod. What? Why would the largest provider of music decide to do a format with iPod. In fact they have a page dedicated to telling people that they are fools if they are considering an iPod. That baffles me. Then I began to research it all and it is crystal clear. Napster doesn't allow you to upload MP3, they provide WMA format with Microsoft Janus DRM (digital rights management). Want to burn those Napster files? Forgetaboutit. Ain't happnin! Want to rip your CD and add it? No problemo. The players that are Napster specific are all multi format, but the good folks at Napster have been sued so much that they are being really careful here.
So, the question is, what could I do with the iPod, is it using a DRM algorithm? Not really. I can add any MP3 file. I can rip my current music collection, add stuff I have downloaded, and most importantly - I can add my Podcasts. Seems that the iPod is the way to go.
Before anyone comments, there is software that will allow me to convert my WMA files from Napster to MP3 format. I may try that option for a month or so.
63,000 points to go!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home