I have drunk the KoolAid. I finally broke down and bought Satan’s Music Player, a wicked toy designed to distract us from the ruthless efforts of Jobs et al. to rule us through device hegemony.
I feel as if I should buy some “DRM offsets,” the way SUV drivers buy carbon offsets to atone for melting the polar icecaps, as if you could atone for that anyway for a buck or two.












15 responses so far ↓
1 GraceAnne DeCandido // Mar 15, 2007 at 10:55 pm
iPods are the bestest toys in the entire world.
2 David Rothman // Mar 15, 2007 at 11:07 pm
Just don’t buy music that’s all tied up with DRM and you’re all good.
3 Jason // Mar 16, 2007 at 12:19 am
Don’t feel bad, KGS! You really don’t ever even have to deal with bad-wrong DRM. Just rip your music into MP3 format, and the evil can’t get in!
Plus, it’s so shiny!
Seriously, there’s no reason to ever have DRM music on an iPod. Even music that you might purchase from the iTunes store is trivially un-DRM’d.
4 A Gunn // Mar 16, 2007 at 1:03 am
Oh, no, bad psychic twins moment — the same thing happened to me this week after my notPod bit the dust. I’m taken to calling the wretched cpaitulation my borg mitzvah. And this from someone who rather likes her MacBook Pro…
5 Jodi A. Schneider // Mar 16, 2007 at 8:30 am
Karen,
I love the idea of DRM offsets!
Consider getting your music from non-DRM sources, like http://www.emusic.com
As far as independent artists go, they have a great selection and it’s where I learn new music.
6 Alison // Mar 16, 2007 at 9:25 am
“DRM offsets” - I love it! And the sad fact is I work at such a small library, that I doubt anyone else who works here even knows what DRM is so they won’t know what I’m laughing about!
7 Steve Lawson // Mar 16, 2007 at 9:49 am
DRM offsets. I love it. This is about the same idea as Lessig’s Challenge, to spend more money on people fighting the media monopoly than you do on the media monopoly’s products.
You could start by not buying any DRM’d music. And–this is a somewhat different issue–by not buying anything from an RIAA-affiliated label. RIAA Radar can help with that.
8 Dinah Phillips // Mar 16, 2007 at 12:01 pm
Techno-sluts of the World Rejoice for our Sister is Come!
How many gigs?
I went with 80 just because I could…
9 Judy // Mar 16, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Karen - I’m somewhat of an iPod junkie (also a Mac user) and they are very nice. Don’t forget to check iTunes each week because they have made free downloads of certain tv shows available. A few weeks ago they gave away an episode of 30 Rock and this week the pilot of the new show Andy Barker, P.I. (I watched the show last night and wasn’t too impressed although I do like 30 Rock). Anyway, welcome to the cult!
10 Sarah Clark // Mar 16, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Just drank the KoolAid a few weeks ago myself (nano, blue, 4 megs, adorable). Intellectually I know I shouldn’t have, but the darned bit of crack just cried out for me…I download lots of creative commons music and library podcasts to assuage my guilt.
11 kgs // Mar 16, 2007 at 8:02 pm
I promise to fill it up with cat pictures, NPR podcasts, and crunchy non-DRM’d music from all these great sources!
12 Steven // Mar 17, 2007 at 12:17 am
Consider getting your music from non-DRM sources, like http://www.emusic.com
And CD Baby!
13 kgs // Mar 17, 2007 at 2:32 pm
CD Baby is where I bought 4th25’s “Live from Iraq,” which is excellent. (True to my own stereotype, I heard about it on NPR.)
14 Fred Goodrich // Mar 18, 2007 at 7:57 pm
Hi Karen — welcome to the cult of the white wires. If you watch the Simpsons, there was a humorous reference in a recent episode to the iPods becoming our new masters in a Blade Runner type future. After watching so many people wear them on their armbands at the gym, sometimes I think it’s already happened.
Between the digital camera and the iPod I received, Christmas 2006 advanced my level of personal technology ahead by at least ten years. Too bad my knowledge on technology hasn’t kept up. Best, FG
15 Judy // Apr 2, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Karen - Some blogs like Electronista are reporting that Apple will be adding some DRM-free music from EMI. One of the articles can be found here: http://www.electronista.com/articles/07/04/02/drm.free.music.on.itunes/
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