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Music Media

MP3 Jukebox That Rox 91

Posted by Hemos from the sharing-your-music dept.
One of the really cool things I saw at Comdex was a very cool MP3 Jukebox that Y2Brand was showing. The system allows for sharing throughout a network, but the other cool feature is that if you assign your box an IP, it shares with all other boxes that have IPs - kinda of a hardware Napster type thing. Expected ship date is 1/15/00 - click below to get some more details.

Press Release from Y2MP#

Y2Brand announces they are accepting pre orders for Y2MP3, The Worlds first MP3 Community JukeBoX Server.

  • The Y2MP3 JukeBoX MP3 server is a turnkey solution for groups that want to share their favorite music. Y2MP3 JukeBoX allows listeners to add their favorite music via a web page interface served from the Y2MP3 system. The web interface extends the system to allow songs to be added to a que, display latest additions to the database, or see the top 10 requested songs. Everything is administrated from a browser over the LAN.

  • Sharing is a key feature of Y2MP3. For systems that have their own IP address, users will be able to turn on JukeBoX Sharing. Jukeboxes that have sharing enabled will be able to download music from all other Y2MP3 systems online, much like Napster or Mp3 Fury.

  • Users with administration privileges can add and remove songs from the database, stop the current songs playback, and change volume via web page. Y2MP3 stores an amazing 100 CDs worth of music (average based on mp3s encoded 128 kbps, 44 kHz), all in a system that weighs only four pounds. An optional 10 GB second hard drive adds an additional 166 hours of playback for a nonstop weeks worth of music.

  • Setting up Y2MP3 is a snap, simply plug audio out from Y2MP3 into a stereo or PA system, and plug a network cable into your LAN.

  • For areas larger than an office, an optional low power FM transmitter turns Y2MP3 into a radio station! This "Internet radio station" turns the current model inside out, instead of just playing commercial radio stations on the Internet, now the Internet and the Y2MP3 server becomes an automated radio station with studio, record player, and interactive talk show host applications built in and automated. Users on the Internet can gather the content from people around the world, and then post it to the local radio server which then rebroadcasts that server content via radio to those people that are not connected to the Internet but do have radios.

  • The Y2MP3 JukeBoX system is designed to be small and portable yet provide superior quality. It is also designed to be very easy to install and operate. With options the Y2MP3 JukeBoX gets mobile - take it with you on the road.



    Y2MP3 is Powered by Linux, Apache, & MySQL

Hardware: Base MP3 JukeboX (AMD K-6 266 MHz CPU, 32 MB RAM, 4.3 GB Hard Disk, Full Duplex Audio, Internal Speakers) AC Power Supply (battery option for UPS) PCMCIA Network Adapter

Options Include: NiMH Battery - Car adapter Removable 2nd 2.5" IDE hard drive up to 10GB (Provides an extra 166 hours of playback) FM transmitter Keyboard / mouse / video display Carrying case

Expected shipping date is 1-15-00

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MP3 Jukebox That Rox More

MP3 Jukebox That Rox

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  • I looked at it the other week and I didn't really like the client very much. Had a quick look at the protocol used and it seems simple enough so I was thinking about writing a GNOME client for it. It's hard to do GNOME stuff on a VT320 terminal though, but perhaps someone else is working on this already (I hope so)?
  • Forget the slashdot effect - look at all those stampeding lawyers rushing to the site. His mail box is gonna be so full of cease and desist orders that mail is gonna start bouncing all over the place. =)

    I know Napster will try suing them, since they claim a patent on this kind of stuff. Personally I think it's another "obvious" application of technology.. but eh, IANABSL (I am not a blood- sucking lawyer)

  • damnit! (Score:1)

    by jrs ( 27486 )
    I just want a cd player that plays cds, mp3 cds and picks up radio stations :) Anyone know of any?
  • okay, this would be cool for many reasons, but why wouldn't you just drop a 10G drive into your current linux box, mount it as /home/mp3 (or whereever), share it and be done with it?

    i DO however like the FM transmitter feature.

