response 60 of 104:

Aug 26 00:07 UTC 2002

CD's:
If you're into any type of music that doesn't have a pretty compressed
dynamic range (classical vs. pop for example), the 16-bit CD's ability
to make *both* the really quiet parts (like some wind instrument solos)
and the really loud parts sound good is pretty limited.  I've certainly
experienced this (though i can't rule out that it's just poor quality
production work).
My understanding is that there's plenty of room for a niche market
selling the same music on the same media, but with all the slip-ups/
short-cuts/etc. in the production work corrected.  Some perfectionists
have money. 
Younger people often have hearing that goes up to 23+KHz.  CD's and CD
players have to fade out quite a ways below that to avoid wierd effects
from their 22KHz limit.  
Even if the digital music on the CD is "perfect", it's technically 
impossible to convert that to an analog signal with 0% error.  More
money can buy you less error...how much you got and what's good enough?

response 62 of 104:

Aug 26 10:49 UTC 2002

I used to be able to hear the ultrasonic motion detectors in Fiegel's,
but I didn't have anything resembling good musical taste at the time.

I don't know how well the music industry is going to be able to force
the genie back into the bottle.  CD is more than good enough for most
people, and huge numbers find MP3 acceptable.  SACD may be an
improvement, but I doubt that very many people will care enough to want
to replace their legacy CD players and collections.  As long as people
want to play their old CDs, even SACD players will have to support the
format; that will make all the watermarking in the world useless.

response 64 of 104:

Aug 26 12:56 UTC 2002

Hardcore audiophiles also buy special oxygen-free speaker cables that
cost $20/foot, and think resistors wound with silver wire sound better
than ones wound with nichrome.

response 68 of 104:

Aug 27 13:05 UTC 2002

An article talking about how the RIAA is continuing to blame file
sharing for the drop in CD sales.  It rather sarcastically suggests
several alternative reasons.

http://www.theregus.com/content/6/26099.html

'"Though other factors like the decline in consumer spending have played
a role, Cary Sherman, President of the RIAA, said that illegal music
downloading was the main culprit in the drop in sales," the lobbying
group explains.'

'Clearly the RIAA knows its enemy, and has the numbers to "prove" it. We
just wonder who they'll blame if they ever achieve their
government-mandated DRM copyright paradise, and sales continue to
disappoint.'

response 70 of 104:

Aug 28 01:45 UTC 2002

"The RIAA and PWC can shove that argument up their own posteriori."
....beautiful.  Just beautiful.

response 72 of 104:

Aug 30 13:19 UTC 2002

The New York Times has an article on the commercial launch of the 
teensy tiny DataPlay discs, which we've discussed here before.
The article is not too optimistic about the DataPlay's chances 
for wide adoption for music; at best, says one analyst, it may end 
up a marginal product like the MiniDisc.   The music industry wants
the product to succeed because it includes copy prevention features.
 
There is a nice picture of the DataPlay disc next to a CD.
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/29/technology/circuits/29RECO.html

response 74 of 104:

Aug 30 19:00 UTC 2002

DO you always gotta do everything that jp2 dares you to???

response 76 of 104:

Aug 31 04:35 UTC 2002

  I read the NY Times article that Ken refers to in #72 a few days ago 
  and while I'd agree that the article is "not too optimistic about
  DataPlay's chances" after reading the article I'd go even further and
  say flat out that the DataPlay format will never succeed as long as
  these "features" as mentioned in the article are part of the bargain:

     1) pre-recorded discs several dollars more expensive than CDs
     2) playback devices and blank media very expensive.
     3) except for media size, no obvious advantage over CD format
     4) potentially cumbersome anti-copying restrictions in recorders

  My own belief is that for a new format to supplant CDs, one of two
  things needs to happen.  Either

     1) record companies all stop releasing recordings in the CD format, or
     2) the new format will have to be either much better, or the recordings
        much cheaper than CD.  Probably the new format will have to be both
        better *and* cheaper.

response 78 of 104:

Sep 1 11:53 UTC 2002

I don't know who the RIAA thinks they're fooling, but it's not me.
I'm trying to send them a message by buying anything good I can find
so long as it's under $10.  I just found another Tom Waits CD for
$7.99, which is reasonable given the cost of production etc.  If
they try to jack the price up to $25 I won't be buying any new music
from them at all.  What I buy now is almost exclusively from little
indy labels for $15/disc or less.

I'm sure there are a lot of indie artists who will continue to publish
on CD even if the RIAA goes to something more expensive.  This will
just make the indie artists more attractive to listeners and get them
to stop buying from RIAA members and their retail channels.  Oops...

response 80 of 104:

Sep 2 20:45 UTC 2002

read an article last night about the new laser techinology that lets you store
4 times the data curently storeable on a cd by using blue instead of red
lasers.  Sony is pushing this as opposed to several otehr formats that are
coming out doing a similar function.  So combine that with the the dataplay
and think of the amount of music or data you can stoer on it.

response 82 of 104:

Sep 4 12:38 UTC 2002

Many media reports: the bankruptcy court judge overseeing the 
Napster case has blocked the proposed sale of Napster's remains
to Bertelsmann.  Here's Cnet's story:
 
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-956382.html?tag=fd_top

Bertelsmann's proposal was to forgive the $85 million
already loaned to Napster and pay $9 million for its remaining 
assets.   This was opposed by the record industry and the music
publishers -- in my view, because they are pursuing a scorched-earth
policy against Napster and anyone who did business with it,
in particular its lawyers.

The judge ruled that because Napster's CEO Konrad Hilbers had 
ties to Bertelsmann, there was a conflict of interest in the sale.
With Napster's advocate Thomas Middelhoff gone as CEO of Bertelsmann, 
the media group indicates it has no further interest in pursuing the 
matter.
 
Napster is proceeding to a fire-sale liquidation which will yield
pennies for its creditors -- the Bertelsmann deal was better than 
anything likely to appear now.   Napster laid off all remaining 
employees except for a small staff overseeing the bankruptcy.

Visit the napster.com site, while it lasts.

I'll probably continue titling these summaries as "Napster items."  :)