EggyToast wrote:
quoted 1 line ...there needs to be some level of permanence to the download.
> ...there needs to be some level of permanence to the download.
I strongly agree. I'm not so sure that you should get a lifetime of free
downloads of a track, just because you paid for it once, but certainly there
should be a reasonable amount of repeat-download time to make up for the risk
you take on when you attempt to retrieve and make permanent the material on
your own, rather than just going to a store and picking up an object that is
guaranteed to contain glitch-free (well, to the extent that IDM these days
isn't glitchy ;) uncompromised audio on a relatively permanent storage medium.
You should get a few months of support, at least. This raises the issue of
security, though.. how do you prevent people from giving out their access
codes?
I also feel that if I am paying a couple bucks for a track, I should be able
to get it in any quality, including entirely uncompressed or at least
distributed using a lossless compression scheme. MP3 is fine for casual
listening but if I'm buying something to keep and use permanently, I want my
money's worth.
However I have a feeling I am in the minority; most people are happy enough
with inferior quality and don't really care too much if they have a "real" CD
or not. I think this is in part because of the psychology of acoustics, which
MP3 exploits: your brain tries to make sense of what it's hearing, so it sifts
out the extraneous noise and focuses on hearing the musical information. An
MP3 with artifacts and no frequencies over 16 kHz can sound just fine to
someone until they hear it side-by-side with the original CD. So most people
are probably willing to pay for it even if it isn't "perfect sound forever".
quoted 1 line And there's still no proof that mp3s are truly damaging sales.
> And there's still no proof that mp3s are truly damaging sales.
The RIAA's figures are dubious, but there is strong anecdotal evidence from
record shops, especially those that are near college campuses. 10 years ago,
along the High St. strip next to Ohio State University, there were 9 record
stores, all doing great business. Now there are about 3, and they all are
struggling. Granted, the whole area is in decline, but I've talked with the
owners of the store I used to work at, which sold both new and used/rare
product, and they say they are making most of their money on eBay now -- not
because they want to, but because every day there are kids coming in browsing
but not buying anything. Sales are way down. The kids find things they want,
then have their friends download and burn it for them (at least, this is what
they say in overheard conversations and in the occasional interview in the
local paper). People are only buying what they can't conveniently download.
Mike
--
Denver, Colorado, USA
http://hyperreal.org/~mike/
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