  • Damn that thing is simple.. (Score:3)

    by Ice_Hole ( 87701 ) on Monday November 29, 1999 @05:49AM (#1496760) Homepage
    I am running a similar set up. I have a computer that sits here and does exactly what that computer does. It really doesn't take that much to do what that computer does. Anyone that pays any more than $200 or $300 (USD) for that thing is crazy. It does have a nice feature being like Napster and being able to "share" files with other boxes. But then, I am doing that now too. Just run Napster in that directory, or run an FTP server into your mp3 directory. It's a nice set up. I like it a lot. It saves my main computer system a lot of disk space.. Then that web interface is kind of neat, but personally it would annoy me more than it would be a help to me. You could easily write a program similar to what they are describing that can keep a playlist, search songs, tell top 10 songs, updates playlaylist so a song that somone wants to hear is played before a song taht no one wants to hear.

    But for thoes people who don't want to find the time to set up a file server, FTP.. etc. I guess it would be a good thing. And probably not somthing most of the Slashdot crowd would jump all over. But it is kind of neat, if I had one I would play with it a bit, have a good time.. And it's somewhat portable.

  • Re:Speaking of Napster (Score:3)

    by Jonas Öberg ( 19456 ) <jonas@gnu.org> on Monday November 29, 1999 @05:52AM (#1496762) Homepage
    And two minutes later, someone told me of Gnap, a GNOME client for Napster which apparently the Napster people doesn't really like. I mirrored it here [coyote.org] for those interested. Looks pretty okay.
  • For those of you who are like me and don't have some one to explain Napster is:
    An application much like well made hotline where users can trade mp3s or leech of other Mp3 traders while chatting and also includes it's own mp3 audio player (who cares?).. I have used it a little since this morning It's pretty impressive.. for more information vist Napster.com [napster.com]
  • I just want a cd player that plays cds, mp3 cds and picks up radio stations :) Anyone know of any?

    I have one of those at work. It also works as a cd recorder. It even runs X. I can even do my coding with it. It claims to be a "clone" Celeron 450, whatever that means.
    --
  • This is very neat, but there are some problems, first why is the card not 10/100? I think most people now are running 100Mb networks, or would at least like that feature for future expansion. Second..what is up with that price? The hardware itself can't cost more then $250, a reasonable price would be around $400-500. Charging what they're charging is asking for trouble.
  • That looks pretty neat, but... I don't see how a 4.3GB HD is supposed to hold 100 CD's worth of music, unless you rely on the CD's being rather not full... It seems like they're off by 2GB or so.

    The FM transmitter sounded like a really cool idea, tho.

    Okay, so it's a low-powered Linux box, I couldn't find a price, and their ordering page and screenshots were all very dead.

    Why not just make a little add-on kit, or a distribution, to turn people's old Linux boxes into dedicated mp3 servers? I've got an old P133 I could use, when I get a new computer I could put my old (newer) HD in there, and serve some mp3's...
    ---
    pb Reply or e-mail rather than vaguely moderate [152.7.41.11].
  • It only has a 4.3 Gb HD? with the option to put in a second HD at 10 Gb? come on. i already have 15 Gb or so of mp3's and i am not done ripping my cd's yet. doesn't seem like it has nearly enough room on it.
  • http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-114511.html?t ag=st.ne.1002.tgif?st.ne.fd.gif.e
    http://www.pineusa.com/

    You asked for it, there ya go.. It' a nice player, I saw it at Comdex, well, actually they did not HAVE one there. But they did have some literature on it.. This is an old article, but it is still worth checking out. I am not sure when the release date is, but I hope it is before Christmas. If not, I will have to take back whatever I get for Christmas and get one of these things :)


  • I know that I am a cynic and all that, and I do not want to offend Hemos, but this did seemed to be a bit of a product plug.

