Scott Dolan

As a former tweaker, over-clocker, and registry raider who knew his way all over and around the Windows OS, I'm not ashamed to say I now choose to spend more time with my family than babysit, tweak, and configure a problematic OS. As someone who never received a single piece of e-mail spam due to being overly-cautious, and therefore had no nefarious links to click on, I find your snottery to be quite hilarious. And as someone who grew to know better, I don't miss having to "configure properly" or "install the necessary safeguards" in order to have a functional and trouble free machine. Nor am I completely misinformed, and base my opinions on such. But hey, at least you finally learned the difference between MP3 and AAC. Welcome to the 21st century, supposed IT guy!

I rest my case!

Oh, and I apologize for not welcoming both Buddha and Hutch. Stay away from me, as I'm the problem child here who is not liked, and will bite! But, welcome to Da Org!

I couldn't agree more. Something I've personally observed, especially on Facebook, is that individuals have much more control over what they do and don't read/tolerate. In other words, you have the power to control the conversation. Someone says something you do not like or agree with, you've got the power to send them packing. To be perfectly honest, I find it to be anti-intellectual. That said, I am also ashamed to admit that I've been on both sides of that. It's one of the reasons why I barely use my FB account anymore. It has essentially turned us back into a global high school. Deeper discussions can be had, and I've participated in many with very good friends, but for the most part it's fast food for the soul. And funny pictures of cats. The online bulletin board is still my cyber social drug of choice, but folks like us are a dying breed, I'm afraid. Many folks these days want to read headlines and move on... The one thing I'm not really keen on is everyone agreeing with me. I like to be challenged, and I like to challenge others. Speaking only for myself, it makes me think. Makes me do my homework. That can only serve to make me more informed. Something a quick little blurb, and an equally quick little response on FB will never be able to accomplish.

So the AAJ forums are officially gone? That's unfortunate, but the trend of message boards going extinct has been moving along at a rapid pace the last few years. This one seems to have lasting power, but it's certainly part of the exception and not the rule.

Since Ellery seems to be getting a lot of love here:

What is "good breeding material"?

Vastly different? Of course not. Each has strengths and weaknesses. That said, I don't miss the days of adware, malware, worms, viruses, etc... That is the major difference, and it's a huge one for this daily user. And the integration across the Apple ecosystem is pretty sweet, though not necessarily a deal maker/breaker between the two major operating systems. In the end, my overall point is that if you don't like one, use the other and don't talk trash about something you're completely unfamiliar with.

But he's going to continue to blindly barrel along anyway while blaming everyone else for their entrenched views and pointing a finger of blame and shame at those evil "MP3's" iTunes make you download! . Having been a Wind'ohs user for over a decade, I switched to Apple simply because the shit they make does one thing, and does it well: they work. And having come from the Microsoft world, I find the purveyors of the "Apple as religion" mythology just as hilarious and misinformed as they find the elusive religious fanatics of the Apple world. As Clunky correctly mentioned earlier, no, you don't have to use iTunes. And no, you don't have to download anything if you don't want to. And even if you choose to download digital files, they can come from anywhere, and can be placed into any music program you wish to use. I also find it highly disingenuous when somebody claims to avoid a company for ethical reasons, yet continually blasts their products and their users. If you choose not to use the wares of a company because you find them to be unethical, then you have NO idea what their wares are capable of. You just base any and all rantings on myths and half-truths you've heard from others. It's be like me railing against Microsoft because I feel they're unethical, but then ranting and carrying on about how shitty Windows 7/8 is, or how shitty the Windows Media player is because it won't convert ALAC to FLAC, and that people who use Windows are gullible because there are better alternatives and that they only buy it because that's all that they offer on the PC's in the big box stores, etc...

Go to Vision Fest in NYC one of these days, MG. Try out the Chicago Jazz Festival. And note the much higher of percentage of whites to blacks. And also note that not only will you hear absolutely NO Smooth Jazz at either, but that Viz is strictly Free/Avant Garde. If you're going to lecture me about the realities of the American Jazz audience, I highly encourage you to actually know what you're talking about first.

MG, those are some great points. Now, I personally will listen to an album until I'm thoroughly satisfied. Sometimes that's twice in a row, sometimes it's ten times in a row. I've always been that way. I like to pick them apart, break them down into their smallest pieces, then put them back together again. I suppose it borders on over-analysis, but that's the way I approach everything. I could likely make artists that I like pretty wealthy if I used Spotify! As for the racial element you unfortunately tacked on at the end of your post, my experience with Jazz has shown that the American audience is by far more white than black.

