[CUBE] itunes 4-Where to now?

[Eagle]

On Thursday, May 1, 2003, at 12:22 US/Eastern, Sean Terrill wrote:
> Quoth Joost van de Griek (joost at jvdg.net) at 5/1/03 5:58:
>> On 2003-05-01 09:30, Sean Terrill wrote:
>>> Quoth SnowWhite (jj4 at sympatico.ca) at 4/30/03 11:58:
>>>> I think music stores are in deep trouble now.  They will need to 
>>>> fill niches
>>>> that on-line does not cover. But that begs the question-Is server 
>>>> storage
>>>> and
>>>> bandwidth cheaper than a physical location and is it able to cover 
>>>> the
>>>> niches
>>>> more effectively. I think Apple definately has an advantage with 
>>>> server
>>>> space.
>>>
>>> Possible, but I doubt it. The technology to deliver online books has 
>>> been
>>> around for a decade but book stores are still doing just fine, 
>>> because there
>>> are people who prefer the old medium.
>>
>> But books != music. There are distinct reasons why, with books, some 
>> (most)
>> people prefer the old medium; you hold it in your hands to use it. 
>> With
>> music, the medium is irrelevant; as long as the music is coming from 
>> the
>> speakers, who cares what the medium is?
>
> But there are advantages to CDs as well. Some people enjoy having the 
> liner
> notes/lyrics/whatever that come with the CD. A CD is inherently 
> portable
> (not everyone has an MP3 player) and a very common standard (almost
> everyone, even if they don't have a PC, can play CDs; a computer or 
> other
> MP3 player is harder to find and a AAC player even harder). No 
> compressed
> format will ever truly have CD quality either, so hardcore audiophiles 
> will
> probably continue to buy CDs until the technology catches up to their
> expectations. My point in all this is that the medium still makes a 
> huge
> difference in how you listen to music.

Sure those advantages exist, but many would argue (with a good point) 
that the popularity of Napster et al is good evidence that plenty of 
people care less about that stuff than they do the music itself.

Eagle