    Felt a bit wrong, still I could be wrong.
  • From my U2 "The Best OF 1980-1990" cd:
    The copyright... owned by Polygram... WARNING: Unauthorised copying, reproduction, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting prohibited

    IANAL but I get the strong idea that the FM-feature would be a violation of the copyright. Next to that, the cute JukeBox Sharing feature ofcourse allows unauthorised copying, hiring, lending etc. also a violation.

    Remembering the Diamond Rio case, where one of the arguments of the judge, not to prohibit the sale, was that it was not possible to copy from it, I think these guys got a problem. (Yes I know the RIO was hacked) On top of that. What do you think will happen if you happen to turn the Jukebox sharing function on? RIAA will be on your doorstep.

    BTW isn't it illegal to be broadcasting without a permit?

  • i DO however like the FM transmitter feature.

    Nice idea. But you will be disappointed. It is ultra-low power. You might get 50 to 100 feet out of it. If you are very lucky. Most of the time you get less. Old wireless microphones used to use FM transmitters. You can pick up a transmitter at RadioShack [radioshack.com] for $12 that'll do the same thing.

    I'm with you on the price, however. For $1,200, the item's list price, you could put mucho very a lot of disk space (and them some) in a box you already own.

    InitZero

  • Dunno about radio, but Raite/Hoyo DVD players also do VCD, mp3 CD, audio CD etc ...

  • Considering most of the software on it is free, it's far too expensive for what it does. ($1299 USD, in case the site's been Slashdotted to heck.) Now if it was about 200-300 UKP, then I'd be interested.

    Good to see it running Linux though. This could be the first in a hopefully long line of Linux-based (but more important - open protocol) consumer products. There's something incredibly gnarly about being able to access a home music center via HTTP. When you've got a simple web-based interface to an appliance, all those nasty little chores like setting clocks and the like become trivial.

    Looks like I'm just going to have to install a home network and hack a spare box to play through a decent audio system...

    But yes, very nice anyway.

  • If any of these MP3 "jukebox" companies were smart, they'd put in systems to control listening. Make it so that only one person can listen to a particular MP3 at a time. Make it use shoutcast. That way they can at least argue that it follows the law.... Sheesh.

    -sw
  • Well, I doubt Napster has a case, because CuteMX and others are borrowing the same idea. And software patents can patent an algorithm... I don't think they can patent accomplishing something (i.e. filesharing, word processing, mp3 sharing, etc).

    The RIAA will probably try to bludgeon these poor folk into submission... the RIAA doesn't have a case; this isn't a recording device at all. But we know the RIAA will just use the threat of a lawsuit to get what they want... extortionist bastards. But since all the software will be GPL'ed, this company could always just sell the hardware and the the software sort of 'subsist' on the net... RIAA can never really win :)

    Thanks to the RIAA's tactics, I refuse to buy CDs from any major label... I'll mp3 them or not listen at all, but the RIAA gets none of my money! Small independent artists and those with their own labels, I'm happy to support.
  • Or there is the
    Linux and BSD Napster client
    that can be found here:

    http://www.gis.net/~nite/ [gis.net]

  • Yea, it's essentially a $300-$400 computer neatly packaged and targeted for people not as geeky as /.ers.

    I'd build my own too if they charge more than 500 bucks, but at least this way other less technically inclined people will have more access to this sort of stuff.
  • The whole system sounded really cool, and I even began considering picking one up when they came out, thinking "Well, it can't be more than a few hundred bucks..." Then I saw the price. Where on god's green earth do they get off charging that much money on what is basically old hardware and free software? I figure whoever put this together thought they'd make a killing or something.. more power to them.. but I'd never buy one of those devices for even half that price. Not in a million years. Not to mention the fact that it's running linux, so it'll be core dumping every half hour just for fun.. and can you update it? Install a new kernel? Run maintainence programs?

    Why must it run linux?
    Why must it cost so much?
    I guess I still want one..

    This thing may use Sequel Server [dimfuture.net] but it still totally blows a$$ from beyond the grave.

