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ch-scene - Re: Did Ruckus Kill Schoolkids?

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Subject: RTP-area local music and culture

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  • From: Chris Welbon <ctw AT neophi.com>
  • To: ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: Did Ruckus Kill Schoolkids?
  • Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2008 14:18:06 -0500


On Wed, Mar 5, 2008 at 11:59 AM, <chapelhillguitarist AT hotmail.com> wrote:

So to sum up, Bill Gates is a genius who made BILLIONS off of morons
who have no clue that they are morons.

...said the guy with a Hotmail account.

I keep my digital media library organized using the tools provided
with the OS. Either Linux or Windoze or Mac allow you to create and
name folders. What is so hard about that? I don't need an online
store keeping tabs of what I like to listen to in exchange for help in
organizing my digital media library. Not a good trade... unless of
course you are a willing consumer.

You're misunderstanding (and certainly misrepresenting) how different iTunes the software is from iTunes the online music store. iTunes the store knows *nothing* about what I'm listening to in iTunes the app (gigabytes upon gigabytes of 44KHz AIF files I imported myself from CDs). That "feature" can be turned off with with a single click (and after Apple got raked over the privacy coals when the MiniStore was introduced, is no longer enabled by default). So if you have an online store keeping tabs on what you like to listen to, you goofed. Not Apple. Same goes for using iTunes the app to import music with "inferior" codecs and crappy bitrates.

I find iTunes the application to be a much quicker way for me to add to, organize, classify and access my collection. It copies stuff from the CDs I buy nearly instantaneously (uncompressed, remember?) so I can put the CD away. Rooting through 1200+ (I just checked) folders containing 20K+ subfolders and songs on the filesystem to find an album isn't my idea of a good time. It's not that it's "hard", per se, it's just that it's comparatively a pain. I spend enough time unavoidably doing that as it is. YMMV.

Relatedly, I never have understood the complaints about iTunes and iPod lock-in. Yes, buying music from the iTunes *store* locks you into Apple SW and devices. But there are so many online distribution channels and business models (Amazon, eMusic, physical CDs, Eastern European pirate sites) that this is really only a "problem" for the lazy, unimaginative or uninformed. And it means people can get whatever player they want and not be locked to a particular vendor or format. Even if they have the temerity to consider an iPod to be a reasonable mix of features, usability and cost.

Fandango





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