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Not to mention that CDs stored in a car can warp due to solar heating and/or be otherwise damaged? Not to mention the necessity of fumbling with them while driving?
I agree. Here in Florida I've seen/heard of many people ruining their car's CD players simply by leaving the CD inside, where it ultimately melted. For the cost of fixing it they could just purchase a memory stick along with hundreds of their favorite songs from Amazon in the event they haven't put their music on their computer or other storage device.
Do you need a warehouse to store your knowledge of math, science, language, important lessons, and life-defining memories? No-- that gray matter in your head, a bit larger than a softball, stores all of it. This is the direction that information was naturally supposed to be headed. My life is indeed simpler when unnecessary clutter is removed.
Actually, the "gray matter in my head" is woefully inept at storing most of the "math, science, language and important lessons" through which I've gone through during my time in this meatsack. Especially for the math and science, I actually DO take recourse to a physical warehouse. There's a term for it. It's called a - wait for it! - library. My office has dozens of structures called shelves, holding hundreds of thick satin-surfaced rectilinear objects called books. At home I have even more of them. That's for the math and science, and perhaps a bit of literature and history. Important lessons? Most of them I'm too inept to remember, and too stubborn and obtuse to actually learn from them.
I'm with you. I don't listen to much classical, but I have a rather off-beat taste in music. I, too, play CD's in my car daily. Not only that, but having a tangible object is always better than just having a file in some kind of player. What file has liner notes, and info on each track?
I was glad when they got rid of 8-tracks and cassettes, as those had very inferior sound and deteriorated rapidly. CD's on the other hand have good sound (not as good as vinyl or reel-to-reel, but those are not exactly convenient). I have no intention of giving up my CD library until forced to do so.
Unfortunately, we seem to be at the mercy of those who want to have the "latest gadget", whether it's superior or not.
Uh, audio files can have all of that information embedded in the file itself. The player software I use on my phone shows the song title, artist, contributing artists, date, album name, track number and a whole bunch of other information. Since my radio mirrors my phone screen, it's all right there. Even the less advanced radio I have in my truck can show song title, artist, album and genre.
Tangible items are not always better. Back when CD players in vehicles were relatively new, some jackhole broke into my car and tried to steal my stereo while I was at work. Someone scared him off before he got the radio, but he stole my booklet of CDs. I lost about $350 of music. Now I never worry about that because all of my music goes with me on my phone. I keep a copy of all my music in Dropbox so it's accessible on all of my computers and devices. If I have to get a new phone, I just copy the files over which takes a couple of minutes for over 1,000 songs. Since going digital I've had five or six different phones with the exact same music on them.
You're clinging to CDs because they're familiar, not because they're better. Once you switch, you'll never want to go back.
I use my cd player in my car everyday. There are 6 discs in there with my favorites on them. I have an MP3 player but when I plug it into my car stereo, the sound quality & volume are greatly diminished. Also, the mp3 player is too small to manipulate the buttons. The stereo controls on my steering wheel are much easier and safer to use while driving.
I don't have a smartphone.
You can use steering wheel controls with digital formats if the radio supports it. I can even use mine with my AppRadio 3 with the phone connected. I can change the volume, launch the voice command app with the call button and when I hit the change track switch the player app in the phone responds just like a CD would.
As far as the VHS issue goes, to each their own. I have built a rather impressive video library with tape and VHS>DVD conversions. I make out like a bandit because it is now the surplus economy; I got almost the entire ST:TOS series at 50 cents (local, no s&h unlike Amazon) an episode with the original footage, not the upgraded external shots of now which sickens me.
The modifications to what is out there is a matter of concern to me, however. How do you know you are getting what you want and not what is the currently accepted version? I have a video example but let's talk music here. Listen to an oldie on the radio, such as Golden Earring's "Twilight Zone" and you are bound to hear the shorten version instead of the original.
If one is making their own collection, they can avoid that......provided when they buy it they get the right version. But in this digital download world, how does one know they are getting the right copy? I'm not much into downloaded music but from what I've seen, they give you a 30 second sample to work on whether or not you want to buy it.
One thing about my set up is that for the different formats out there, I've got the means to use it. If it's cheap VHS, I can watch it. If it's DVD, not a problem. Someone is selling a copy at pennies on the dollar in BluRay, it is of use to me. PAL Format? Doesn't stop me, got a regionless player in the cluster.
But, as I said, to each their own.
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Originally Posted by ohio_peasant
I don't even know how to log in to " iTunes/AmazonMP3/GooglePlay Music/WhateverElse", let alone make a purchase. I haven't bought any music since Tower Records went bankrupt, other than occasional hunting in the CD aisle of my local used-book store. And no, I don't download pirated music... not because of any hallowed respect for corporate copyrights, but because (1) I don't know how, (2) I fear prosecution for illegal downloads, (3) the compressed-format playback quality is poor, and (4) the compositions and performances that most interest me are probably not available, and (5) I want a physical article with the music, rather than just a file.......
To me, there is a decent piece of logic in that. That if anyone serious ever questions one's collection, they can point to a physical example that their collection is legal, they can refer back to a store front where they got it from.
"But who is going to come after little ole me?". If it does happen, it will probably be because someone got irritated at little ole me and turned one in to someone mean enough to come after the person. Wouldn't be the first time some company sent out a mass mailing saying pay up or we take you to court.
