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Technology Stocks : Diamond Multimedia -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Joe Knoll who wrote (3670)	9/13/1998 8:38:00 AM
From: Jonathan Quick	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4679

Joe, Have you ever actually listened to an MP3 for yourself? The claims of high compression rates are, in fact, valid. However, MP3 compression is lossier than the articles posted here would lead you to believe. Near-CD quality really amounts to cassette quality. Moreover, special surround effects, like Dolby AC-3 for example, cannot be duplicated with the MP3 format. Clearly Diamond's involvement with MP3 compression is of more consequence than the announcement that the company has made the decision to embroil itself in the motherboard market. While I am heartened to see Diamond doing something other than entrenching itself in yet another shrinking market segment, I feel compelled to point out that MP3 is no panacea. For one thing, many companies in the recording industry have implemented a form of encoding which diminishes the sound quality of the MP3 file. For another, a lack of effective law enforcement is the only thing sustaining the popularity of the MP3 format. I have to wonder whether or not Diamond is making itself vulnerable to the type of recording industry lawsuits that have snuffed out smaller companies with similar products in the past. Finally, an effort is underway within the standard setting committee to change the MP3 standard to make it more difficult to perform unauthorized duplication of music titles. The whole thing is just one more illustration of the type of shady business practices that continue to plague this poorly managed, perpetually underperforming company. Jonathan