Discussion Topic (for obscure/intellectual topics)

[Abominator]

Abe pays plenty for MMM already.

[Edgecrusher]

Disclaimer: This is in no way meant to condone the downloading of copywritten music

I assume you've all noticed the increasing size of hard drives used in MP3 players. Now, how many of you have considered what statement this is making about music downloads?

Let's say you've got a 40GB iPod.
Now, lets say all your MP3s are encoded at 192kbps at an average song length of, let's say, 3:30. You're looking at a little less than 5MB per song.
If 1GB is 1,024MB, then you're looking at about 204 songs per GB.
Using these numbers 40GB of music translates into 8,192 songs, total.

Now, if these were all songs that you ripped from CD, you'd be talking about roughly 630 CDs (assuming an average of 13 tracks each).
At $15 per CD, you're looking at $9,452.31 total
--or--
If you downloaded each song for $0.99 from iTunes or wherever, you'd be looking at $8,110.08

Either way, the assumption is that you've paid over eight thousand dollars to fill an average sized MP3 player.

Do these companies honestly believe the average person spends that much money on music, or are they just turning a blind eye to where the songs come from?

I completely understand that (with the exception of Sony, who's MP3 players cap out at 8GB) the companies manufacturing the players exist as separate entities from record companies, and as such all they care about is moving units, not how those units are used...

But I think there's a pretty clear indication here of market trends, and (at least anecdotal) evidence of where people are getting their media.

[Mikero]

Aren't most of the 40GB+ devices also wired for video too? That makes a big difference. My iPod Nano is 1GB. Sometimes it's not enough when I'm trying to add more music to it, but I don't really want to have ALL my songs on one mp3 player since it would take forever on shuffle mode to find something I want to listen to or something I recently added.

But yeah, I doubt they care at all where the mp3's are coming from.

[Edgecrusher]

Yeah, a lot of the larger MP3 players play video, but I don't know terribly many people that utilize that function.

I don't have a single video on my Zune.

[Mikero]

I doubt I'd use video functions even if I could. I can kind of see myself putting TV shows on there to watch on the bus to class or something because my bus ride is an hour each way, but I don't know.

[Abominator]

I just don't see why all these players seem to need weird formats of video.

My phone is great for everything except playing videos because everything needs re-encoded on PC beforehand.

[Edgecrusher]

Agreed. I miss the days of my drag-and-drop Archos.

[Voulnet]

I doubt I'd use video functions even if I could. I can kind of see myself putting TV shows on there to watch on the bus to class or something because my bus ride is an hour each way, but I don't know.

I used to pass boring lectures playing Sega Genesis Sonic games on my cell phone.
Speaking of which, are there ANY good N-Gage games? My cellphone runs N-Gage games and I'd love to download one if it's good.

[ASR]

When I first got my video iPod when it came out, I used the video features a lot. They filled up the 30GB iPod fast.
After a few months, though, I realized how worthless the videos were. They could only be used with iTunes, and I had already bought the first 5 episodes of Lost ($10) and a couple episodes of The Office.
Eventually I deleted them from my iPod because I never really watched them past the first few times, and I use it strictly for music now. I'm never going to fill up 30 gigs, I think I'm at just around 4 gigs right now anyway.

Interesting stuff, though, Edge. I truly doubt they care where the music comes from, but then you have people like Apple with iTunes being more protected than most banks.

[AlexThePenguin]

You're all forgetting about Public Domain and things like that.

Not that I'm suggesting that it's even feasible that every person who has songs they didn't pay for got them legally or through PD, but there is a LOT of PD stuff out there.

Radiohead, for example, had their last album available for download on "name your price" policy, including absolutely free, until it was released in stores. Other artists, like Jonathan Coulton, have a sort of honour system with their songs: It'd be really, really nice if you donated, but if you're going to take them anyway, then that's fine, too.

There's a large amount of "underground" rumblings in the music industry due to what some consider to be too-restrictive copyright laws and too strict enforcement (i.e. the whole thing with companies taking fourteen-year-olds to court and whatnot to "prove a point" several years back).

I have a small, cheap .mp3 player that was on sale at FYE.