  • Low-power FM is legal. (Score:3)

    by Wakko Warner ( 324 ) on Monday November 29, 1999 @06:33AM (#1496787) Homepage Journal
    Under part 15 of the FCC's rules, unlicensed broadcast on the FM bands is permitted for very low-power devices. These devices are limited to a range of 35 to 100 feet - perfect for a small office or your house. For more info, go here [fmtransmitter.com].

    - A.P.
    --


    "One World, one Web, one Program" - Microsoft promotional ad

  • and $1300 for the low-end. Roughly on par with another Linux based specially computer, Cobalt's Qube. Here's a link [y2brand.com]
  • The price of this unit is ridiculous. You could get the empeg for less money and have it fit in a car dashboard as well as being removable for anywhere use.

    The problem with all these mp3 players and with building your own is quality. Not the quality of the mp3, but the quality of the sound hardware. There are lots of sites on the web that tell how to build your own mp3 player, but if you're using off the shelf components you have no way of knowing what the sound quality is going to be. I replaced my old Soundblaster 16 so I could listen to mp3s, but the new card wasn't any better than the old one.

    If someone would put together a list of tested and proven hardware that sounds good it might only be a couple of hundred dollars. Without a list you could waste a bunch of money on components that just don't give decent quality. You never know if a certain motherboard or hard drive or ethernet card or video card is going to interfere and degrade your sound quality.
  • I've been anxiously awaiting the release of the unit from Pine, but they couldn't even manage to get a prototype to Comdex for display? Ouch! Sounds like it's going to remain vapor for the next few months at least.
  • Within the next month, the smuggler will be here. Click through for a (bad) preview of what's to come.

    Oh yeah, shameless site plugs in the comment forum doesn't bother me.

    http://www.mp3smuggler.com/ [mp3smuggler.com]. Thanks, Aaron

  • These guys must be kidding. $1300 for the minimal system? $1800 for the high end? Puhleaze - you could just get another computer to do all this and at less than half the cost too.

  • Re:Speaking of Napster (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    THANK YOU!

    I heard about the closed-source Napster player, and had a bit of fear about security holes that would be opened by using it. I was especially cautious about security after the fiasco with RealNetworks and other closed-source products I do use (I don't use MS products, partially for this reason).

    For reference, here's the closest thing to a home page for gnap;

    http://gnap.sourceforge.net

    Interesting note: This web site shows that my concerns about security were not unfounded; Napster has security problems that have yet to be addressed.

  • Ya, I for one was VERY dissapointed. I was expecting to see it, talk to somone about it, etc. But they didn't even have one there (That I saw), they did have their Rio like Mp3 players there. But then how cool are thoes? I mean, 64 MB MAX storage is crap. I need at least 500MB, and have transfering data be easy. By far the best unit I saw at Comdex (And I didn't really get to see much of it, the damn place was TOO big!) was the 4.8 gig portable Mp3 player made by Compaq, I think they are calling it "The Personal Jukebox". It sports 10 hours of Battery life, a nice LCD, and a USB interface, in an $800 package (It's very nice, small, fairly light weight). I talked to a rep for a little more than an hour about the player. They are offering a 2 year warrenty on the player. The rep said that most likely the LCD display would break first, my main concern is the HD. It has a good HD in it, (IBM new mini drive or somthing like that. Don't remember the name from the top of my head) But I would suspect that you drop the thing once or teice from about 3 feet and you would get bad sectors. Not a good thing. They do come with a leather case (I was told that in order for Compaq to agree to put their name on it they HAD to have the case.. Just because of the HD). I think that they may have problems with the device, expecially the HD. I for one think it is a great player, but I don't know about $800 (That is not official, just what I was told). I guess we'll all just have to wait and see. ((Note: They had about 5 "The Personal Jukeboxes" At Comdex, all working and playing music. And hooked up to a computer to show you how their interface worked.))

  • Well, actually it is "Under Construction" - and it probably always will be. But it works/plays, and sounds good.

    It plays MPEG files (off the HD or CD), and regular audio CD's. It will serve the MPEG files via Apache to any similar box on my LAN. It will also play MPEG files served by Apache from any other box on my LAN. It can be controlled via a client on any machine on my LAN. I'm working on LIRC support, but I only just started, so nothing to show yet.

