downloading music

[Hgrove]

could someone pls give me an idiot-proof guide to downloading music (legally) - songs at 50p each and the like.. I mean what's an ipod, what do you do with it?

[Joanne-G]

May I suggest that, if you don't know what an IPod is, that you learn a little more about music files, compatability, what they play on, by using the internets greatest assets, .... search engines, and dont expect a simple answer that CANNOT answer such a broad ranging question, I have typed enough.

PS You play music files from i-tunes or your own CD collection on an IPoo just like a walkman without the high tech tape bit, just data in a bitstream.

[stevie21]

Dear gawd! If poor Hgrove doesn't know what an iPod is then "bitstreams" is hardly likely to illuminate his/her view much!

In ye olden days we all had a walkman which we could carry around. This played tapes which only held 90 minutes or so of music.
Then personal CD players which didn't hold exponentially more.

These days we have, basically, mini computers (iPods) which store music files in a format which is compressed to use up less space. Because of this and because an iPod has LOADS of storage capacity, you can literally store thousands of songs on them : your entire music collection sometimes.
As well as being able to store so much, iPods have a built in wotsit which can decode the files and play them as music "to your ears".

In conclusion, your honour, it's a digital walkman which holds thoosands upon thoosands of songs.

[Hgrove]

Thanks Stevie21;  so - I can go and buy an iPod and then... I plug it into my pc?   What does the music get recorded on?  Some kind of CD ? And then... do I go onto something like napster and pay with my credit card?

[Hgrove]

P.S. I have never even owned a walkman in my life !

[stevie21]

You can buy an iPod and, as far as I'm aware, the only (or at least predominant) way to get music onto it is to transfer it from your PC so you'd need to "rip" CDs to your CDs as mp3 (this just converts the music from CD type to the compressed type which your PC can save things as).

The music is recorded digitally as a data file, in the same way that lots of gumph is stored on your computer's hard drive. iPods have a hard drive inside them just as your PC does.

After that, having spent so much on the iPod you download songs illegally and free to try to recoup some of the wonga spent on your new toy.
(That last part was a joke. Honest!)

iPods aren't cheap. Do you really NEED to spend all that money on a glorified walkman? I've just spent �25 on a portable mp3 player which holds about 2 or 3 albums worth rather than the iPod's 9 zillion albums. I can delete and replace these 2 albums worth as often as suits me so can listen to lots of music still. I'd never use for more than an hour at a time so 2 albums is plenty.

Am I just tight? haha

[Sammy Snake]

Nothing to do with an ipod but downloading music is really easy - you can even go to Tesco's website and download for about 79p per song.  You can probably get them cheaper elsewhere.

You pay with a debit or credit card and the file is downloaded and stored on your hard drive.  You can then play these using a player like Windows Media Player (or similar) or can transfer them to an Ipod or similar.  Or even burn them to a CD.

I download lots but only to listen to via Windows Media Player, sometimes I burn to CD but have yet to discover ipods (can't afford one basically) or portabe MP3 players.

[stevie21]

Here's what I'm wittering on about:
http://search.ebay.co.uk/mp3-256mb_W0QQfkrZ1QQfromZR8
You could also search for
mp3 128mb
which is slightly cheaper.

[3Styler]

lol Joanne-G is there really an Ipoo?! Everything is become so more high-tech these days!

[Joanne-G]

3Styler, my reference to an IPod as an IPoo is a personal reflection of my dislike of these awful bits of kit coming from Apple, they are too expencive and too restrictive on the types of files they play, and then, they REALLY want to suck your blood by making you use itunes.

Go look at the multitude of mp3 players with HD's before bying an iPoo

[3Styler]

Howabout Die-Pod!!!