Napster
I used Napster a lot when I first started at UW. It was the fastest and best p2p file sharing application I've ever used. After it got shut down, nothing else has been close.
Recently, legal file sharing programs have gained some popularity, but they still have a long way to go. The problem remains that they are competing with programs that allow you to get the same files for free. So where these programs lack in cost, they must make up for in functionality. ITunes seems to be pretty good, and Napster is doing alright too. There are a few others.
When I read the beginning of this story about Napster at UW, I thought it sounded like a great idea. If Napster were free again, I would totally want to try it out, especially on the fantastic UW network.
Read the rest of the story, turned out to be crappy. The biggest drawback seems to be that you have to pay extra to put the songs on an mp3 player, and they won't work at all on IPods.
Pay services shouldn't have less functionality than free ones.
Recently, legal file sharing programs have gained some popularity, but they still have a long way to go. The problem remains that they are competing with programs that allow you to get the same files for free. So where these programs lack in cost, they must make up for in functionality. ITunes seems to be pretty good, and Napster is doing alright too. There are a few others.
When I read the beginning of this story about Napster at UW, I thought it sounded like a great idea. If Napster were free again, I would totally want to try it out, especially on the fantastic UW network.
Read the rest of the story, turned out to be crappy. The biggest drawback seems to be that you have to pay extra to put the songs on an mp3 player, and they won't work at all on IPods.
Pay services shouldn't have less functionality than free ones.