Quote Originally Posted by Troy
What am I missing?

Aren't mp3 players and iPods just glorified Walkmen . . . that cost $300+?

Yes, but they do hold thousands of songs, are smaller than the cassette Walkman, and significantly smaller than the CD Walkman. They're great (IMO, of course) for working out or having on an airplane.

Isn't mp3 the first music consumer playback technology that sounds WORSE than the previous one?

See ELT's response. Plus, what I use it for mostly is working out and having a high level sound quality is not an issue for me then.

Sure, you can carry 10,000 songs in it, but it's up to the CONSUMER to download, install and keep some kind of catalogue system. How do you find stuff in a mix of 10k songs? It's an entirely differentmethodology of finding songs to play. Do I really need to have 10,000 songs with me at all times? Am I that indecisive?

The iPod has a pretty good interface and sorts by artist name, song name, album name, and genre. It keeps the information in alphabetical order. Plus, you can create your own playlists (the equivalent of mix CDs).

And what if you drop the damn thing? All lost. Start over.

That's a valid point, but I'm just as careful with my iPod as I am my digital camera (IOW, very careful).

What about cover art? Lyrics?

I agree with you. 99% of what I have on my iPod is from my CDs. I haven't joined an online service (and I know that's what this thread is about generally), but have downloaded a few free MP3s for a preview.

I suppose that someday, mp3 will be replaced with essentially a CD quality wav or aiff file and that all liner notes can be put on your tv screen or computer monitor, but the system as it works now holds absolutely ZERO appeal for me.
If it looks like I'm defending MP3 players, I guess I am, but I'd never want to have that as my sole, or even main source of music. I think the players serve a very useful purpose, but at home I listen to CDs, SACDs, DVD-As, or vinyl.