    The OS is Slackware 4.0 and I'll upgrade that as soon as the Slackware 7.0 disks get to me (any day!)

    Now all I need is the money to upgrade the HD so I can have all my 40 Gbytes of MPEG files online at once, plus maybe another 20 Gbytes for future additions. And a filesystem that doesn't fall over.

  • Actually, the writer (ryan dahl (four) of gnap, was asked to take gnap offline because of issues with 'flooding'. However, gnap cannot yet even chat (a function I do not even like in the first place). After much deliberation, Ryan decided to keep the project open source rather than keep as binaries until the issues were resolved. IMPORTANT NOTE: gnap is in pre-alpha release form. Do not use it unless you want it to crash far more than what is acceptable. It will be, however, in the future, a really well written gnome napster client.

  • becuase the normal village idiot can't figure out how to get samba to work with 9X/NT. Their $1200 loss.

    -d9
  • Please let me say that gnap is _NOT_ ready for use by the masses, Its a small hack and _will_ crash and it _will not_ work... For some reason this program is spreading like wildfire because of the whole Napster incident, it is a private release, and is not intended to be used by people yet. I will make an announcement on freshmeat when that time comes :) Just don't send me hate mail for making a shitty client.
  • "perfect for a small office or your house. "

    Might be a good way to get MP3 music out to my stereo in the living room, not to mention any other beep or bell that my computer puts out.
  • I've been trying to do this myself for some time; how do you go about synchronizing the audio output on the target machines without going to a proprietary solution like this?
  • Earlier, I tried to submit a story to slashdot about this, but it got rejected. So life goes. Anyway, I noticed that the Pine MP3/CD player is up for pre-order on outpost.com, so I got one, and wrote to Pine asking them where's the publicity behind such a huge product. I mean, their web site hasn't even changed. I then got email back from them saying that the product has been delayed until next February due to production problems.

    Damn, and this would have made a perfect christmas present.
  • The lower end model is priced at $1300 for what is basically a 266MHz K6-2 w/ 32M and a netcard. This thing [netdrives.com] is a lot cooler IMO. It's just a deck, but it's only $300, and it plays audio cd's, cdr's and cdrw's with mp3's. And it has a remote.
  • OK, People... This is not a STREAMING server. You plug it into your stereo, and then plug it into ethernet- crank the volume up so EVERYONE CAN HEAR IT ;) The machine serves web pages that let you choose what music is to be played next, on the stereo. NOT the client. Get it? no mp3's flying across the network to be played in this or that cubicle. They get uploaded, and then they get played, in one place, on the server... BTW -got to love ones that tell ya how simple something is, beware the guy who snaps "oh that...that's easy"

  • I can think of two (Score:3)

    by Ater ( 87170 ) on Monday November 29, 1999 @09:50AM (#1496808)
    Right now there are two major mp3 cd players which are "in the making." However, there are doubts about when their actual release date is, and if they will be actually materialize.

    As someone else stated, Pine [pineusa.com] appears to be the most notable project as of now, though it has been delayed for quite a long time, and promises a release around February with a price of $200-300. However, I'm not sure whether it will actually ship by then.

    Another option is Mambo X [mambox.com], which claims it will be released around December with a price of $179. It sounds great, but again I remain skeptical, as the site seems more intent on hip advertising than on actually going into detail about the specs of the player.

