Re: [Pan-users] Re: Advice on other lists

[Rob]

On Thursday 27 August 2009 04:54 am, Ron Johnson wrote:
> I'd bet, though, that even with eclectic music tastes you have
> certain listening patters that could be satisfied by having multiple
> 1,600 song (the number of 5MB songs that can fit in 1000MB) playlists.

Well, first of all, I tend to listen to one genre at a time and switch 
playlists based on that.  But I don't just listen to the same kind of music 
for days at a time, and I can understand why you wouldn't realize that, 
admitting as you have that you consider music something you've outgrown.

You also wouldn't realize that I got my first mp3 player over 10 years ago; 
it was an mp3 CD player, and the end result was that I had more CDs in my 
car than I ever did with a plain CD player because the possibilities were 
so much greater.  I had this huge album that held 120 CDs and filled it 
most of the way, but it was really kind of a pain to keep organized because 
physical objects don't have a "sort" button.  

I tried a number of other devices over the last decade; I didn't just go 
from zero to 160GB in one mouseclick, and I'm betting Duncan didn't either.  
I came to the same conclusion he did, that the end result of the 
development of this technology would be to carry our larger-than-average 
collections around with us, something a teenager with a couple albums worth 
of tunes could do with a $20 player.  I'm actually pretty happy with 160GB, 
just not the build quality or longevity (or the interface or hackability) 
of the Archos itself.  I may have a closer relationship with music than 
you, but I recognize there's no need to carry around, for example, every 
music video I've ever ripped, taped or downloaded.

Last night I looked at SD card prices, thinking maybe with 32GB cards I 
could get an SD media player and carry 5 or 6 cards in a little pouch to go 
with it, but that would cost over $500 at today's prices so it'll be 
another 18 months or so before that becomes an option.

Couple more years later, and I'll be able to put all the music (or maybe 
I'll rerip it all into FLAC), plus every file I've ever downloaded through 
Pan, every email and chat log and every document I've created in the last 
17 years in my pocket for around 300 bucks.  Might not have any way to use 
most of them since my otherwise very capable phone has no memory card slot, 
but it'll sure make backups easier.  You don't find that a good value 
proposition; who really needs all their data to be with them at all times, 
you'd ask.  I find it impossible to ignore; who wouldn't want a copy of all 
their data to be with them at all times for about one car payment?

Then again, maybe someone will have invented some new kind of file that 
fills terabyte drives more easily than video at that point.

Rob