complete mp3 conversion
OMG- this is my first blog. I always dreaded this day.
So, it is just that I have a situation that I suspect many are facing. I have just finished transferring every piece of music I have collected (and care to listen to) in .mp3 format (192 kbps). I am a recent convert to mac and itunes and a matching iPod, and I’ve found it a better way to organize your music. And now, finally, to my point: What the hell do I do with all my CDs?
They are sitting there… within spitting distance. If I leave them there, are they simply on display? Can I justify it, as a library, of liner notes?
I actually started this conversation with my friend, and fellow convert, Kevin. When this started, he had already converted, and I was in the beginning stages. In fact, I was there cherry picking from Kevin’s .mp3 library (highlights of my catch: Dylan, Depeche Mode, Soundtrack stuff, Marley, and Glenn Gould). Anyway, we were sitting in his apartment in New York, and he was staring at his shelves of CDs and wondering aloud “what next?” I argued for the liner note library. He wasn’t sold. I didn’t know if I agreed. I just like debate…
And now, I’m in the same situation, and I’m not sold either. I won’t leave them “on display.” I can’t bear sell them all. So, here’s my somewhat predictable plan: my favorite CDs and vinyl will go into storage (basement), and I may sell or give away the other CDs.
Meanwhile, I’m relishing the ability to put 7500 songs on shuffle. I still pause a couple times a day, when I hear a forgotten song, and have some cheesy feeling of thanksgiving. It’s a music nerd’s thanksgiving prayer.
I have no idea if that qualified as a blog.
Out.
steve
April 1st, 2005 at 9:18 am
Here’s what have to say about your plan: A) you better invest in the utility that lets you download mp3s from your iPod onto a new machine, because that is not a native function of the whole system; and B) you better make sure your machine never tries to sync with your iPod, because that erases any song on your iPod not also in iTunes (which is a problem only if you decide you don’t want certain songs cluttering up your iTunes, but still want to leave them on your iPod for a rainy day). These are two annoyances speak to how great an idea it is keeping your original media.
Personally, I will always want to own the physical representation of whatever new album I buy, and would never, ever get rid of the original packaging. Just try buying an album from iTunes Store and see how empty you feel without the tangible.
April 1st, 2005 at 2:44 pm
Hey…welcome to the blogosphere. As a capo for the blog-grammar police, it’s my duty to point out that the “blog” is the whole operation, while each individual post is a “post” or “entry.” (Pretty irritating, huh?)
My feeling is, as long as you back up your iTunes mp3s on an external hard drive, you should be ok should iPod act funky. There’s also quite a bit of free software at http://www.ipodlounge.com/ to download music from an iPod to a PC or Mac. I used SharePod once and it worked swimmingly.
At this point, I’m thinking of even selling back the albums I like — most of the liner notes, lyrics, etc. have been re-posted online. I’ll admit, tho’, that I only feel this way about music. If I could download my DVDs to some large computer database, I’d probably still keep all their special edition packaging.