Well you were honest enough to say "imo" instead of "imho".And hopefully his quote clears things up for Daniel. David, it's a loss leader by default. It is indeed used almost exclusively to sell devices. ITunes is far more beneficial to artists than Apple as far as actual music sales are concerned. They are the biggest distributor in the world, at a fair price (for both artist and consumer), and with millions of subscribers who can download songs/albums in the comfort of their own homes with a click of a button. The impulse buying power involved there cannot be overstated. When folks can listen to music samples and then buy an album right then and there all from the comfort of their easy chair, that's a huge paradigm shift in music consumption.

While I don't know what brick and mortars take is, I've have to still think a 30% skim is nowhere near being outrageous. Distributors have always taken a large chunk. And rightfully so, I suppose. Back in the day they were your lifeline.

??? That would have been real useful in January 2005.

Did you actually have anything that you wanted to add to the conversation? Or did you just pop in to whine that some folks weren't playing by the rules as you see them?

See posts 52 and 53.

Exactly! We should all just just ignore each other's points and simply talk past each other. That would make for such an improvement in communication and interaction!

http://www.allmusic.com/newreleases/all/20141118 Change genre in dropdown menu at top.

In theory, yes. In application and real world listening tests? No. It is absolutely relevant because it completely disproves your claim that "MP3's" don't have cover art or liner notes. Which is only true if one is dumb enough to buy them from a vendor who doesn't offer those things. Both Emusic and iTunes certainly do. Though Emusic offers a lot less albums with liner notes than iTunes, each and every one of them absolutely comes with the cover art. Sorry, that's not even a legitimate argument. I guess all the CDs you trade are done by people coming to your house? If not, it means you leaving your house to go some place else. That's much easier than doing it from your computer? Again, a completely irrelevant point. I only need to worry about them being around if I lose my collection due to disaster! Otherwise, it's already on my computer, with a redundant copy on an external HD. So even with your insurance, your back up plan is to re-order thousands of CDs. Whereas mine is to simply re-download, which takes about 1 min per album. That means in the 48 hours it will take for CDs to start arriving at your door, I could have already retrieved, and been listening to, close to 3,000 titles.

1. I have no idea if that's true since I no longer buy CDs. 2. If that's the case on Amazon, that's a shame. It is definitely not the case on iTunes. 3. Fair enough. 4. I never said digital files sounded better than CD. But 256kbps VBR AAC (the standard for iTunes) sounds just as good. 5. All AAC files from iTunes have cover art, and many of them do indeed have liner notes. And more and more are being added everyday. I'm not sure where you're getting your information, but it is terribly outdated. 6. I have multiple albums which I have converted to both ALAC as well as higher bitrate AAC. ALAC is no more compelling than AAC, and neither are less compelling than CD/.wav. 7. So keep buying physical media. I personally have moved away from it so that I can avoid more clutter. 8. You can trade files to your hearts content. Just get something like Dropbox. Sure, you can't sell them, but since you say you rarely do it, I'm not seeing the big deal. Either way, many of your opinions seem uninformed, or at best about ten years old. The technology has moved forward by leaps and bounds. Another enormous advantage is that when you purchase music through iTunes, it's yours for life. Pretty sure Amazon is the same way. So for example, lets say your house burns down. Everyone's worst nightmare. Well, how will you replace all of those CDs that were lost? Well, if you bought your albums through a service like iTunes, they are all still right there on your account. So all you have to do is download them again without paying a penny out of your pocket. That's an unparalleled upside.

Of course it's never going to be a good deal for the artists. That's kinda been the entire point of this thread. That said, I'm not sure why you'd be adverse to going fully digital (files). The modern codecs are so advanced these days, and most companies, i.e. iTunes, are selling them at such high bit rates that it's nearly impossible to discern a difference between them and their CD counterpart. I've tried several times. On computer sub/sats, through my main system loudspeakers, and through my headphones through my main system and headphone amp. I've tried to talk myself into hearing a difference, but the AAC files that iTunes sells sound no different than CD as far as I can tell. Either way, it's definitely the future, and having become quite the minimalist in recent years, I actually welcome it.

Is that true, David?! Isn't the premium fee something like five or ten bucks?! That doesn't make sense.

Indeed. That comment is right on par with, "all Jazz sounds the same".

1. There's no wrong or right concerning this. There have been misinterpretations, whether through my own clumsy wording, or reader error. 2. I never once "put you down" for buying the amount of music that you do. I simply wondered, yet again, how that level of consumption was that different from using a streaming service. 3. I also never once said that ANYBODY should consume music the way I do. Not once. You explained your habits after I asked the question that I never asked , I understood what you were saying and where you were coming from. Time to move on. But let's please stop with making shit up out of thin air.

Hmmm... "Just wondered how buying the amount of music you do is somehow different than streaming?" You might also note in that post that I said that I was glad that you are on the musical journey that you are, and that I hope you get pleasure from it. Because, you know, I like to bully people by saying complimentary things.