Do you still play LP's?

I think there is a case for gold plated connectors as gold is a good conductor and does not oxidise or corrode as other metals may. Still gold plating is not that expensive and it is possible to buy good quality but reasonably priced gold plated connectors.

Archie

That seems like a complicated way to say you don't like DRM? I'm sure you are aware that DRM is purely a product of the record labels, not the technology companies. I also find it interesting that you cite Apple, especially considering Apple's role in convincing the record labels to agree to high volume digital downloads in the first place. You have to remember that this was only a year or two after the demise of Napster so it was major achievement to get the labels on board. Unfortunately DRM was the price Apple (and everyone else) had to pay to get them to agree. They (Apple) are still pushing for DRM-free songs and have had some success (c.f. iTunes+) but most of the labels still won't agree to it.

Apples position with regard to DRM is a little 'Jekyll and Hyde' given the lengths they have gone to in order to retain control over the use of OSX and prevent its installation and operation on non-Apple hardware. Similarly, from what I have read, they have gone to extraordinary lengths to retain control over the apps that can be used with the iPhone, imposing draconian restrictions on developers and locking out Adobe and Flash completely. I think it suits their purpose, and profitability, to present themselves as the 'consumer's champion' on the one hand, whilst engaging in exactly the same anti-competitive practices as the content providers on the other.

And yes, you're absolutely right I don't like DRM, even though it doesn't affect me directly as I do not engage in illegal downloads and/or distribution of material that is protected by copyright.

Jon

Okay ... we are moving away from music I see If you want to talk about the iPhone there is a lengthy thread currently discussing it here As for Apple controlling OS X it doesn't seem surprising to me that they would want to protect their hardware sales. Hardware is their main business, after all. And they are a company, so yes, their purpose is profitability. You make it sound like a dirty word

Do you also think Apple should allow the iPod software to run on MP3 players made by other companies?

Back on topic now. Your point seems to have changed somewhat:

But now it seems it's not actually the lossiness you object to, but the DRM on the songs - which isn't relevant to you because you don't engage in copyright violation. So what's stopping you enjoying some digital music?

Me again, Tim

I think we are both in danger of reading more into the others ruminations on the topic than is warranted and are gradually migrating to opposite poles when I believe that, in actuality, we both occupy zones within the same 'middle ground'

Your are 100% correct in believing that I do object strongly to DRM, which in my list of loathing shares equal ranking with the software EULA.

As to the use of lossy formats for the distribution of recorded music, which, as I think I stated before, certainly have their advantages in certain contexts, my concern is that they are in danger of becoming, indeed may already have done so, the de-facto standard for what constitutes 'high fidelity' (there I go again - showing my age). One of the more unfortunate consequences of this, IMHO, is that it seems to have significantly delayed, at the very least, the development and marketing of affordable alternatives that seek to exploit digital technology to capture and reproduce the original source in all its glory (or should that be 'warts and all'?).

The photographic equivalent of the situations that currently exists for music reproduction would be for the all major camera manufacturers to agree unilaterally to stop producing mainstream cameras with sensors greater than 4 MP because the vast majority of users either view exclusively 'on screen' or never print at greater than 8 x 10 or its metric equivalent. The glass/lens manufacturers would then fall into line and decide for similar reasons to reduce the quality and complexity of their lenses and coatings. In both cases, any cost savings would not be passed on to the consumer. The photographic equivalent of the RIAA would then be formed with the remit of controlling the use and distribution of images captured by the consumer using the equipment they had purchased; all the while proclaiming that it was acting in the best interests of the vast majority users

As to your last point, there is nothing stopping me enjoying 'digital music' and I have, in fact, been doing so since the CD format was introduced.

I have enjoyed this brief exchange of views, but feel that to pursue them to their logical conclusion would necessitate that we leave the virtual world of the forum and arrange to rendezvous in a real world location where there existed ready access to copious quantities of alcohol and a place to eat after 'chucking out time'


All the very best,

Jon

Some success is a bit off an understatement or you think 80% isn't much or Phil Schiller from Apple is lying here. link

Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, Phil Schiller delivered the speech, traditionally given by Steve Jobs.

"Over the last six years songs have been $0.99 [79p]. Music companies want more flexibility. Starting today (7 January 2009), 8 million songs will be DRM free and by the end of this quarter, all 10 million songs will be DRM free," he told the crowd.

There are also other player besides iTunes like Amazon MP3 for example and they didn't used DRM from the start.

No George, I am talking practice - thirty years of it. Not in an audio environment but general data handling systems. The first time I came across it was in a digital radar simulation system in the early eighties. At the time, it was one of the fastest number crunchers in the world and you could crash it by pinching backplane wires together.

I agree with the comment that digital cables are not the bottleneck in the system.

I suspect that if we argue long enough, we will find we agree.

No need to continue to argue. You are already agreeing.

G

No I am not. Er yes I am

Oh Whatever.