[Dixielandjazz] The future of 78s, CDs, mp3s, etc.

brian at radiojazz.co.uk brian at radiojazz.co.uk
Sun Nov 5 14:12:41 PST 2006


Re Bill Gunter's comments - and others -
I have been using computers, MP3s and most other formats virtually since
they were invented.
And I still use vinyl, 78s, cassettes and CDs. All have their uses both
short and long term.
Just because MP3s have a use does not make them all conquering.
All the mediums have their place - none replaces its predecessor.
Brian Harvey


Listmates:

Brian Harvey wrote:

 . . . MP3s are fine as samplers and for advertising but for jazz posterity
they're a big No - No.

This is the same thinking that led some pundits back in the 60s and 70s to
predict computers will never be useful in the home.  I think Brian has too
narrow a view as to the future of mp3s.

And Jim Kashishian wrote:
MP3 is "squashed" audio, not near CD quality . . . 

Jim is a sound engineer and knows whereof he speaks. Its true that wav
files (on CDs) are superior to mp3 files.

But its not as if WAV files sound really good and mp3 files sound really
bad. My ears are incapable of detecting any difference, but then at my age
Ive lost a considerable amount of the high frequency range.

Its a sort of trade off. To gain the advantages of mp3s you have to give up
some of the qualities of WAVs. At some point its not worth it, but at the
moment mp3s are clean and crisp enough for all but the pickiest of people.
And I can send an mp3 file with ease as an attachment to an e-mail whereas
it is virtually impossible with the amount of space a WAV file takes up.

And Brian Harvey also wrote:

The MP3 is transient - 78s, LPs and CDs are not. Neither is our music. I
rest my case.

Well . . . everything is transient in some respect including the existence
of our solar system. But it is true that 78s, LPs, audio cassettes and CDs
are virtually obsolete today and mp3 is the sound system of choice today and
for a few more years. And, like everything else, something better will come
along - but in the meantime mp3 is KING!

Hans Koert asks a provocative question:

Did some of you ever [think] about how a "disco"grapher should list the
MP3-files?

Probably the same way discographies have always been produced - in text
files found either in books or in digital form on your computer.

Summation:

Since we can easily observe the progression from Edisons wax cylinders to
78s, LPs, 45s, tape recorders, audio cassettes, CDs, mp3s and so on it is
quite logical to assume that something else will become more useful down the
line.

For example - I can envision that every piece of music ever recorded at any
time in any place will be available from a universal wireless digital source
which can be accessed from anywlhere in the world in much the same way a
cell phone accesses information from anywhere in the world today via
satellites etc. The music would be logically organized and all one would
need would be a small receiver dedicated to accessing everything in that
system in whatever is the highest fidelity in sound reproduction and one
would listen through headphones or, with a simple connection, through
loudspeakers.

Oh yes . . . it could even have a 3D visual component to make it really
interesting!

The technical aspects of such a scheme are not daunting in today's digital
milieu and the economic aspects of such a thing (how do you pay for it, who
profits, etc.) will automatically develop as the scheme comes into play.

Bye bye turntables, tape decks, CD players, computer web sites (Napster,
etc) and welcome to a massive reorganization of the music business.
Fortunes will be won and lost. Competition will be fierce but so what? - How
is that any different from anything else in the world?

The Ipod is just another step on the road to universal access.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill you may want to write this all down for future reference Gunter
jazzboard at hotmail.com




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