    But basically, though mp3 cd players are the best option for portable mp3 listening, and are supposedly not too hard to make (decoder chip + lcd display?), you wont be seeing much around because of RIAA pressure (theyve sorta settled the other mp3 players, like the rio and the lyra, with their threats because now almost all mp3 players are being made SDMI compliant *shudder*.) Also, Sony, a big cd player manufacturer, won't go near it because they have a record company branch and because they are too busy pushing their minidisc crap. But hopefully this trend won't last, and we'll be able to see the big shot companies come out with quality mp3 cd players that don't just look like vaporware in the making.
  • looks like they are using notebook drives, that's where the space limitation comes from. But it seems to me that this y2mp3 thang is more of a 'dynamic content repository'. If you were listening to it @ work, eventually even your 15 gigs would get played out. not for you of course, you can listen to that shit all day long, cause it's YOUR SHIT. This is Different- this mp3 server is meant to serve groups of people. think of it as a way to assault the entire office with "I'm an Asshole", or Eric Cartmans "Come Sail Away", and put something new on there the next day that's even more obnoxious.. I think alot of you are missing the idea here with what this company is trying to do. everyone is listening to 2 shitty radio stations and countless cubicle thumpers @ work. Imagine all the people..sharing what they consider to be good music, that everyone in the 'community' might enjoy. people who don't know squat about mp3's will be 'doin it' from their browser, without a soundcard, without a 15 gig collection, without the thisamp or thatamp. but they can cue up "If i was fuckin you" by ice cube..followed by the theme to the Macguyver. Isn't that more interesting than listening to commercials between the crap radio programming they are playing now @ work? If I had one of these- each week i would be uploading new stuff, and removing the old, I'd always have a backup on my 20 gig desktop drive (barring some good porn or VCD does not fight for space)to listen to it later.
  • Yes but part of a laptop's cost is the display, this system has none.
  • didn't they say similar things of the first xerox machines?
  • Good call. Electronics definatly get cheap quick. My old man likes to tell the story of the $300 calculator he bought when he was my age. I guess it was the good kind-it did square roots.
  • Last few days I couldn't get on napster, so I was forced to use cuteMX, at www.cutemx.com [cutemx.com]. FYI.

    I do not like cuteMX because it encourage mean spirit amount users. It has a enemy list you can put people into. You can cancle somebody's upload too. (why? just point your music library to a empty folder.) The failure rate is more than 50%. I get about 80% the songs I try to download with napster.

    CY
  • Who is going to do an open-source napster workalike server? (i.e. after the client comes along)

    Hmm, reminds me of shoutcast and icecast.
  • OK, so it's a web front-end that let's you play music through your stereo. Why is that hard? In fact, why is that not easy? Or were you just saying that the previous poster jumped to the conclusion that it's easy before they knew what it is?

    I don't get it. It's not easy, it's nearly trivial. It's a $400 computer with apache, perl, a ripper, a player, an ftpd, and a LOT of GLUE. OK, that's some nice glue, but I don't think it's $2000 worth - at least not for me!
  • Check out: http://cs.atu.edu/~ewyles/mp3000.htm That's a project that I'm working on that has 2 of the 3 taken care of. I would like to add radio support in the near future. The source code on the page is not entirely up to date, but I'm going to update it soon. I'm listening to an mp3 cd with 163 of my favorite songs on it right now. PEACE
  • Some general thoughts.......
    I don't see any reason why it can't be done.
    The server would just have to do searches of file lists people have and setup communication, thats about all.
    The chat, is not a necessity in my books, if you want to chat about music goto EFnet.
    So really thats it for features.
    I'm still working on an open source java client, but Ryan is a little further along last I checked and taking the smarter road in using GNOME. I am still worried about legal issues......
  • I agree. I would really like a Yamaha RP-U100.
    It's an audio reciever (amplifier + radio) that has USB input. It's software controllable and also has the ability to mix sources. Having the DAC in an external component is probably the best solution for sound quality.

    Do a google.com search for RP-U100 for some reviews.

    Chris Wise
  • Well, for good quality sound, I'd like to plug my Xitel storm platinum (it's based on the Aureal reference design, so the other Vortex 2 cards should be similar).

    They did a really decent job on the analog section as far as I can tell, plus s/pdif output if your amp has that capability.

    HOWEVER, don't buy this card yet! Linux drivers are supposed to be coming any day now. If the drivers do show up, this is one choice card!

