discman

Did we listen to just as much music before the iPod?

Before the iPod and iTunes supposedly changed everything, we listened to records, CDs, tapes, and radio in our cars, on the street and in mass transit. Music was nearly as portable as it is now, but iPods and other MP3 players radically increased the quantity of music you could take with you. Looking back to the dawn of the iPod/MP3 era, sound-quality improvements weren't part of the agenda, just the quantity of music that was transportable. Apple's early ads touted the advantages of having "1,000 songs in your pocket," which struck me as an … Read more

The 404 873: Where we raise the debt roof (podcast)

Happy Wi-Fi Day, everyone! We're celebrating 8.02.11 with the return of Joseph Kaminski, and he's giving away free Wi-Fi refills all day to celebrate.

Joey's also teaching us how to tweet like men, even though he doesn't have a Twitter account, and telling us about Apple's new iCloud media-syncing service that rolled out to testers in the Apple Developer Programs today.

The 404 Digest for Episode 873

Learn how to tweet like a man. iCloud gets tested and priced. It's the first (and only) Wi-Fi Day! How will you celebrate 8.02.11?

Episode 873 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS VideoRead more

The end of Digital Noise

All albums eventually come to an end--even super-gonzo triple live CD sets--and the time has come for this blog to end as well.

I've had a great time exploring the intersection of music and technology for the last three-plus years. And even though the music industry is going through some wrenching changes, the public's interest in music has, if anything, gotten stronger.

I was at Coachella this April along with a record sold-out crowd of more than 90,000. Some of them were there for the party, but the musical lineup made the party happen. I've seen … Read more