Now, I am not saying anyone is doing illegal downloads......and I don't do them because of my respect for copyrights and my ethics.
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Originally Posted by nc17
Doesn't it strike you as a bit farcical that a large, heavy collection of music, or a collection of documents, pictures etc, can also fit on a USB drive the size of your thumb? Or something even smaller?
Do you need a warehouse to store your knowledge of math, science, language, important lessons, and life-defining memories? No-- that gray matter in your head, a bit larger than a softball, stores all of it. This is the direction that information was naturally supposed to be headed. My life is indeed simpler when unnecessary clutter is removed.
Is it that much better though?
A while back, I got into printing out my photos to hang on my wall. I went to my Facebook account where many are displayed, downloaded the ones I wanted to print and then noticed a noticeable blurring when printed. I had to go back to the originals, stored on hard drives from the DSLR card. Talking with friends, what we figured happened is that when stuff is uploaded to FB, it is compressed somewhat. It may be okay for the small picture on the computer screen, but in enlargement to even 8X10, there are undesirable effects.
So a thing or two. First of all, if there is a modification of one's data, such as in an upload to a service, be it picture, video, audio, or whatever, how can one be aware that it is going on? Secondly, with the photo example, one has reason to keep the original or at least a massive stored data first copy of the original somewhere.
Now, one thing I'm curious about all this stick listening is how to people hear new works by either their fav artists or some new kid on the block? If all they are listening to is their favorites on a thumb drive, then how do they hear the new stuff?
Finally, when I make long drives, tapes are a wonderful way of passing the time. I play one tape through and wow, 40-50 minutes have passed before I know. I eject that, put in another tape, and I'm taken on another time travel trick of 40-50 minutes. But can it be the same with an endless music stick that might be as endless as the trip?
The modifications to what is out there is a matter of concern to me, however. How do you know you are getting what you want and not what is the currently accepted version? I have a video example but let's talk music here. Listen to an oldie on the radio, such as Golden Earring's "Twilight Zone" and you are bound to hear the shorten version instead of the original.
If one is making their own collection, they can avoid that......provided when they buy it they get the right version. But in this digital download world, how does one know they are getting the right copy? I'm not much into downloaded music but from what I've seen, they give you a 30 second sample to work on whether or not you want to buy it.
You buy the original album version rather than the single version. Plus each track has a time listed. I'm not sure how this is any different than going into a store and buying a CD. If you buy the original album, it will have the original album version. If you buy a "greatest hits" collection or something similar, you might get the single version.
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To me, there is a decent piece of logic in that. That if anyone serious ever questions one's collection, they can point to a physical example that their collection is legal, they can refer back to a store front where they got it from.
"But who is going to come after little ole me?". If it does happen, it will probably be because someone got irritated at little ole me and turned one in to someone mean enough to come after the person. Wouldn't be the first time some company sent out a mass mailing saying pay up or we take you to court.
No one has ever had their collection "questioned", for exactly this reason. It would be difficult to prove that a particular file had been downloaded illegally. What people have been sued for is sharing files. One reason for this is, regardless of how you obtained the file, sharing copyrighted material without permission is grounds for a lawsuit.
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A while back, I got into printing out my photos to hang on my wall. I went to my Facebook account where many are displayed, downloaded the ones I wanted to print and then noticed a noticeable blurring when printed. I had to go back to the originals, stored on hard drives from the DSLR card. Talking with friends, what we figured happened is that when stuff is uploaded to FB, it is compressed somewhat. It may be okay for the small picture on the computer screen, but in enlargement to even 8X10, there are undesirable effects.
So a thing or two. First of all, if there is a modification of one's data, such as in an upload to a service, be it picture, video, audio, or whatever, how can one be aware that it is going on?
This is a totally different argument (cloud vs. local storage) than the one in this thread (optical media vs. thumb drives/phones).
But, to answer your question, the modification is in the terms of service. In general, if you upload to a sharing service like Facebook, they're going to compress, while if you upload to a storage service like Google Drive or Dropbox, the original files will not be modified.
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Now, one thing I'm curious about all this stick listening is how to people hear new works by either their fav artists or some new kid on the block? If all they are listening to is their favorites on a thumb drive, then how do they hear the new stuff?
Again, this is a completely different argument than optical vs. thumb drive/phone. If you keep the same 100 CDs in your car and never switch them out, you won't hear new stuff either.
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Finally, when I make long drives, tapes are a wonderful way of passing the time. I play one tape through and wow, 40-50 minutes have passed before I know. I eject that, put in another tape, and I'm taken on another time travel trick of 40-50 minutes. But can it be the same with an endless music stick that might be as endless as the trip?
Just make playlists of 40-50 minutes each on the thumb drive/phone.
Some systems can display the cover art that is associated with the track on the thumb drive, but if you have a personal preference for the feel of CDs and CD covers, you can stick with CDs. It's just that most people don't find any particular romance in handling a CD and its cover. For most, it's just a music delivery system and it's the music itself that inspires romance or any number of other feelings.
With digital media you can emulate a full CD or cassette by creating folders and putting 10-15 songs in there. You can have all 400 or 4000 CD's in your collection on a single thumb drive. Each CD in it's own folder. Now instead of swapping out physical CD's, simple press "Next Folder" on your receiver or steering wheel.
Cars still come with CD players? This was not a feature I noticed while car shopping this year.
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