Word: napstering
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UNCHAINED MELODY Napster taught millions of Americans how to turn CDs and other sound files into MP3s. For the rest of us, Archos makes the Jukebox Recorder ($350). It lets you create MP3s directly from a stereo or CD player, it's more compact than similar devices like the Nomad Jukebox and it has a built-in mike for voice recording. With six gigabytes of memory, the Recorder can even double as a backup hard drive...
...know it's different. There's no off-putting server sign-on sequence like in the Gnutella programs. No lengthy process of scanning for music on your machine like Aimster makes you go through. Just a search page that returns results at a speed not seen since Napster. This is partly the fact that FastTrack is so focused on the end user experience, and partly the fact that plenty of people are using it already. A million of us downloaded Morpheus last month, six million since April (when it was launched under the abortive nom de guerre KaZaa...
...ironic that Morpheus should arrive on the scene as Napster takes a couple of sellout steps towards its long-sought legitimacy. Interim CEO Hank Barry was brushed aside for a Bertelsmann executive on Monday, moving the center of power a little further away from Fanning and closer to the music industry. Even though an appeals court overturned a lower court injunction and ruled that Napster can resume trading while it waits for a trial, this new-look Napster will not do so until a planned paid service is in place...
...Napster has a shot at holding on to the hearts and minds of digital music lovers at this most critical time, and it's not taking it. Neither is the music industry as a whole, which still hasn't given us much indication of what the much-hyped MusicNet and Duet online services will look like (they're supposed to switch on this summer, but don't hold your breath). Is it any wonder that Morpheus has stepped in to fill the vacuum...
...deducted from their bank account every time they downloaded an MP3 (it would be worth it to guarantee a complete, error free download every time). But there's the rub: nobody appears to be even thinking of offering what we might call Morpheus Plus. The business models of Napster and MusicNet call for tunes to come in their own limited, secure format rather than what consumers want, which is play-anywhere MP3s. They're about subscriptions rather than micropayments. They give no indication that anyone in a position of power in these companies actually understands what it's like...