Stephen <mcavoys_at@aoldotcom> wrote:
> Maybe in Finland.
> In the South East of England you look like someone who cares about what 
> they are listening to.

  I have never understood why some people are so obsessed with music.

  I have met several people like this. When they arrive at home from
school or work, what's the very first thing they do? Put some music on.
One particularly pathological case would immediately put MTV on, and he
would keep it on all day unless he watched something else on TV. And only
that. Anything else, MTV stayed on. Even if he eg. played some computer
game (with its own music), MTV would stay on. (This was back when MTV still
played mostly music videos.)

  It's actually hard to have a meaningful conversation with someone when
music is playing all the time. I have taken the principle that if I have
to raise my voice to be heard over the music, I don't. Either they get the
hint, or they aren't interested in what I'm saying anyways. Music is more
important to them.

  These people go so far as to being unable to concentrate eg. on homework
if music isn't playing. They are *dependent* on music. It's an addiction.
If there's no music playing they cannot concentrate. It's like a person who
is pathologically addicted to caffeine not having their morning coffee.
They can't do anything.

  Of course for most people it's not enough to have music playing at home.
They have to have music playing *all the freaking time*, which is why they
invented portable music players. This way these addicts can have their music
playing all the time, even though it risks their life. (Walking on the
street with music playing diminishes your capability of hearing the traffic
and other things happening around you, and could possibly distract you in
other ways as well.)

  Personally I can't stand constant music for over a half hour. It becomes
numbing and annoying pretty quick. (In a movie it's ok, because the music
has a purpose.) I never play music at home. (Pre-recorded music, that is.)

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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>>> People think I'm wierd because I use my MP3 player with real, full-size
>>> headphones that produce something which can be described as "sound
>>> quality".
>>
>> If you do that in public, you look like a dork. No offense intended.
>
> Maybe in Finland.
> In the South East of England you look like someone who cares about what
> they are listening to.

Erm... no. You still look like a dork. Unfortunately.

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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>> My player holds only Ogg Vorbis files. Back when I got it, finding
>> players which support Vorbis was quite hard... I don't know if that has
>> changed now.
>
> Anything that you can install Rockbox on supports Ogg Vorbis just fine.

Sure. But installing Rockbox isn't exactly a trivial operation. And it's 
not supported on every player on the market, only some of them. 
(Fortunately, mine is supported.)

My point was more that all players support MP3 out of the box, a few 
support WMA or AAC, but Ogg Vorbis seemed to be quite rare. I'm not sure 
if it still is or not...

> Which includes many iPods and the aforementioned Sanza Clip.

I'm actually kinda surprised it works on the iPod; you would have 
thought Apple would have gone to extreme lengths to prevent that.

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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On 08/11/2011 06:26 PM, Warp wrote:

>    I have never understood why some people are so obsessed with music.
>
>    I have met several people like this. When they arrive at home from
> school or work, what's the very first thing they do? Put some music on.

I don't know about music specifically, but I've met a number of people 
who seem to need to be constantly surrounded by noise. Like, they will 
have the radio on, and the TV, and be reading a book. WTF is wrong with 
these people?!

Personally, if I'm not *watching* TV, I turn it off. (And I almost never 
watch TV. I've reached that age where I delude myself that there used to 
be good stuff to watch...) Actually I never listen to radio, because 
none of them play the music I like. Rather, if I *want* music, I will 
play something from my cavernous music library. That way, *I* choose 
what I listen to.

>    Personally I can't stand constant music for over a half hour. It becomes
> numbing and annoying pretty quick. (In a movie it's ok, because the music
> has a purpose.) I never play music at home. (Pre-recorded music, that is.)

I have a huge collection of CDs, and I quite often listen to them. But 
by that, I mean I sit and listen to the CD, and nothing else. I don't 
listen to music while doing something else, the listening *is* the thing 
I'm doing.

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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>> No, it's more the case that we happen to *have* an iPod now, and I'm
>> wondering whether it's possible to use it or not.
>
> Is there some reason you wouldn't be able to use it?  You have Windows,
> iTunes runs on Windows....so iTunes is an option for you.