It's filled (mostly) with songs that I either have on CD, got through PD, or a friend sent to me because they know someone in the band.

That all having been said, I also agree that they don't really care where it comes from as long as their product is selling.

[Mikero]

Not enough stuff is Public Domain to really consider it. I mean, I know that A LOT is and yeah "In Rainbows" by Radiohead came out and I know at least one "die-hard fan" who got it for free. Barenaked Ladies released an album on USB drive with just the mp3s on it, reasoning that since it's reuseable it's better for the environment and that they don't care if people share the music as that's the whole idea of music. The White Stripes also released "Icky Thump" on limited edition USBin Apple Lossless format.

Still, in the grand scheme there's still not really enough PD stuff to make a huge crater.

Unfortunately, underground and independent stuff doesn't currently hold enough weight to change the whole market.

[Edgecrusher]

Yeah, I know about the Radiohead thing, but I think it was kind of douchey that they released a retail CD with bonus tracks. ##### them, I'm not buying the album twice.

Trent Reznor (former 'victim' and member of OiNK) puts it well.

[Lunchebox]

Not enough stuff is Public Domain to really consider it. I mean, I know that A LOT is and yeah "In Rainbows" by Radiohead came out and I know at least one "die-hard fan" who got it for free. Barenaked Ladies released an album on USB drive with just the mp3s on it, reasoning that since it's reuseable it's better for the environment and that they don't care if people share the music as that's the whole idea of music. The White Stripes also released "Icky Thump" on limited edition USBin Apple Lossless format.

Still, in the grand scheme there's still not really enough PD stuff to make a huge crater.

Unfortunately, underground and independent stuff doesn't currently hold enough weight to change the whole market.

Wait, what's this about USB drive albums? That sounds pretty neat.

So, I'm guessing we're discussing how CDs being 18-20 bucks a pop is ridiculous, right?

[Edgecrusher]

In a weird, round about sort of way, yes.

That, and I don't think that were most people get their music anymore.

[Lunchebox]

Personally, I usually get a my music through other means, since, usually, I'll only like a few songs off any given album anyway. If I REALLY want to support a band I like, I'll get the CD.

But very rarely will I do so.

Also, the fact that the Reservoir Dogs sound track is like 22 dollars is ridiculous. 

[Edgecrusher]

Any CD I've bought in the last 4 or 5 years was purchased at a show. At least that way I know all my money is going straight to the artist/s in question.

Actually, the exception to this would be 10,000 Days. I was just happy to have a new Tool CD.

[AlexThePenguin]

I still buy CDs.

I haven't gone to many shows (that were my idea, anyway), but I do have one album that I bought at a show.

I mostly go to local record stores, like Everyday Music (Though I still don't like that they changed owners; Cellophane Square had much better selection beforehand), which have used CDs with a guarantee that if they don't work, they will take them back. They will also buy any album you're willing to sell as long as it has a cover, a case and the CD.


I got Rio there for $9, and Rings Around the World for $5, as well as a few others for less than average market price.


There are also a couple of bands that I know of which sell their albums in a considerably less expensive "just the music" format, as well as the regular way, with the "just the music" format having a cardboard sleeve with just the album liner and the CD inside, and the other format having extras, like a CD/DVD and things like that.


Also, considering that CDs have been around since ... I forget exactly which year, but before most of us were born, there are a lot of people who would have access to a lot of CDs without having to buy each one at full current-market value.


There are a lot of ways to legally get lots of music that don't involve spending a bajillion dollars. Being of limited means growing up (and even now), I learned how.




Also, I didn't even know that CDs had players that were mass-market available until I was eleven. Cassette tapes for the win?

[Fatso]

The true purpose of extra capacity on my portable media players is for me to rip every CD I own at 320 kbps

[Edgecrusher]

V0 rips man. All the quality, half the space.

If you claimed you could audibly tell the difference between 320kbps and a V0 rip, you'd be lying.

[Yubi Shines]

This seemed like to best place to post this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_familial_insomnia
This disease, even though my family in all likelihood doesn't have it, frightens me to my core. It's even worse than when I start coming up with horrible tortures for stories and I end up scaring the pee out of my own self.

