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Technology Stocks : e.Digital Corporation(EDIG) - Embedded Digital Technology -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Savant who wrote (2291)	2/9/1999 8:45:00 PM
From: chris431	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 18366

And thus my concern. I, the consumer, do not want to buy 2 devices with equivalent quality. Otherwise, I'd have a minidisc and cd player (have a cd-r so no need for minidisc). And I don't want to spend $200 on a RIO (price of course will come down over time) so that I can convert my current material to MP3 and then start purchasing new material using a different device that I must also purchase. If you could use MP3 on a PAC device, this would solve the problem....but that is a big if, given that one of the points of having a secure device is to lessen the piracy (which MP3 is far from doing). I'm not sure a company looken for secure devices would also encourage the device to be able to play non-secure material. While EDIG's involvement in this area is certainly a wonderful addition, I purchased EDIG long before the company was involved in this "revolution." As such, I have no regret in stating that I think this "revloution" is a bit exaggerated. Bring on the DVD-audio IMHO. Hard copy, better quality. And I can run to Best Buy in nearly the same time it'd take me to d/l a copy (even when the bottleneck is a 10mbps ethernet adapter). But alas, the future will cure this current problem. IMHO, the coolest application we've seen so far has nothing to do with downloading music or purchasing it online....it's converting what we already have into mass databases, ie. the car MP3 players or having your PC connected to your hi-fi equipment (although again, this would be a time saver since you have audiophile equipment for the sound quality....not MP3 quality). As such, call me short sited or call me cynical. I do know that I purchased a CD player long before they were standard (and I was 12) and have continued to be rather successful in predicting what will and will not last in the market. As such, I'm not so sure sub-cd quality audio has a place. Compressed DVD quality music? Sure, sounds good. But let me first purchase a hard copy, then log onto your website for a quickdownload of the compressed material so I can zip it off to my car or my audio database. Charge me for bits that can easily be corrupted or deleted and compose a sound that is below the quality of what I can purchase on CD? Hell no! I'll go out and buy the CD and convert it myself. At least I know that if I want the superior quality, I'll just lug the CD with me. MP3 portable devices are certainly interesting for the active members of our society as they don't seem to have the same skipping problems a portable cd has. But alas, not many of us fit into this category. But again, I'm not going to be purchasing material for that player....I'll be converting what I have. So, what's the big deal about MP3? It's free. Yep, you heard it here (probably not the first, but maybe on this board). People love MP3 b/c it's free. And, the public isn't ready to admit that it is this love for piracy that is so exciting. As with any item in this world, as you lower the price, the higher the quantity will be purchased. Increase the price, and substitutes enter the picture. Charge me $12 for an MP3 album and most of us will go out and by the superior CD and convert it ourselves. Of course, people argue that this new method of delivery will decrease that amount of costs and thus reduce the price (ie. $9 instead of $12). I don't buy it. If price was based off of material, we would see CD's costing about the same price as a cassette (actually, cd's may be cheaper to produce now). We could look at the demand side but none the less we'll be highly off topic. Bottom line is this....the cheaper the form of delivery, the higher profit the companies will make. The music industry has proven over and over that they aren't willing to pass on savings to the consumer. They'll just continue to attribute their costs to "advertising and distribution" since with the entry of digital media comes greater outlets, and greater musicians which increases the cost to separate oneself from an even greater crowd then before. Wait and see. In conclusion, PAC will only limit piracy if it allows only PAC material to be reproduced. This results in consumers seeing that they now have to have yet another device and have non-portable material. This happens as technology evolves but this time there is no reason to port to a higher grade (ie. PAC) b/c the material you currently have is of higher quality. Furthermore, the substitute that is available is of higher value b/c it allows you portability of your previous material (MP3). Given these concerns, I would appreciate responses covering PAC's portability. I would also like to reiterate that I do not believe this directly effects EDIG at this time (their OS is portable....not limited to PAC). Furthermore, I'm not discounting online distribution. I just believe it's much further in the horizon than anyone here has stated. Online music distribution will be viable when the pipeline is sufficient, the quality is of higher grade, and portability to a hardcopy is widespread. Before then, online music will be for the enjoyment of the techno-consumer....free music....about time we actually got the benefit of the doubt. Furthermore, the success of online/digital distribution will not effect EDIG in the near future as EDIG's primary role is in the development of hardware. Chris P.S. I use the word "portability" in different meanings throughout this and did not intend to mix them. Also, I realize I left alot more to be said and left some subjects hanging but figured it was hefty enough.