  • What gives me the right to make something and give it away???? I don't think I have a right to do this, but its not against the law.
    Leeching the idea is not the same as leeching the work.
    To leech the work you would have to steal th source code.
    And yes ideas take work, but I am talking elbow greese.
    I'm taking it you have never used an ICQ client that wasn't made by Mirablis/AOL?
    I'm also taking it that you don't use UNIX/MAC.
    I'm also taking it that you've never heard of the Microsoft/AOL ICQ war. No difference in this case.
    Please correct me if I am wrong.
    ok thats enough flamebait........
  • It won't take much work to produce a client better than the current Napster version.

    Napster really looks thrown together in a rush. Bugs everywhere in the client. And of course their servers aren't scaling to meet the enormous demand. Why does this same story have to get repeated again and again and again?

    My best free tip for the people working day and night on improving Napster: your software guarantees propagation of incomplete MP3s. Fix that by keeping partial downloads off to the side in a private directory until they finish.

    Thanks.
  • What gives you the right to write a client and access napsters servers?

    What gives Napster the right to refuse someone access for no better reason than choice of OS?

    That is illegal, its the same as microsoft trying to access AOL IM servers.

    Actually, it's not illegal. Neither is Microsoft trying to access AIM's servers. The only difference is that Microsoft's intentions are obviously sinister; they seek to Embrace, Extend, and Extinguish AIM. Our friend here has no such intent; he just wants to use their service on his OS of choice.

    Its no different than me sitting in front of your house until I figure out your garage door frequency and I open it and start using your garage.

    Actually, it's very different. Why? Well, let's take my garage. I prefer to keep it private. I don't want anyone accessing it except me.

    Napster is by its very nature a public service. Anyone is, in theory, able to access it. Refusing to allow someone to access because of the OS he chooses to run is not unlike refusing to allow someone into a restaurant due to religious differences.

    When don't you start your own service?

    I assume you mean why, not when. And frankly, why should he? There's a perfectly good one already out there. Why reinvent the wheel?

    When do you have to leech on someone elses work?

    Again, I'm going to assume you mean why. The fact is, he isn't leeching. All of the work he's doing is his own. In fact, he's doing more work than the original Napster people did (all they had to do was make up a protocol; he has to figure it out with no documentation to help him). He's not using one single scrap of their code. And thus, none of their work.
  • Anyone checked out OnShare [onshare.com] yet?

    Interesting competitor.. based around communities sharing files. Same idea as napster/cutemx but you share files with groups of people (+ all of the interface is on the web).

    No linux client yet for sharing :( But you can download files.. 'cause it's all on the web.

  • Yep, that would definitely be the thing I would like to have :-)
    --
  • Its good to see real products step forward and meet a need in the marketplace. While techies may well be able to put a solution of their own together with some time and patience, I think solutions like this are a big step forward. Lets watch this one really start to happen. Its just a piece of the puzzle as paradigms shift quickly in the music world.
  • Lemme get this straight: an MD recorder, which costs roughly as much as the Mambo X is crap, because (pick one):
    1. Sony makes it, and not some company we've never heard about.
    2. It's nonprosecutable to copy music onto MDs (IANAL)
    3. It doesn't require a k-rad CD-burner to use
    4. It can record live audio and can be used as a mic preamp
    5. One player + 3 discs is smaller than a MP3 CD player could possibly be
    6. It sounds better than 128k encoded MP3s

    If you're willing to make all the above sacrifices, more power to you. I'll stick with my piece of crap minidisc recorder.
  • Take a look at Globecom Jukebox [globecom.se]. It's pretty simple to set up, and can handle streaming the audio out to client machines. It can also be plugged into a stereo and controlled via a web interface. Of course it also handles ripping, CDDB, audio CD's, pretty much everything you'd expect from a $2000 box, except they aren't charging for it. :)
  • OK, I'm not a lawyer, BUT.......

    Could you please explain to me just exactly how having a CD player and some legitimately purchased discs in an office constitutes a copyright violation? I'd really like to know, since it sounds perfectly legal to me.

    But like I said, I'm not a lawyer....


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