Direct wiki quote 'cos I'm lazy:

The age of onset is variable, ranging from 30 to 60, with an average of 50. Death usually occurs between 7 to 36 months from onset. The presentation of the disease varies considerably from person to person, even among patients from within the same family.

The disease has four stages, taking 7 to 18 months to run its course:

   1. The patient suffers increasing insomnia, resulting in panic attacks and phobias. This stage lasts about four months.
   2. Hallucinations and panic attacks become noticeable, continuing about five months.
   3. Complete inability to sleep is followed by rapid loss of weight. This lasts about three months.
   4. Dementia, turning unresponsive or mute over the course of six months. This is the final progression of the disease, and the patient will subsequently die.

In short, you do not sleep for the last nine months of your life, and spend most of it crazy and hallucinating.

Aughaughaugh. I can't think about this anymore. Did I mention there are brain-eating amoebas that thrive in waters during the summer months, and they enter your body when you go swimming and go OM NOM NOM?

I need to stop reading these things.

[Lunchebox]

Oh thanks, now I'm not gonna go swimming ever again.

[Yubi Shines]

They don't appear in swimming pools, thank god.

At least, not unless your pool is the disgustingst filth pit ever.

[Lunchebox]

I didn't think they did, but now every time I swim, I'll see them, despite being microscopic in size and being there.

I won't go in the ocean now because of the recent influx of killer jellyfish, and their near-invisible companions.

[Edgecrusher]

The odds of that happening to you are so low they're hardly worth mentioning.

You're far more likely to get murdered.

And if you get murdered, it's usually by someone you know.

[Lunchebox]

I wouldn't doubt it.

Most of the people I know are pricks.

[Voulnet]

People have been swimming everywhere since the dawn of history, no need to panic. It's just common sense to refrain from swimming in filthy water.
Avoid small closed ponds, unless it's an oasis in the middle of the desert.

[ASR]

All in all, I think getting murdered would be an unexpectedly badass way to die. It depends on the circumstances, of course, but seriously.

Oh, and to add to the subject: we discussed this affliction in my AP Psych class, along with insomnia and narcolepsy. Scared me, too.

[Voulnet]

Getting murdered is not a badass way to die, unless it's on the battlefield.

[ASR]

I disagree.

Imagine you die and your son has to tell his friends what happened:

"My dad was murdered."

Insta-win.

[Voulnet]

Unless my son is another badass who'd go on a killing spree to avenge me, I disagree.

[ASR]

I'd say it's fine so long as he isn't emo about it.

[Voulnet]

I'd ask my would-be murderer to kill my son if I knew he'd be an emo about it, that's for sure.

[Mikero]

Oasisses (Oasees?) in the desert tend to be clean as hell anyway.

I buy CDs I want. If I just want a song or two, that's that.

[ChaosVortex]

Oasis?

[Mikero]

Obviously. But the plural is actually Oases.

[ChaosVortex]

I had to read the topic. I thought you were wondering how to spell it.

Then again, I missed the part where you're making it plural. I don't know how to spell it plurally. *looks it up*

EDIT: Oases. (...Huh.)

EDIT2: Oh, you clever ninja you... [/Swan]

[AlexThePenguin]

Well, for once I'm happy that my ears and sinuses have an adverse reaction to water, making ear and nose plugs absolutely necessary whenever I go swimming, be it at a pool or a lake or a river or the ocean or a bathtub or a shower or...

[Mikero]

Or...?

Something tells me I don't want to know what comes next. You're gross, Opal. You have a dirty mouth.

[AlexThePenguin]

I was encompassing any that I forgot.

I think you have a dirty brain, Mike.

[Mikero]

You have dirty typing fingers!

[AlexThePenguin]

I was encompassing things like oases, hotsprings, rainstorms, and the like.

Yes.

Rain gets in my ears and causes infections.

[Mikero]

You have dirty typing fingers, end of story.

[AlexThePenguin]

Well, I won't argue with that. I haven't washed them since I got off of work, and I've been cleaning since I got home.

[ASR]

One time I didn't wash my hands after happy time, and then went on the computer.




Happy time consists of creating mud milkshakes and getting the neighbor-kids to drink them.