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Non-Tech : The New Iomega '2000' Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rocky Reid who wrote (1476)	7/6/1999 10:56:00 PM
From: Bill Fischofer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5023

Re: DVD Audio 1. Even if we assume that DVD audio will be a success we're looking at a ten-year migration period (similar to how long it took CDs to displace LPs) during which time music will continue to be released in both CD and DVD formats it it wants to have any market. During this period MP3s will continue to be created from the CD versions no matter what mechanisms are in place to "protect" the DVD versions. 2. Given the growth in computing power during that time, it is reasonably to assume that software codecs for any 1990s-vintage encoding scheme hardwired into the DVD-audio spec will be easily within the scope of entry-level PCs long before the migration period is over. 3. CD-audio is storage and music is just another form of software. That's the real revolution that MP3 has wrought. The solution isn't a fancier storage medium (DVD vs. CD) but rather facing the reality of the situation. SDMI is the music industry's equivalent of the software industry's ill-fated attempts with draconian copy-protection schemes of a decade ago. Those efforts failed in the market with programs and they will face a similar fate with music. It is the consumer who ultimately decides the market success or failure of any technology and the consumer has already voted for MP3. To change this vote requires providing a compelling consumer benefit in any proposed alternative. By that measure a less-flexible, higher-priced alternative to CDs will face daunting challenges. Presumably DVD Audio will feature a slightly higher bitrate than CD Audio which will yield marginally better sound, but I doubt if that will be sufficient to convince many people to trash their CD collections in favor of DVD. I'm sure DVD players will continue to play CDs, but unless there is a compelling reason to buy DVDs there will be little incentive to buy the players when ordinary CD players suffice. I do not condone piracy. I simply observe the reality of the situation. The reality is that the music industry has been gouging the public with excessive pricing on CDs since their inception and MP3 is the mechanism that the market has chosen to correct that situation. It's long overdue.

To: Rocky Reid who wrote (1476)	7/6/1999 11:04:00 PM
From: Daniel Simon	Respond to of 5023

<<I think that the college students (who are the main Mp3 pirates) will put that genie back faster than you can spit once a few of them are busted and thrown in jail. I know for a fact that all 6 major Record Companies are going to crack down hard when SDMI is finalized and their web download sites are up and running. Watch for the headlines and photo captions featuring very unhappy-looking Steve Urkel types. The result? -- Genie back in bottle, wearing handcuffs.>> Are you an industry exec? Or do you just share their wet dreams? Unfortunately the first major to try 'busting college students' would meet with a deluge of protest and probably find themselves boycotted out of business. Daniel