When compact discs first arrived, they were heralded as a modern marvel that would replace all other recording formats. It was said that the new digital CDs, as they came to be known, were more accurate, durable and economical to produce than either tape or “old-fashioned” vinyl records. But all good things must come to an end, and it appears we may be witnessing the end of the CD era.
There are those who have been predicting for some time that digital music players, such as iPods and other MP3 players would eventually replace the CD. But oddly enough, one of the formats helping to kill off the use of compact discs is the very format it was designed to replace to begin with: vinyl records.
In a music industry struggling to maintain profit margins and control illegal song sharing online, one of the biggest growth areas of the past few years has been in vinyl records. DJs and music purists have long maintained that music recorded in the vinyl medium was warmer, with increased depth and nuance. It seems that now, mainstream music buyers are beginning to agree with them.
Vinyl pressing plants, once thought to be the dinosaurs of the modern music industry, are seeing a dramatic increase in production, with many plants barely able to keep up with demand. But the real question is, why the sudden upturn in the popularity of the vinyl record? Experts disagree on the exact causes, but it seems likely that digital music downloads have actually helped increase sales of vinyl record releases by popular bands.
In the age of the iPod and the digital media download, it seems a compact disc is no longer compact. More and more music enthusiasts are buying the vinyl record versions of albums to listen to at home, and “ripping” the songs into a digital format to take with them on the iPod when they’re out.
With digital music players getting smaller and more powerful by the day, portability is no longer an issue when buying music. One record label is even including coupons inside the packaging of its vinyl records that allow the purchaser to download the MP3 version of the songs for free. These kinds of programs are becoming increasingly popular, and music lovers are beginning to hear what audio files have heard for decades: music simply sounds better on a vinyl disc.
Of course, compact discs have been on the way out for the past few years, and eventually, digital music downloads would have replaced the CD as the predominant music format anyway. But with the resurgence of vinyl records, the CD era may be over a lot sooner than experts have predicted.
When we were kids, our parents used to argue with us incessantly whenever they wanted to switch the TV off. Even though that time is long ago and gone, that doesn’t mean the “strife” of the kids with their parents because of TV is gone. In fact if you’re a parent, you should have experienced the tantrums of your kids because you switched off the TV.
Technology has answered this problem of parents who can’t just get the TV off from their kids. Moms and Dads will have peace of mind as kids will have to do with these devices that can easily be installed in their TV. Here are some devices for parents to buy and for the kids to watch out:
TV Timer BOB. This product is quite new in the market but has been making buzz in various homes. With up to six PIN codes, kids should key-in their PIN so that their time will be monitored in front of the TV. If they exceed the number of hours, the TV automatically shuts off. The settings could be done daily or weekly with the number of hours set per family member. Aside from hours, the time of day (or the night) could be set wherein kids are not allowed to watch TV. With large screen display and ease of usage, it can be set up in as little as five minutes. Price: $100.00
TimeMachine - This is a unique program wherein you bank on the reward system for the kids. There is absolutely no programming as TV time is controlled with token. In each of the token, kids will have 30 minutes of TV. There’s a time display that shows how many minutes are left for the kids. There’s a key that you can unlock the timer and watch unlimited TV. For a price of $60.00, you’ll have the unit 30 unique tokens. For an additional $10.00, you can add even 30 more tokens.
TV Allowance – This TV control set can be set up only once from the time of purchase. If you’re really that strict with your kids, TV allowance will give each person number of hours to watch of TV in a specific time only. Once you have set the time and the number of hours, TV will automatically shut down and it will only be replenished next week. Parents will also have their own controls, which are of course unlimited. It’s basically the same with BOB only smaller in screen with a bigger box. Price: $100.00
Time-Scout Monitor – The device is quite complicated but fun to use once you get the hang of it. You start by giving them with the number of hours allowed. Once you have set a number of hours per child, kids who wanted to use their own time can swipe the cards that come with the machine. It’s like an ATM but instead of getting money, its TV time. Parents will also have their own chance of deducting or adding hours to their kids. Price: $100.00
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The world was at the hands of Steve Jobs when iPhone was released to the public in June. Apple devotees literally camped out of Apple stores all over the country to get a first hand glimpse and experience of what an iPhone really is. With all those rave predictions on how good the iPhone is, we forgot that it could actually make some calls. We wished there would be something like that without the phone function so that we don’t have to be tied up with phone contracts and all. Our wish was granted and man, it was fast! Less than three months after the release of iPhone, iTouch was introduced to the public. The initial price of these products was at $299 for 8GB and $399 for 16GB.
So now we have two cool gadgets almost identical with each other. But there are differences that you should know about. If you don’t have either of the gadgets, read on. If you have either one of these gadgets, read what you missed. If you have both gadgets, then definitely, you’re an Apple Geek.
Physical Appearance – The height and width of iPhone and iTouch are the same. You’ll still have that bar soap type appearance that iPhone has. iPhone has three physical controls: the power button, the home button, and lastly the volume control for you music and ear piece for accepting calls. The new iTouch will only have two of these functions. There will be no volume control, so you have to do it within the gadget. There’s also the dock for the earphone and dock to sync your files or to charge your device. In terms of thickness, iTouch is thinner.
Functionality – Obviously, iTouch doesn’t have any functionality to call. But the interface has really changed in terms of the buttons. The only ones left are the browser, music, YouTube, video, library, contacts, to do list. You will also have the ability to purchase songs and albums you really love using the Wifi access for iTunes. That’s something iPhone can’t offer. You still need to sync the music you have in your computer. For whatever reason you don’t have a computer, iPhone will not work for you if you want to download some music.
Browser - Safari works the same in both gadgets. It still can’t support Flash or Java. But we’re hoping that Ajax or those cool web based programs will eventually flourish in Safari.
Music – Can’t really tell the difference. But if you compare them with the iPods, the sound of the iPods is better than these two gadgets.
Video – iTouch tends to be darker compared to iPhone. I think it’s an upgrade compared to iPhone. When you’re using the iPhone for movies, it’s brighter compared to iTouch. iTouch’s darker image makes it even clearer compared to the images projected by iPhone.
Picture – iTouch is clearer. No doubt about it.
So there are ups and downs between these two gadgets. But overall, you have to admit that if you have any of these gadgets, your music and video experience will never be the same again.
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