At 08:40 AM 7/8/03 +0200, Nomen Nescio wrote:

Major Variola writes:

...

Any human-consumable (analogue) input is readily recordable with a single, one-time ADC, and thereafter is toast. DRM is a fraud perpetrated by engineers on Hollywood suits. Good for employment though.

There is a loss of quality if you go through an analog stage.

There are some very nice DAC <--> ADC chains and some well shielded cables. The real problem with the old analogue world was *successive* copying. One conversion is fine almost always. Real and

wannabe audiophiles will prefer the real thing, pure and undiluted by a reconversion phase. These are the people who are already swallowing the marketing line that the CD bandwidth limit of 22KHz is too low for good fidelity, despite being higher than they can hear.

Take a look at the quality of the .MP3s that give Hillary the shits. Take a look at the psychoacoustic compromises in even the best MP3 standard. Consider that music is often listened to on small computer speakers with fan noise, or in cars with road noise and horrible acoustic chamber properties. Even those who listen with headphones seem to enjoy MP3s.

Consider how much more wine from Champagne is worth than that from a village just outside of the appelation limits. People want to feel that they are getting the authentic goods, and they'll pay for them. That's what the RIAA is counting on.

Then I would not buy stock in RIAA-type companies, nor would I extend credit to their employees. I guess we'll see.