I was trying to avoid infecting a computer with iTunes.

With a normal player, you put music files on it, and it plays them. But 
this iPod doesn't appear to work like that at all. Already this makes 
everything much more complex. OK, it's not for me, it's for my mum. But 
you just *know* she's going to expect _me_ to fix it when it doesn't 
work. And so making things more complex isn't something I relish...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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On Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:11:50 +0000, Orchid XP v8 wrote:

>>> My player holds only Ogg Vorbis files. Back when I got it, finding
>>> players which support Vorbis was quite hard... I don't know if that
>>> has changed now.
>>
>> Anything that you can install Rockbox on supports Ogg Vorbis just fine.
> 
> Sure. But installing Rockbox isn't exactly a trivial operation. And it's
> not supported on every player on the market, only some of them.
> (Fortunately, mine is supported.)

That's the only thing that matters, then.

Oh, and installation?  Yes, it's trivial.  Download the current release, 
run the app, plug the player in - and the installer takes care of it for 
you.

> My point was more that all players support MP3 out of the box, a few
> support WMA or AAC, but Ogg Vorbis seemed to be quite rare. I'm not sure
> if it still is or not...

It is, which is why I recommend Rockbox myself (though I switch back and 
forth between Rockbox and the stock iPod firmware, because Rockbox 
doesn't support my dock).

>> Which includes many iPods and the aforementioned Sanza Clip.
> 
> I'm actually kinda surprised it works on the iPod; you would have
> thought Apple would have gone to extreme lengths to prevent that.

Well, it seems that in spite of any efforts they've made, it does work.  
I've been using it for years.

Just like Android handset manufacturers go to "extreme lengths" to 
prevent jailbreaking, yet jailbreaking phones is pretty commonplace - and 
in many cases, trivial.

Jim

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On Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:15:55 +0000, Orchid XP v8 wrote:

> WTF is wrong with these people?!

Nothing - all people are not the same, and some people can't deal with it 
being too quiet.

Just like some people can't deal with it being to noisy.

Or some people can't deal with being confined.

Or some people can't deal with heights.

Or some people ... you get the idea.

Jim

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On Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:18:15 +0000, Orchid XP v8 wrote:

>>> No, it's more the case that we happen to *have* an iPod now, and I'm
>>> wondering whether it's possible to use it or not.
>>
>> Is there some reason you wouldn't be able to use it?  You have Windows,
>> iTunes runs on Windows....so iTunes is an option for you.
> 
> I was trying to avoid infecting a computer with iTunes.

Why would you call it 'infecting'?  It's not a virus.  I'm no fan of 
Apple or of Windows, but I wouldn't call it an 'infection'.  Bloated?  
Yes.  Includes features I'd never use?  Very likely.

> With a normal player, you put music files on it, and it plays them. But
> this iPod doesn't appear to work like that at all. Already this makes
> everything much more complex. OK, it's not for me, it's for my mum. But
> you just *know* she's going to expect _me_ to fix it when it doesn't
> work. And so making things more complex isn't something I relish...

So then go for a "normal player". :)

Jim

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On 08/11/2011 7:18 PM, Orchid XP v8 wrote:
> I was trying to avoid infecting a computer with iTunes.

If it is a free iPod then go for it. ITunes is not that bad.

-- 
Regards
     Stephen

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On 08/11/2011 7:08 PM, Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>>>> People think I'm wierd because I use my MP3 player with real, full-size
>>>> headphones that produce something which can be described as "sound
>>>> quality".
>>>
>>> If you do that in public, you look like a dork. No offense intended.
>>
>> Maybe in Finland.
>> In the South East of England you look like someone who cares about what
>> they are listening to.
>
> Erm... no. You still look like a dork. Unfortunately.
>

LOL
But then, maybe I don't care.
I probably travel more than most people or I am past caring what people 
think of me. I am an old hippie after all.

-- 
Regards
     Stephen

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