someone explain napster to me....

[HornGal01]

When you download music, can you put it on an iPod? I read somewhere that when you subscribe to napster, you're only borrowing the music and that it goes away if you stop subscribing. Can someone clarify?

 

[dustin_c1]

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[HornGal01]

So you can't burn the files onto a CD unless you "buy" them? If you download the unlimited songs, you can only listen to those on the computer?

 

[dustin_c1]

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[HornGal01]

got it, thanks!

 

[HornGal01]

Ok, so if iPod's suck, then which player do you recommend??

 

[sessamoid]

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[dustin_c1]

The Link

The Dell players all support DRM 10, and thus, Napster To Go.

The Link

Creative has some neat stuff. These guys play FM radio.

Pretty much any new non-iPod mp3 player will work with Napster To Go - but double check before you buy. Napster may even offer some sort of deal with some players.

 

[dustin_c1]

One more iPod/iTunes word of caution.

iPod and iTunes use a DRM technology called AAC.

Microsoft will license out DRM 10 to anyone. Apple will not license out the AAC to anyone.

That means that if you have a bunch of iTunes songs, you can only play them on the iTunes player and the iPod. The only way you can play them on another mp3 player or other devices is to go through the hassle of burning your collection on CD and then re-encoding it mp3 format. Conversely, if you have an iPod, you'll only be able to buy from iTunes.

This is frighteningly similar to the **** Microsoft tries to pull from time to time. They are trying to leverage their near monopoly (92%) in portable mp3 players into a monopoly in online music distribution and presumably, leverage that into even further control of music.

 

[hollisdude]

OK. or you download all the songs you want from Napster and then convert them to MP3 - and then they're yours to put in your IPod.

 

[MisplacedHorn]

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[sessamoid]

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[dustin_c1]

My bad, I had assumed AAC was the DRM technology for iTunes. I can't find the name of the DRM technology - nonetheless, iTunes files are rights managed.

Case in point: Only iTunes and iPods will play files purchased from iTunes. Media Player, Winamp and every other mp3 player on the market will not play the files downloaded from iTunes. Having to burn an iTunes song to a CD, rip the CD and then encode it to mp3 so that you can play it on an mp3 pda/cellphone, Dell Jukebox or on a buddy's computer gets to be a pain.

Napster has similar DRM but many more devices can play DRM 10 files. With iTunes, only Apple products will ever be able to play iTunes files.


An interesting note:

In the last couple of weeks holes have surfaces allowing Napster and iTunes users to bypass DRM. Both Napster and iTunes closed the holes in a matter of days.

 

[dustin_c1]

Another post:

it's interesting how this parallels the computer battles in the 80s and 90s.

Apple, again, is insisting on complete control of the entire system - from the hardware to the software. Apple wants to control and own everything, from the devices that play music to the format of the music and the website that sells the music.

Microsoft is licensing out their technology (DRM 10) to anyone who wants to purchase it. That allows competition among music vendors (like Napster) and from hardware vendors (Dell, Creative and so on), yet requires everyone to license Microsoft technology.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

 

[TexasOwnzYou]

if you're not gonna pirate files off napster (ie, converting it out of drm), what's the point of paying in the first place?

 

[suttree]

It does remind me of the computer wars, but I think Apple may win this one. Itunes ease of use combined with the superior look and feel of Ipod is a solid combination.