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Monday, December 19, 2005

[General] Join Us

Christmas has come early for me. Actually it does every year because Amy and I swap gifts early. So what did we get each other?

iPods (is that the right capitalisation for the start of sentence?)

With no consultation we both decided that the other would like a portable music device. So Amy got a Nano and I got a Video.

We are now part of society. We are one of those zombies with white headphones (though I still prefer my big Sony ones). And I have to say I’m enjoying it. Having all of my music in one place is great! I completely agree with hotrod artist Coop (can’t find the exact link but he loves them, trust me).

This also means that we are now criminals, like every one in New Zealand with an iPod. Six (6) of the songs on my new iPod were legally purchased through online music retailer Amplifier. With a couple of exceptions, all of the other songs are from CDs that I own (ie bought). This conversion method is still, as far as I am aware, illegal in New Zealand. So basically everyone with an iPod has broken the law (unless they buy exclusively from Amplifier) because the only legal music download sites (Digirama and Coke) use files that can’t be played on iPods.

I’m not going to offer an opinion on this other than to say what my philosophy is. I believe that I can copy my own CDs as long as it s for my own personal use (such as on my iPod or in my car); now that I have a paying job, if I want music I will pay for it (either on the internet or on CD); if I can’t find the music I want easily or if I need to decide whether I like a new artist I will bit-torrent it; I NEVER steal New Zealand music.

The only people who should locked up for their music purchases or downloads are the ones who are keeping the stupid fu*king frog on the charts.

Some good news for New Zealand music, local boys Fat Freddy’s Drop, have just won an award for worldwide album of the year at the BBC Worldwide Music Awards.

Finally if I haven’t pimped it before GVOD is awesome. Truly awesome. (also available on the sidebar). Check out the Parkour videos and this guy (yes I DID laugh at the fart jokes!)

2 comments:

Tom said...

I've never seen the point in Wellington: by the time I've got the player out, got the earphones out, untangled the leads, shoved the buds in my ears, selected a track, shoved the buds back in my ears, got the volume right, sworn at the buds and got them back in my ears, I'm halfway to work.

If I had to ride the bus or train for long periods every day, then maybe. But if I'm walking on the streets, then I'd rather be able to hear what's going on around me and not blunder around Lambton Quay like a blind hippo. I've got half a gig of storage on my phone, with about half of that used for tunes, but I hardly ever use it since I can never be bothered remembering to bring earphones with me.

Still, if someone manages to cram a 20G hard drive into my phone, I might consider getting a decent pair of Bluetooth headphones.

  said...

I’ve usually ignored the manufacturer’s capitalization preferences for that of the English language. It saves a lot of stress.
   Meanwhile, I have to say I do not have an Ipod. I still dislike technology where I have to change my habits to serve it. I prefer technology that helps me. Cellphones—people change their habits and becomes slaves to it. Ipods—I couldn’t be stuffed downloading music on to the damned things. Buying books of Amazon: good idea. I do it in my time. Online banking: ditto.
   Tom, old son, I’m with you: there’s very little point to Ipods in Wellington!