I have an iPod Photo 30Gig. I wish: a) it had an even bigger HD, b) it could support gapless playback like the newest ones (a great development that makes me wonder, what the hell took so long?).
Look, those who are fighting this, you're fighting a losing battle along the lines of the ones fought by betamax devotees, only perhaps more ludicrous. CD's are already sonically flawed. SACD and DVD-A perhaps resolve some of the issues, but if you're clinging to CD's... geez, talk about being attached to a crap medium. For me the convenience of MP3's far outweighs the slight difference in sound quality. And if you're a vinyl purist... well, I'll just repeat what recording engineering legend Tom Dowd said: "People who prefer the sound of music on vinyl like the sound of vinyl more than they like the music." And for portability, you can't beat a portable MP3 player. What are you folks without them doing? Using a portable CD player? Yikes, man, you have no argument.
@Kenneth: is it still about owning something physical? I have to say I don't really understand that. I like the magic of being able to own stuff without it taking up a bunch of space!
Do I wish that I didn't have to compromise? Yes, of course. I have been, at various points in my life, an audio engineer, and I appreciate high quality sound. Right now, quantity and convenience are winning out over negligible differences in sonic quality (especially given that most of my listening is done with headphones on.) Every now and then, I pop a CD into my home system and listen through my Paradigm speakers, and it's great. But that happens pretty infrequently.
Let's face it: most people listen to music in the background. We have crammed our lives too full of crap to have time to sit back and listen to music critically or appreciatively. Most peole don't really know how to listen to music. Most people hear it, but don't really engage in active listening. And many people need more than audio stimulus to satisfy themselves. So even when the initial intent may have been to simply listen to an album, they start absently doing something else, like flipping through a magazine. Many of us spend hours upon hours a week in the car (my wife commutes roughly 15 hours a week, for example). MP3's are a godsend in that situation.
College was one of the few times in my life that I had the time to sit and listen to an album and just lose myself in it. If I want that experience now, it's with headphones on while my wife sleeps next to me. I think it's probably that way for a lot of folks. Thus, any way we can squeeze music into our lives, we will. And since it's seldom the foremost activity, people will always choose cheaper and more convenient for the small cost of (probably inaudible to them) sonic sacrifice.
Just my rambling thoughts.
Look, those who are fighting this, you're fighting a losing battle along the lines of the ones fought by betamax devotees, only perhaps more ludicrous. CD's are already sonically flawed. SACD and DVD-A perhaps resolve some of the issues, but if you're clinging to CD's... geez, talk about being attached to a crap medium. For me the convenience of MP3's far outweighs the slight difference in sound quality. And if you're a vinyl purist... well, I'll just repeat what recording engineering legend Tom Dowd said: "People who prefer the sound of music on vinyl like the sound of vinyl more than they like the music." And for portability, you can't beat a portable MP3 player. What are you folks without them doing? Using a portable CD player? Yikes, man, you have no argument.
@Kenneth: is it still about owning something physical? I have to say I don't really understand that. I like the magic of being able to own stuff without it taking up a bunch of space!
Do I wish that I didn't have to compromise? Yes, of course. I have been, at various points in my life, an audio engineer, and I appreciate high quality sound. Right now, quantity and convenience are winning out over negligible differences in sonic quality (especially given that most of my listening is done with headphones on.) Every now and then, I pop a CD into my home system and listen through my Paradigm speakers, and it's great. But that happens pretty infrequently.
Let's face it: most people listen to music in the background. We have crammed our lives too full of crap to have time to sit back and listen to music critically or appreciatively. Most peole don't really know how to listen to music. Most people hear it, but don't really engage in active listening. And many people need more than audio stimulus to satisfy themselves. So even when the initial intent may have been to simply listen to an album, they start absently doing something else, like flipping through a magazine. Many of us spend hours upon hours a week in the car (my wife commutes roughly 15 hours a week, for example). MP3's are a godsend in that situation.
College was one of the few times in my life that I had the time to sit and listen to an album and just lose myself in it. If I want that experience now, it's with headphones on while my wife sleeps next to me. I think it's probably that way for a lot of folks. Thus, any way we can squeeze music into our lives, we will. And since it's seldom the foremost activity, people will always choose cheaper and more convenient for the small cost of (probably inaudible to them) sonic sacrifice.
Just my rambling thoughts.
